SNAKADAKTAL BEARS NEW TRACK

It seems Triple J is responsible for breeding an entire generation of teen indie rock stars. The station’s annual Unearthed High competition offers high school bands an express lane to national success, and 2011 victors Snakadaktal are proving that local youth talent should never be scoffed at. Affectionately known as ‘Snakkers’ the quintet from Melbourne Rudolf Steiner School went back to their mentors Triple J to release their brand new single Dance Bear.

Already offering up a maturation from Snakadaktal’s debut LP (‘Snakadaktal’), the entire track is a subtle crescendo of sound. It begins with simple layers of a repeating drum rhythm and light synthesiser, which make way for Pheobe Cockburn’s trademark pastel vocals. A male voices quietly shadows Phoebe’s until the chorus erupts as a call and answer duet between the two: ‘Tell me/You’re there/Tell me/You’ll dare/To be/Here for/Dance bear’. The song swirls onwards and upwards as each sound layers over each other into a stereo-sonic sound storm. Fed on these swelling layers, the tame-until-now electric guitar eclipses all else in an extended solo and play out.  Almost four minutes long, it is hard to imagine that Dance Bear has come from a group of five floppy-haired teenagers.

To celebrate the release of Dance Bear and their upcoming album, Snakadaktal are touring nationally in August, clearly unfazed by the fact that they only just returned from headlining The Jezabels own national tour. Snakadaktal are being sure to pay it forward too, their shows are supported by next round Unearthed High contenders, Sures, whose lo-fi sounds perfectly complement Snakadaktal’s own perfectly.

Aug 11, Metro Theatre, $20 + BF, 9550 3666, metrotheatre.com.au