Mistletone

Early Woman pics by Heather Lighton

Early Woman‘s debut single, I’m A Peach b/w Feathers, is available on 7″ vinyl and digital release via Mistletone/ Inertia. Click above to purchase via iTunes or buy the 7″ via Mistletone mail order.

EARLY WOMAN TOUR DATES:

FRIDAY OCTOBER 25: Early Woman single launch at Boney, with special guests A G E N D E R — new project for Romy Hoffman, ex-ROMY / Macromantics — schizo, synthy paranoid punk with a dash of dysmorphic desire); Dead Calm — new project for Esther Edquist (Superstar) — “Heartfelt, deep, deep house, felt hearts in the house of deep water, Emotional & Moving Pictures of Life”; plus Beaches DJs. Tickets $10 + booking fee on sale now.

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 22: Mess+Noise Lunchbox show at Melbourne Music Week’s flagship venue, The Residence. Free entry, 1pm start, over 18s event. More info on the MMW website.

• “Proving not only that there are still plenty of good band names out there, but that there are still great supergroups left to come out of the Melbourne music scene, Early Woman dispatch any notions of slick professionalism within moments. Flaunting their gold lame and wandering vocal melodies proudly, singer and guitarist Hannah Brooks (Young Professionals, St Helens) and keys hammerer Bjenny Montero lead the band through a captivating set boasting cheap synth sounds, slap back vocal echo, and some brilliant bass plying from Rob Bravington, all of which keeps us in thrall to their brash take on early garage rock and girl groups. Songs like Believer are full of ideas and rusty pop hooks (even if they are all cribbed from Paul Kelly and John Maus, as Montero suggests). Future single I’m a Peach is a standout, but closing song RoadKnight (named for singer Margaret Roadknight) is the clincher” – THEMUSIC.COM.AU
• “I’m A Peach is dreamy — as is its B-side, a raw yet classically pop tune called Feathers. While the former is a pleading, foot-stomping and swaying rock song, the latter is a Phil Spector-esque tender track with a Californian glam heart. They’re each other’s anti-thesis but they’re both really good. – OYSTER MAGAZINE

Early Woman is an improbable collaboration between two individually unique artists and musicians, Ben Montero and Hannah Brooks. Infamous comic/ poster artist Ben Montero and journalist/documentary maker Hannah Brooks began working on music together in mid 2012.

Coming from polar opposite musical backgrounds – Brooks in bands such as Young Professionals, Spider Vomit and St Helens; Montero in Treetops, The Brutals and his current eponymous project Montero – yet occupying a similar Scorpionic frequency, they started writing, using the few instruments that they had; a piano that came with their apartment, and a guitar Brooks borrowed from her mother.

Fragments of each other’s songs became their songs. Seasoned enough to know what they wanted and headstrong enough to question each other’s convictions, they brought out the best in each other; stripping away each other’s shields, heroes, egos and pasts, creating something distinctly their own. Disparate pieces synchronising. Kismet!

Raw, yet aspirational, Early Woman’s songs are carved from another time, roughly chiselling away at vintage forms and classic pop/rock’n’roll tropes. Sad, sensual and dreamy, the songs reverberate with a primal sincerity and an undeniable melodic authority.

Joining the Early Woman lineup, producer and multi-instrumentalist Robert “Bobby Brave” Bravington’s dexterous bass runs complement Brooks’ primitive rhythm guitar and Montero’s garage baroque organ swirls. Completing the band is neophyte drummer — and architect by trade — Caitlin Perry. Less than a year since forming, Early Woman have already made a bold mark, playing shows in Melbourne and Sydney with esteemed acts such as Beaches, Scott & Charlene’s Wedding, Lost Animal, UV Race, Darren Sylvester, Super Wild Horses, Love of Diagrams & Peak Twins.

Both I’m A Peach and Feathers were recorded at Bobby Brave Studios, where the band is currently recording their debut album.

With three part harmonies and cello by Jessica Venables (Jessica Says), Feathers is dreamy and tender; part California folk-rock, part Spector. It’s a dreamy drivein makeout anthem recalling the loneliest echoes of sixties teen music.

I’m A Peach is the musical antithesis of its B-side; a supplication, alternating between hurt and hope, throbbing with raw rage and desperation, whilst yearning for salvation.