polaroids of androids

The first notable difference between Dead Beat and Ohana's last offering - the fantastic Weak Wrists - is the role that the vocals play. This time around Will Farrier's lyrics literally burst out of the speakers, delivered with a greater sense of urgency, emotion and conviction.

Endlessly quotable lines such as "what goes in my mouth, comes out yours" and "some things are irreplaceable, some things are better off not lost", while far from being the words of a poetic genius, are delivered with such force that they will undoubtedly bounce around in your head for days. This not only fuels it's immediate impact, but also makes it an incredible addictive record.

At times these hastily delivered vocals, which vary in style from spoken word to uncontrolled angst driven screams, are placed over nothing more than a single drum or bass line, in almost a cappella style. This, combined with the distant nature in which they have been recorded, helps give the songs a fantastic blend of fragility and determination.

Ohana's unique style of 'math rock' is also a lot more complex and varied this time around. The direction of each track changes sharply and repeatedly, with the band continually breaking out of the limitations often attributed with the genre and finding an almost endless number of ways to reformat and bend their rhythm-based patterns.

If there is a negative side to this record it's that - running at just a touch over 26 minutes - the whole experience is far too brief. Not only does it leave you wanting more, but as the final track Our Distant Foundations comes to an abrupt end you find yourself immediately doing the calculations on how long it would take to get down to Wollongong and forcefully demand the band to give you some more music.

Even for those who are already familiar with these songs (from their live set over the last six months or so) this record still hits with an unbelievably strong impact. There isn't a single wasted note across the eight tracks and, although their distinct core sound has remained intact, the overall execution this time around is almost faultless.

This is undoubtably one of the best local releases for 2008.