Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Orbits, Outer Battery Records 2021.
I’m not sure if this album is still available but it’s worthwhile looking it up on Bandcamp or your favourite site.
Orbits are a rock band from Brooklyn New York and this album was recorded live at Brisbane venue The Zoo in 2012.
It’s a great live recording full of garage rock energy and the crowd reaction suggests that the band were well received.
They describe themselves and the performance as being somewhere between “having fun with Elvis on stage and Pat Benatar’s Live From Earth, a zig zagging wandering pile of riff after simmering riff just the way Bob Seger showed us how to do it at Cobo Hall.”
I’m not exactly sure what they mean by this but I really like their mix of raw energy and melody.
Far too many bands lose the melody as soon as the volume goes up.
It’s also obvious that they don’t take themselves too seriously; there’s an infectious vibe to the performance that’s really appealing.
I was particularly taken with the band’s description of Brisbane and The Zoo in particular.
They describe Brisbane as “the pint quaffing playground of rock’n’roll legends like The Leftovers, The Saints, and SixFtHick.”
I haven’t heard the last band but the other two are certainly legendary.
There are sixteen tracks on the digital download and most of the tracks appear on their first two albums plus some of their seven-inch singles.
There are a few covers as well, including their version of The Kids’ (a band from Belgium) The City Is Dead and the blues standard Milk Cow Blues.
The Orbits are new to me and this album has whetted my appetite so I’ll be looking up more of their work.
