HTRK
HTRK (Hate Rock) was founded in Melbourne in 2003 as a trio by bassist Sean Stewart, guitarist Nigel Yang and vocalist Jonnine Standish. Their first release and strangely detached live shows brought them to the attention of post punk legend Rowland S. Howart (ex-The Birthday Party), who invited them to record their debut album at Birdland Studios. The result was "Marry Me Tonight," which finally got released in 2009 to enthusiastic reviews in The Wire, NME and other influential publications. HTRK performed and toured with the likes of The Horrors, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Factory Floor.
Sean Stewart died in 2010. Yang and Standish went on to complete the album the trio had been working on. Called "Work Work Work," it will be released in September 2011 on Ghostly International, Misletone and Blast First Petite, and is already creating strong buzz.
The Ghostly website says that it "is a record of heartbreak, finding another world, with soft allusions to the future... HTRK do not aim for pitch black or lights off… it’s a murkier, more mysterious, heavy space." HTRK have called "Work Work Work" an imaginary party record for the end of time, a stark soundscape made up of slow 808 beats, eerie synths, guitar noise and Standish's vocals, dripping with reverb.
