Turning Punkanese, yes I think so

On the local stage
They're young, punk and Japanese, and Limited Express (pictured right) return to Australia to headline Soobiesta 3. This event is part of the Straight Out Of Brisbane Festival and will take place on Saturday July 8 at the Jubilee Hotel in Fortitude Valley. Joining them on the day will be 42 other crazy sounding local, national and international acts. Tickets are only $20 presold and $25 on the door. For more info check out www.straightoutofbrisbane.com
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Ric's Cafe in Fortitude Valley also has a strong line-up of local acts on the way, these include The Gin Club (Friday June 30), The Murders (Sunday July 2) Broken Arm & Lost Silence (Monday July 3) and Swaying Buildings & The Better Mousetrap Treatment (Wednesday July 5).
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And finally one last bit of good news for fans of local music, there is a new live venue in town. It's called The Living Room and it's located at 2 Caxton Street in Petrie Terrace. Upcoming gigs include The Red Paintings (June 30), Small Mercies (July 1) and Edge Of Earth (July 7).

On disc
Personality (One Was A Spider One Was A Bird)
The Sleepy Jackson
Arriving almost fully formed from one of the most isolated cities in the world, Perth band The Sleepy Jackson proves that geography is no hindrance when it comes to a musical connection. Their sound brings to mind so many classic pop moments, it shows a musical scope that is anything but isolated. The band has gone through many line-up changes and now has two core members Luke Steel and Malcolm Clark. I caught up with Malcolm to get some comments on the band's expansive new work.
First I have to ask how did the band come up with its name?
"The band has been going for about eight years and when Luke first started the band, he had a drummer who kept falling asleep. He suffered from narcolepsy. Rumours to the contrary that is where the name comes from."
Did you find the isolation of growing up in a city like Perth limiting?
"We didn't really notice it that much growing up because we had nothing to compare it to but when I got older and starting travelling to bigger cities and surrounding myself with great musicians and bands, I did start to feel that I wasn't good enough kind of thing. When you live in Perth you can just do your own thing and not have that much competition. But these Perth bands that grew up just doing their own thing and not feeling that competition thing are now getting signed."
The band has been through many member changes, how has the freedom been with the core of the band just being you and Luke?
"It's been good although we didn't really plan it that way. We were ready to go into the studio as a band when the two other guys left to do their own thing. At first we were really thrown back by it but then we started to think along the lines of less is more."
There are not that many bands out there that have a truly collective song-writing process. Most reflect a single songwriter.
"Luke has a ridiculous amount of songs he's written and even though he's only released a few albums and EPs, he has hundreds and hundreds of songs. He's always coming up with new stuff."
The album has a very lush vocal sound. How were the vocals laid down?
"With this album Luke just needed to get all this stuff out. He did all the vocals bar one or two tracks and we had a female vocalist come in. He then went back and double tracked things, added harmonies. He just did a ridiculous amount of overdubs."
Did you set out to make a record like this or did the songs dictate the approach?
"Luke has a lot of ideas constantly and the idea for this record was to try and put it all down but still with everything having its own place in the music. It was really hard at times to determine if a part was too much or where to simplify things like the bass and drums. Keep those parts simple and straight and in time. A lot of our previous stuff, especially our live shows were quite loose."
Personality (One Was A Spider One Was A Bird) will be out July 1.