Oztix | News | This One Time, On Bandcamp: Sachet

Sachet — Sydney, NSW

Sachet make fuzzed-out indie-pop tunes with an unabashed '90s streak at their core but, more importantly, they make those tunes damn well.

Featuring members of Day Ravies and The Space Banditos, Sachet's four players are no greenhorns when it comes to crafting savvy tunes with a tendency to stick in the brain, and their newly released debut album, Portion Control, has such songs in spades.

Whether through the sunny jangle of opening effort Tinnitus, the washed-out irreverence of Chip Shop Job, the breathless urgency of Oh Positive — probably my personal favourite track on the record, though, honestly, there's a lot to love across the board here — the downward lurch of Yellow Raincoat or the closing cacophony of Moot & Moony (or anything else in-between), the band demonstrate time and again their knack for penning punchy, catchy riffs topped with earnest lyrics and wrapping it all up in a package that never pisses about or wastes your time.

Indeed, the album's longest song (The Newest In Ire) clocks in at just past the three-minute mark, the rest of its brethren getting in and out in about 10 to 30 seconds less than that.

Whether or not that's a deliberate attempt to reflect the album's title — and if it is, I'm even more impressed — the songs' stripped-back run times ensure both that the pace of Portion Control never dwindles, and neither does the band get bogged down on a singular sonic idea for too long. Everything about the release, from the largely unfiltered vocals to the thrifty arrangements, carries an endearing rawness that suggests this band is concerned far more about effect than affectations.

Portion Control was self-recorded and mixed by band member Sam Wilkinson, with mastering from Mikey Young. It's out now via Strange Pursuits.

Sachet will be playing the Hollywood Hotel on Sunday 20 August, with Busy Tones; if you can't make that gig, give them a Like on Facebook to stay abreast of their future movements. With an album this good under their belt already, odds are they won't — or, at least, shouldn't — stay in one place for too long.