Thanks to a whole lot of Triple j play and a little bit of coverage in elusive non-street-press music print media, Fire, Santa Rosa, Fire!, despite their annoying punctuation, have become one of Adelaide’s finest bands over the last few years. After the strength of the singles ‘War Coward’ and ‘Little Cowboys, Bad Hombres’ from their 2010 debut album, Sea Priest, their new single (presumably from a forthcoming LP), ‘Panther Shrine’ errs on the light side.
Panther Shrine by Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire!
Caitlin Duff’s distinct vocals ensure the track stills sounds quintessentially like F!SR,F!, but the song feels like a dangling modifier; it floats and its questions hang. This might be a good thing or a bad thing, and has almost certainly ensured that the band will find a wider audience, but unfortunately the music sounds like it could’ve been just as easily put together with a synth and a rhythm loop, rather than five dedicated musicians.
