The First Dance

Band/Artist: Bridezilla
Label: Inertia Recordings
Website: myspace.com/bridezillaa

Girls out on their own

The First Dance is the much awaited debut offering from Sydney five piece indie band Bridezilla and it has a level of guts and sophistication that is surprising for such a young group of musicians. Each track is laced with a sense of yearning, a sense of reaching, attempting to find your way to the moment where everything makes sense. It tackles some pretty heavy emotional terrain some through ballads others through pop songs but all with a seemingly ethereal quality that leaves you a little numb but still hopeful.

A group of close friends formed the band in 2005 (Holiday Carmen-Sparks aka Holiday Sidewinder, Daisy Tulley, Pia May Courtley and Millie Hall) as a means to battle the boredom of highschool with strings, horns and a storm of emotion.

This album was recorded in rural New South Wales and helmed by superproducer Kramer. Recorded in a barn by the Colo River the recording process saw the Bridezilla face off against bats, rats, flies, lice and African thorn bush. They dealt with depleted food and water supplies, absence of doors, synchronised menstruation, mild paralysis and endless cups of tea. Living in such close-quarters, isolated from society, suffering from all sorts of trivial trials and tribulations Bridezilla have created something they are truly proud of.

Lead single ‘Beaches’ flutters with yearning and escapism. The near-completely instrumental ‘Soft porn’ was written on a warehouse rooftop and possesses a resultant air of peace and perspective. ‘Forth and Fine’ is a ballad of eccentricities, telling the tale of a couple who wake up one morning and break up. ‘The Western Front’ and ‘White Feather’ are sparse cinematic journeys, tales of relationships filtered through a lens of love and war.

‘Heart you hold’ reflects the bands time at the Colo Rover. ‘Tailback’ is a gentle nursery rhyme about ambition and competition. ‘Lottery Tickets’ is an ethereral pop number about show biz and LA and ‘Shipping Man’ is a floating melody about the sale of a house boat. The balance of tracks are more closely grafted to moments in time ‘Queen of Hearts’, ‘Magnetic Arrest’ and ‘Lunar Eclipse’ ending with the ‘Last Dance’ which is a frank attempt to reason with death.

This album tells many stories. Stories of love. Stories of loss. All set against the achingly beautiful backdrop of violin and saxophone. Carmen-Sparks grandfather Peter Head came up with the band's name and it may yet become part of Aussie rock folklore. Rolling Stone magazine has identified Bridezilla as a band to watch. This album may not resonate with everyone immediately, but give it a chance - these kids have talent and importantly they have passion for creating great music.

Lisa O'Donnell