We here at All I Do Is Listen have made no secret of our love affair with Melbourne’s ever wonderful Saskwatch. We go to their gigs a little too often, like a few too many status’ and talk about them a little too much. Hell, we’d drunk dial them at 4am on a Tuesday if it were possible to call 9 people simultaneously. But I think we all know by now that we have every reason to be their creepily needy groupie.

Currently swinging around Europe on their trip to the Edinburgh Fringe (etc.), Saskwatch have had a pretty ripper week at home as well. With the Meredith 2012 line up announcement dropping on Tuesday, a debut album being streamed in households everywhere as we speak, physical releases out Friday and then the announcement of a national tour today, Saskwatch should be the name on everyone’s lips.

The debut album for both the band and the record label (Northside, represent!), Leave It All Behind has been highly anticipated and rightly so. The task of capturing the spirit of these guys would have been one daunting task, but it has definitely come off without a hitch. Anyone who has seen their live set in recent times will be familiar with all the gems on this record, but gees it’s brilliant to be able to blast it in the privacy of your own home where no one can see you pull out your most fabulous backing singer sidesteps and jazz fingers.

Crammed full of all the funk and soul juju that one could ever need, Leave It All Behind features single Your Love as well as previously praised covers of Kids and Coca Cola, but alongside the swag of brilliant original tracks, the covers are just an added bonus. The energetic instrumental intro is a taste of what’s to come, before you are pulled back and eased into the record with Don’t Wanna Try. Your Love really gets the toes tapping and Coca Cola keeps that happening. Two Hearts lulls you into a false sense of security with its smile-inducing melody before getting all kinds of epic… Probably about as close to head banging as you can get with a soul band. The title track is relatively down beat, taking up position at the midway point and giving everyone a bit of a breather before launching into party round two with Kids. Strange Things is a more pop sounding track than some of the others, while Second Best and I Could Be Wrong brings the diva attitude by the bucketful. Closing track Only One is a blissy guitar driven ballad that encourages hand claps before fading off into silence, leaving you to contemplate what you’ve been doing with your life while these guys were being talented and making stupidly good records. Or you could just start it up again. That’s what I’ve been doing.

Saskwatch’s national tour kicks off on September 13 in Brisbane and is sure to be coming to a city near you, check out the dates below.

Last week the first ever Saskwatch video clip was released for ripper single Your Love, which you can watch right now. Yes, it will be stuck in your head, but there are plenty of worse things out there! We’re also going to make it super easy for you and pop the whole album stream in. You should go out and grab it on vinyl tomorrow though – can’t help but feel like that is how Leave It All Behind should be heard!

It has been requested that this stream be removed….. sorry.


Saskwatch Tour Dates:
September 13 – Bigsound, Brisbane
September 14 – Sol Bar, Maroochydore with Jeremy Neale (Tickets)
September 15 – Qpac, Brisbane (Free Show)
September 16 – Beach Hotel, Byron Bay (Free Show)
September 20 – Goodgod Small Club, Sydney with Royal Headache DJs (Tickets)
September 21 – Stoke Factory, Wollongong (Tickets)
September 22 – Transit Bar, Canberra (Tickets)
September 28 – Jive Bar, Adelaide (Tickets)
September 29 – Wave Rock Festival, Haden WA (Tickets)
October 5 – The Corner Hotel, Melbourne with The Harpoons, The Bluebottles (Tickets)
October 6 – Karova Lounge, Ballarat (Tickets)
October 7 – The Palais, Hepburn Springs (Tickets)