The good thing about music that is lightweight and carried by simple acoustic guitar and beautiful vocals, like the music that High Highs make, is that it can be adapted to fit any mood or moment that you set it to. When NPR featured them on song of the day they urged the listener to imagine a wintry scene. Now we sit here in spring, looking ahead to summer, and I’m listening to High Highs and it seems to be working just as magically. The ethereal quality of their music smacks of nature; bright, brooding, whatever you make of it, it’s full of life.
There’s not much information to be found about these guys. Their MySpace is bare aside from the songs (is there any other use for them now anyway?), but I can tell you that they are a trio made up of two Australians called Jack Milas and Oli Chang who are now joined by American Zachary Lipkins on drums. The two Australians were sent by their jobs from Sydney to New York and, inspired by the city, the guys decided to turn a band that had previously been merely “mucking around” into a serious project. Lipkins joined shortly after.
You can get an idea of their raw musical talent through their spellbinding Big Ugly Yellow Couch Session and evidence as to the organic nature of their songs can be seen in the video for “Open Season” which you can watch below.
At the moment three of their songs are available for free download on their Bandcamp. The band’s first physical release will be in May in the form of a seven-inch, but there is definite scope for a full album in the not so distant future.
If you’re a fan of bands like Papercuts and the Wild Nothing then this is for you. For now I’ll leave you with my favourite of their songs “Horses” and the video for “Open Season,” but all of their music can be found in the links above. Make sure to keep your ear out for these guys over the course of 2011.
Open Season from High Highs on Vimeo.
