Boomgates: Double Natural

In 2000, Real Madrid President Florentino Perez signed a group of the soccer world’s most famous players, including David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane. And the experiment didn’t pay off. Ego played too big a role, and the team’s individual members could hardly focus on the task at hand, namely, winning championships.

The moral of the story is of course, that one should never put himself or herself ahead of the group. Boomgates understand this, as evidenced on their debut LP, Double Natural. Sporting members of some of Melbourne’s most prosperous acts, including Eddy Current Suppression Ring, UV Race, Twerps and Dick Diver, Boomgates step up and release a cohesive lo-fi indie masterpiece. And they’ve done so by adhering to the golden rule: they never take themselves too seriously.

With countrified tinges throughout the album’s largely jangly groove, Brendan Huntley and Steph Hughes share vocal duties on the rollicking standouts, “Natural Progression” and “Whispering and Singing”. Double Natural grows from small beginnings into an album that moves on a whim and becomes beautiful by doing so. No one member steps up and grabs the reigns, instead allowing each simple riff to be complemented by wonderfully direct lyrics and a consistent rhythm section. The only thing tragic about this record is how it will likely fall by the wayside in the face of the member’s other commitments. Yet Double Natural should still be appreciated for what it is: a slice of simple brilliance from a group of musicians and friends who were out to have a good time. It shows.