sponge magazine #1

ISSUE ONE

MARCH

2009 Anberlin

Far Cry 2

Pokèmon Pearl

Mario Galaxy Cards

Children Collide

Fate/Stay Night

+ More Inside

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we design the experience.

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grungetextures.com.

Welcome Readers!

This is the first edition of a quarterly magazine called ‘Sponge’. It is an initiative from the Fourml Creative Studio and is dedicated to anything related to Pop Culture. In this issue as well as subsequent issues you will find interesting information, opinions, reviews and imagery on various titles and topics within fields such as video games, music, movies, art, anime, social issues and more including our very own Manga series that will run continuously through each edition of the magazine.

Over the coming issues of the magazine we are aiming to vastly increase the scale and range of our content, but to do so we will need a larger contribution from writers and artists as well as some assistance from our readers. So, if you’re a writer, photographer or artist and feel you can contribute or even just a reader with an opinion on what’s working, what isn’t or what you would like to see more of, then please contact us via email at: [email protected] and list your skills and fields of interest or any feedback you wish to mention.

Thank you and we hope you enjoy our first edition!

Welcome Readers!

This is the first edition of a quarterly magazine called ‘Sponge’. It is an initiative from the Fourml Creative Studio and is dedicated to anything related to Pop Culture. In this issue as well as subsequent issues you will find interesting information, opinions, reviews and imagery on various titles and topics within fields such as video games, music, movies, art, anime, social issues and more including our very own Manga series that will run continuously through each edition of the magazine.

Over the coming issues of the magazine we are aiming to vastly increase the scale and range of our content, but to do so we will need a larger contribution from writers and artists as well as some assistance from our readers. So, if you’re a writer, photographer or artist and feel you can contribute or even just a reader with an opinion on what’s working, what isn’t or what you would like to see more of, then please contact us via email at: [email protected] and list your skills and fields of interest or any feedback you wish to mention.

Thank you and we hope you enjoy our first edition!

Contributors

Writers: Chris Nesci Michael Mason Peter Giannoukas Bren

Designers: Chris Nesci Michael Mason

Editor: Peter Giannoukas

Creative Direction: Fourml Creative Studio

Manga Credits

Story Creation: Fourml Creative Studio www.fourml.com.au

Scriptwriters: Peter Giannoukas Phurieda

Artwork: Phurieda

Website Credits

Administrator: Phurieda

Contents

Far Cry 2 02

Arcade Scene 04

Super Mario Galaxy Cards 05

Pokémon Pearl 06

Featured Manga 09

The Year 2012 12

Fate/ Stay Night 13

Anberlin – New Surrender 14

Children Collide – The Long Now 15

Political Correctness 16

Contributors

Writers: Chris Nesci Michael Mason Peter Giannoukas Bren

Designers: Chris Nesci Michael Mason

Editor: Peter Giannoukas

Creative Direction: Fourml Creative Studio

Manga Credits

Story Creation: Fourml Creative Studio www.fourml.com.au

Scriptwriters: Peter Giannoukas Phurieda

Artwork: Phurieda

Website Credits

Administrator: Phurieda

Contents

Far Cry 2 02

Arcade Scene 04

Super Mario Galaxy Cards 05

Pokémon Pearl 06

Featured Manga 09

The Year 2012 12

Fate/ Stay Night 13

Anberlin – New Surrender 14

Children Collide – The Long Now 15

Political Correctness 16

Featured Manga:

The end of 2008 saw a surge of great games coming out onto the market. A lot of gamers would have put there money on a variety of games including ‘‘Fable 2”, “Fall Out 3” and “Little Big Planet” to name a few. It’s because of these big name titles that a lot of people wouldn’t have had the money to spend on poor little ‘Far Cry 2’, but now with the new year upon us and gamers looking for their next new experience to snort with their pocket full of cash, its time to help you get over that old dilemma of “to buy or not to buy?” and deliver you with an effective “Is this game for you?” review filled with all the harsh truths of ‘Ubisoft’s ‘Africa.

For those who don’t already know, ‘Far Cry 2’ is a First Person Shooter game with a focus on immersion (a little more on that later). You play as a mercenary on a mission to kill the Jackal (the guy arming dirty weapons to both sides of a fractured African country). To find the Jackal, the player must do missions for both factions in the hopes to gain information on the Jackal and diamonds, with the help of his friends.

If you really want to know if you will like playing ‘Far Cry 2’, I have devised a little test. First you will need to set up a chessboard in the middle of the room and bring a friend in, either one of two things will happen:

1) You will start playing chess. This means you will enjoy carefully scouting out the enemy, moving through an enemy camp undetected and skillfully exiting a mission with stealth kills and tactical explosions that ‘Far Cry 2’ has to offer.

2) You will kick the chessboard and be in the process of watching as the chaos of chess pieces fall around hitting the ground everywhere leaving your enemy memorized by the lack of respect. This means you enjoy blowing shit up. With ‘Far Cry 2’s’ great range of weapons and their way of using fire as a weapon on the battlefield, you will be sure to get your kicks.

‘Far Cry 2’ really lets you play anyway you want to, from Rambo to sniper to pyromaniac, but this is where ‘Ubisoft’ places all there eggs into one basket. ‘Far Cry 2’ pushes you out into the world, gives you a little back story and a gun and tells you to have a good time while it sits back and hides in the bushes to see what you will do. If you decide that there is only one good way to kill a man then get ready for a boring time as all the missions are generally the same; go somewhere, get or kill something and go back. Doing this with one general fighting style will only emphasize the feeling of déjà-vu for missions.

After doing a few missions it starts to feel like playing a First Person Shooter in a “Grand Theft Auto” world. This does give you the freedom to feel like your in a real world but heading back to the same destination over and over to get another mission makes you wonder why these damn people don’t use their mobiles, oh wait, I forgot, they do use their mobiles just to make you drive even longer to somewhere else.

http://sponge.fourml.com.au 02

The enemy AI in Africa must have seriously taken military training as these guys are pretty much the smartest AI you will ever come across. If you shoot a weapon, make no mistake... if you can hear it in a multiplayer game then the enemy AI will hear it. If you think a human player can see you in a bush you might as well stick your ass out for a piercing of hot lead because the enemy AI already aiming at you. At one point in the game the enemy AI were shooting where they thought I was. This is not to say they are the perfectly coded mercenary as having been one of the first open world coded games they do have there moments of stupidity, for example, if you run behind a bush (away from an attacking enemy) they will know exactly where you are as if there was no bush, or when your driving in your car the enemy jeep will drive as fast a Ferrari while you jugging across a dessert road.

If you’re a gamer that loves a good story to motivate you through a game, don’t come looking in this dessert. This is where ‘Far Cry 2’ lacks the most. It even kindly states during

a loading sequence that your some dude with a gun that has to kill another dude. You will see the main characters you interact with in mission briefing rooms and ‘Ubisoft’ makes it really hard for you to like or hate anyone who just gives you a command and pays you after the job is done. The only character you will care about is the Jackal, the one you’re not prostituting yourself to and whom you actually get to hear some kind of story about.

If you’re buying this game for the multiplayer you won’t find anything grand. It has a kind of mediocre feel whilst playing it, which is kind of weird for a game that does feel like your down and gritty in a dog fight. Some feel that being able to make your own map makes up for this, as there will always be community maps out there to play making for an infinite amount of new experiences to try out especially considering user maps are just more fun to play. If you’re really into editing your own levels you could spend hours fine tuning the details on your map with the tools ‘Ubisoft’ offers.

In short, if you’re up for a game that makes you use your imagination, tactics and let’s you explore Africa and all the different ways to accomplish a mission (and you don’t need a story to motivate you to go through a game), then pick it up. It’s not a game to play straight through, more like a book that you pick up and read a little every so often as it has 40 hours of play. However, if your looking for quick fast paced FPS, with dumb enemy AI, special effects, a multiplayer you can play for hours on end and a story to draw you in, give it a pass.

— Michael Mason

7 out of 10

At one point in the game the enemy AI were shooting where they thought I was.“ “


Arcade SceneFor years now the arcade scene has been a casual one, where people can get their kicks just like in ten-pin bowling but before that the arcade meant something else. To the hard-core gamers, it was a place where you could find a challenge in a stranger and compete to see who was the best at the stick. Those days are far gone now with the only competition being against friends or family which makes a lot less money than gamers trying to redeem themselves against each other or against someone else’s high score (due to entertainment systems hitting homes).

This is until ‘Street Fighter 4’ lightly sprinkled across Australia. If you head down to Highpoint (Melbourne) now, you might get a glimpse of the old days where you could actually see your opponent suffering the humiliation of loss and money. The feeling of winning is something stronger than what you can experience on a home console (where the words on the screen can turn into somewhat of an empty victory as you move onto the next virtual and probably lagging enemy).

‘Street Fighter 4’ revisits the old days of the series, (like “Street Fighter 2 Turbo”, which can incidentally be downloaded through your Xbox or Playstation remix system for your

HD TV at home). Capcom has described this version of ‘Street Fighter’ as “two Balrogs (the boxing character that doesn’t kick) fighting each other”. This sees a system of fighting where you have to try predict what your two-dollar enemy’s moves will be rather than press the buttons in the right pattern, (its like a big rock, paper and scissors match).

The transition into 3D graphics while leaving the game in a platform level brings back that retro feeling and restricts users to the flat screen forcing interaction between the two players. The 3D element comes into play when hitting opponents with an Ultra Move, (every character has a unique ultra move they can pull off after their revenge bar is filled). Once pulling off an Ultra Move the camera shifts more dynamically and makes for a more interesting win if you can K.O. your opponent with it.

Although it’s refreshing to see this kind of competitiveness back in the arcade it will probably take more then just one machine to revive the whole arcade scene for the western world. ‘Street Fighter 4’ has recently hit the PS3 and Xbox 360 but why not go down to the arcade and have a sample of what it used to mean, while you still can.

— Michael Mason

If you want to play, place your coin above the controls of the arcade or on the screen because there are no lines at the arcade, (your coin will act like someone is lining up).

If the arcade is split into two different cabinets, place your coin on the person’s controls that you think will lose or place a coin on both cabinets. This will ensure your turn comes quicker.

When its your coins turn, its time to step up and play the game.

If someone has placed a coin on your controls/ screen and you get game over, it’s time to get off the machine.

If no one places a coin on your machine and you get game over you can continue to play with more money.

Abels Arcade Etiquette

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In total there are 140 Cards to collect including a wide range of character cards, boss cards, enemy cards, item cards, pop - out cards, location cards, trivia cards, tattoo cards and of course a rare handful of special foil cards available in 1:6 packets.

The artwork on the cards is much the same as the game design. It uses those slick, well textured 3D characters and environments and the overall result offers buyers somereally nice screenshot looking images (in particular the location ones) as well as plenty of information on various aspects of the video game.

Fans of the Mario franchise and ‘Mario Galaxy Video Game’ will also get a nice kick out of some of the character and enemy cards such as “Thwomp”, “Guppy”, “Bullet Bill” and “Goomba”.

A standard booster pack (retail price $2.99 AUD) contains 6 cards; 4 trading cards, 1 tattoo card and 1 pop-out standee card. Together with some trivia the tattoo and standee cards make for a little bit of extra fun out of your booster pack and something different to add to your card collection.

It must be said though that these extras mainly appeal to a younger consumer and might not hit their mark with the more astute card collector, (who is more likely to become frustrated when continually getting the same standees and tattoo cards just because there must be one of each in every packet).

With only 8 standee’s and 18 tattoo cards to collect, going through a good dozen or so booster packs means you’re mostly just hoarding around bunches of unwanted tattoos and standees in an effort to complete the whole deck of cards, which can seem rather difficult due to the fact that you only get 4 standard cards per booster pack.

Most collectors would probably prefer receiving 6 standard cards per packet with a standee or tattoo card appearing in every second or third pack.

As well as this the item cards can often seem unengaging featuring only a centred image of an item pickup with a simple background and the trivia questions (only relevant to those that have played the video game) can easily come across as more than a little dodgy to mature consumers who are probably hoping for something a little more conceptual out of the drawings and information.

Overall it’s clear that the ‘Mario Galaxy Trading Cards’ have been designed with the younger generation in mind. The make-up of the booster packs demonstrates this with its focus on fun extras as opposed to a solid card count and the very low retail price also favours youth as a consumer. This is not to say that a hardy card collector would not get into this, however for the most part these cards are for the “Nintendo” and “Mario” enthusiasts and a younger audience.

— Peter Giannoukas

FABLED GAME CHARACTER MARIO IS BACK, THIS TIME CONTINUING HIS ADVENTURES FROM ‘SUPER MARIO GALAXY’ IN AN ALL-NEW TRADING CARD FORM.


Upon purchasing ‘Pokémon Pearl’ I couldn’t help but feel a little bit excited and because of my excitement a little nerdy. The last Pokémon game I played was ‘Pokémon Blue’ when I was about 12 and I would spend hours training my Pokémon just so I could defeat my younger brother. Even though it may have been 10 years since I touched a Pokémon game, not much has really changed. Sure the visuals look great in colour and the ever increasing number of Pokémon never fail to surprise, but ‘Pearl’ is basically the same as ‘Pokémon Blue’ or ‘Red’ from back in the day.

The ability to trade, chat and battle online with other trainers is a very welcome addition, one that really separates it from its predecessors. However, the sheer stupidity of some of the new Pokémon names is borderline ridiculous for example the beaver/mouse creation “Bidoof” or the stuffed bunny “Buneary”. Although some of these names made my eyes roll, I could also understand how the young, new age “Pokémanics” would eat these up.

The game play is what you come to expect. You start off by choosing a male or female character and naming them, (in my case I

went with the nostalgic name Ash) and then of course there is your rival who always seems to be a step ahead of you no matter where you go and after that you meet the Professor and choose either a fire, water or grass type Pokémon. Then it’s off to fill your Pokédex, battle gym leaders and of course it wouldn’t be a Pokémon game without your clichéd, evil world domineering syndicate, “Team Galaxy” and their “Grunts”.

Other then beating your friends, getting the eight gym badges and conquering the League Championship, the aspect of Pokémon that hooks everyone who plays is the “Gotta Catch Em All” attitude and with 493 Pokémon to collect you’re ensured hours upon hours of game time just searching for those rare and legendary Pokémon, (for collecting 493 Pokémon is a truly satisfying feeling). For any gamers truly dedicated, you need to go into the real world and find a friend with ‘Pokémon Diamond’ as there are a few Pokémon that cannot be obtained on the ‘Pearl’ version and vise-versa. As we as this some Pokémon only evolve once traded to another player so its best to have a buddy.

Besides fighting and collecting Pokémon there are other activities you can pursue like the very girly, emasculating beauty pageant, which is at least a one-time requirement in the game. If repeating this is not to your liking then breeding Pokémon at the nursery may be. Other than the aforementioned there’s not much else to do other than collect all the secret HM’s and TM’s around world of “Sinnoh”.

5th Generation Pokemon

493 Pokémon to collect you’re ensured hours

““


Additions to the Pokémon game include the touch screen where you can get various applications ranging from a watch, step counter, Pokémon monitor and a nifty item finder which helps you find any hidden items you cannot see, but those are just a few of many different “apps”. Another addition to the game that I found interesting was that the game is played in real time. For some, this factor is annoying, while others like the idea of some Pokémon only appearing at certain times but have no fear, the time can be adjusted for those with an early bedtime.

One thing I remember from the original Pokémon games was that the game flowed pretty much in a circle going from one town to the next in an order but with Pearl I found myself lost a few times going back to every town I had visited previously and talking to almost everyone until I finally stumbled upon (in most cases) the person I should have spoken to, two towns ago. My advice, talk with everyone. The people of “Sinnoh” are very generous and you don’t want to travel back a forth, frustrated and wondering where you went wrong.

Other then the (at times) confusing game play the only other nit picking comments are that the sound still seems very similar to that from the original and very basic for a game that has added another 200 plus Pokémon since I played the game 10 years ago. Another issue I guess is the lack of originality with the game. Some people may say “don’t fix

what isn’t broke” and I guess this pays credit to the makers of the original ‘Pokémon’ for coming up with game play that has lasted over a decade, but I have no objections to the Pokémon franchise trying to push the boundaries a little more.

In short, if you have loved previous versions of the Pokémon games then you will love this. If you aren’t a fan then your not going to be after ‘Pearl’ either but one thing is certain, Pokémon is still going strong and by the time I have children and a family of my own I expect Pikachu to still be around with another 1000 plus friends and even more ridiculous names that my kids will eat up. Hopefully they will experience the joys of being a Pokémon trainer like many kids have experienced before them and in years to come. If not, then I guess they can call their dad a nerd because he’ll probably still be playing it.

— Chris Nesci

8 out of 10


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Sponge in conjunction with Fourml Creative Studio is proud to support Moonee Valley’s local music festival “Youth Fest” and its efforts in offering valuable support to the various young and talented artists within the community.

If you are a local community or business or even just someone wishing to have an event, product or franchise promoted then please contact us via email at: [email protected] regarding some advertising space within our magazine. We market to a worldwide audience spanning all across the web!

An ominous year… Where will you be? Personally, I’ll be living in a bomb shelter on the top of a mountain filled with guns, swords, garlic, crucifixes, silver bullets, anti-zombie lasers, the entire series of Buffy and Angel on DVD and a 10 year supply of cup-a-soups while trying to learn telekinesis and how to astral project myself to other dimensions.

Ok, that might be taking it a bit far, but if we were to believe EVERY theory about 2012 then it would probably be the only way to survive. For those who have never heard of the importance of 2012, let me fill you in quickly.

The worlds going to end on December 21st, 2012, there you have it.

Of course there are plenty of theories backing this up with ancient signs and prophecies, the most important of which is the Mayan Calendar. I personally have been following 2012 theories for many years now but only recently had somebody explained this one to me.

There are actually 3 calendars in the Mayan calendar: The Religious Calendar, The Solar Calendar and the Long Count. The Religious and Solar Calendars are like wheels constantly turning to match up with each other and the Long Count represents the days throughout time. Unlike the Religious and Solar Calendars the Long Count is linear and starts at day 1, counting all the way up until the end. When all the dates are added and some super smart mathematician

does his stuff we find that the Long Count ends on December 21st, 2012. Or so that theory tells us.

What is widely believed though, is that the Mayan people knew far too much about the solar system and galaxy for people who wouldn’t have even had a microscope let alone a high powered telescope that we now need to understand just what’s happening out there. So in come the extra-terrestrials.

The very first theory I heard on 2012 was by the author David Icke, pretty out there by anyone’s standards. His theory (surprisingly supported by many) is that reptilian shape shifters are running the world from the lower fourth dimension as well as the white Aryan race brought here from mars. I couldn’t possibly sum up Mr. Icke’s work in the space or time I have available so I’ll cut to the chase. The secret brotherhood running the earth from the turn of time are planning to put some form of “Agenda” in place in the year 2012, whether it be enslavement, destruction or harvesting etc of mankind, no one really knows.

On the brighter side of 2012, there is a large following to a theory suggesting a dimensional shift or a shift in consciousness. This pretty much says that the human race will ascend to a high plane, somewhat of a paradise. Of course many who believe this also believe that only the “worthy” will ascend and the rest will be stuck either here or in some sort of a dimensional hell…

My theory… Lets get meditating people!!

— Bren

The year 2012

2012

The worlds going to end

on December 21st, 2012,

there you have it.

"

"


‘Fate/Stay Night’ is a 24 episode anime series full of action, romance and fantasy and is sure to engage many viewers of all ages and genders with its great artwork and interesting storyline. Although the show suffers from some minor weaknesses, ‘FSN’ is easy to fall in love with and become addicted to.

The most intriguing part of ‘FSN’ for me is the storyline. Typically every 60 years the “Holy Grail Wars” are fought between Seven Masters and their own Servants to obtain the sacred chalice that is the Holy Grail granting one wish (each) to the last remaining Servant and Master. The most recent war however has happened prematurely, which is where ‘FSN’ picks up. If that doesn’t get your curiosity

going then what of the fact that each Servant is a reincarnation of a legendary soul from our history and various mythologies? Trying to figure out who each Servant is provides an addiction in itself.

The fight scenes in ‘FSN’ are well-animated and interesting to watch with each Servant having their own specific fighting style. They vary from being large, small, fast, slow, hand-to-hand fighters or spell casters making for enjoyable and different fight scenes all across

the series and providing insight to the viewer about who each Servant is. One thing I forgot to mention is that the Servants rarely reveal their true identities, as to know ones identity is to know ones weakness, thus the Servants name themselves according to their class and in ‘FSN’ we are introduced to Saber, Archer, Lancer, Berserker, Rider, Assassin, and Caster.

Saber is Shiro Emiya’s (our heroes’) Servant. One of the mistakes made in ‘FSN’ is Shiro’s character as he doesn’t mature in any sort of way throughout the series (he starts off as a wanker and finishes in much of the same fashion). Shiro is of the opinion that Saber (his armor clad warrior who wields a giant sword) should not fight as she is a woman and that he (being the insignificant male protagonist that he is) will fight in her place.

In some instances this is just plain stupidity. He also likes to think that he can win the Holy Grail War without having to kill anyone even though Servants and Masters are constantly trying to take him out (as he is a weakling compared to the more advanced masters). The really disappointing thing is Shiro never sees the error of his ways even at the conclusion of the series.

Where Shiro lacks evolution as a character Saber does the opposite. She goes from being a one-minded fighting machine to

a real person who deals with emotion and growth within her relationship with Shiro and the other characters. As would be expected, there is sexual tension between Shiro and Saber but as a viewer you often find yourself relating more to Saber as her role as a Servant and protector makes this romance so forbidden and difficult.

Despite some small faults with Shiro ‘FSN’ is a very enjoyable anime. Although the series probably hits its peak around the 14th episode and has a little decline towards the end (due to Caster being a relatively average final boss), the ending is still quite surprising. The revelation of Saber’s background might shock and confuse some people but I didn’t

have a problem with it and depending on how much you have invested in the characters the ending can be quite emotional.

Overall ‘Fate/Stay Night’ is a very solid anime and will provide a good watch. In some instances it could have been a bit better but by no means is this a reason to avoid it. Most viewers will enjoy this anime except those looking for in depth character building or a full scale action series.

– Chris Nesci

Fate/Stay Night

Shiro starts off as a wanker and finishes in much of the same fashion.

“

“http://sponge.fourml.com.au 13

Anberlin – New Surrender

As band after band in the pop-punk scene continue churning out their generic, mainstream records, its always refreshing to find a band willing to break away from the crowd. Anberlin’s’ most recent outing “New Surrender” does just this and is anything but generic.

Led by the truly unique talents of vocalist ‘Stephen Christian’, Anberlin deliver their best record to date. However, it is not only ‘Christian’ that shines on “New Surrender”, following his strong lead each member has risen to the occasion, demonstrating their own mastery and combining to form a monster of a band. Together they have been able to capture the youthfulness of “Never Take Friendship Personal” and the melodic aggression of “Cities” and perfectly combine the two for this release.

A major talking point of this record was the re-release of “Feel Good Drag” (a previously released track on the “Never Take Friendship Personal” album). The song hasn’t changed dramatically but instead show’s how the band has matured as a group through their choice to make the song heavier while ditching the screaming.

As far as the comparisons between “New Surrender” and “Cities” are concerned the similarities are obvious: there’s the kick ass, in your face opening tracks like “The Resistence” and “Godspeed”, and the epic finales such as “Misearbile Visu (ex malo bonum)” and “(*Fin)”, to name a few but separating the two albums is “New Surrender’s” more refined, and complete feel to it as no tracks feel out of place, where-as “Cities” lacked the link between the soft-pop and hard-aggressive songs.

Overall, Anberlin have crafted a beautiful, passionate and inspiring album.

The progression from “Cities” demonstrates a band on the rise and is a clear sign that the best of Anberlin is somewhat scarily, still to come.

“New Surrender” is a great album, although it won’t win album of the year, it definitely will not disappoint.

– Chris Nesci

01) The Resistence

02) Breaking

03) Blame Me! Blame Me!

04) Retrace

05) Feel Good Drag

06) Disappear

07) Breathe

08) Burn Out Brighter (Northern Lights)

09) Younglife

10) Haight St.

11) Soft Skeletons

12) Misearbile Visu (ex malo bonum)TR

AC

K L

ISTI

NG

(Recomended Tracks)


Children Collide – The Long Now

Three-piece Rock outfit Children Collide burst onto the scene with their energy fuelled debut album “The Long Now”.

The album describes the story of a dysfunctional human race detailing snippets of ironies, oddities and tragedies within society and at various stages alluding to a future in outer space.

The Children Collide sound is typical of a modern mainstream rock band. It bears that essence of early 2000’s indie harnessing a sound well established by the likes of Kings of Leon, The Klaxons and The Strokes but it is delivered with an upbeat and passionate rawness bringing a definitive aura of urgency and energy to their music and setting them aside from the rest.

Their lyrics are thoughtful and honest constantly delivering concerned messages of our current world climate and issues and are made all the more thought provoking through their poetic nature and passionate delivery. The band builds on this with its affinity to juxtapose extreme opposites allowing them to create extended metaphorical meanings in their lyrics and build a nice thematic depth around their songs.

This depth is vividly encompassed and conveyed through front man ‘Johnny Mackay’ whose voice delivers a solemn acceptance of the situation accompanied by a dark edge of distaste that could burst into anger at any moment.

Musically, very particular attention has been placed onto the treatment of space across the album and a key feature of this is the group’s willingness to let the music tell the story.

Many of their songs feature sparsely spread or minimalist vocal lines utilising emotive music to instead convey the messages and feelings of the pieces.

Guitars are often swinging from smooth melodic sounds of distant ocean airiness to raw, thick and pounding distortions and squeals. Similarly the bass shifts from flowing reliable low-end rhythms to its own moments of lead and coupled with some solid drums they bring about much of that feeling of urgency, which is present throughout the album.

Bringing together the whole product is renowned rock producer Dave Sardy (Oasis, Jet, Wolfmother), who adds that extra layer of slick professionalism to the final mix giving the album the perfect blend of raw energy and

TRA

CK

LIS

TIN

G 01) Across The Earth

02) Social Currency

03) Farewell Rocketship

04) Skeleton Dance

05) Seasons Changing

06) Marie Marie Pt 2

07) Chosen Armies

08) Cannibal

09) We Live In Fear

10) Economy

11) Brave Robot

12) Devil’s Child

spatial atmosphere with an A-class finish. This along with some very interesting booklet and cover art (depicting haunting images of earth and space), combine to cap off what is a very impressive first venture for this young band.

If you like rock, indie or pop, then Children Collide’s debut album “The Long Now” is an album to get your hands on.

– Peter Giannoukas

flickr.com/photos/stusev

flickr.com/photos/stusev

(Recomended Tracks)


Correct Me If I’m Wrong >:(

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“

The western world has been riding on the back of a trend for far too long and now it’s time to name it for what it is and condemn it, like all good trends. The name of this trend is ‘political correctness’. Yes, yes, yes, I know, you’re all probably thinking, “how is this possible?” People all making sure they say the right thing and carefully choosing their words so sugary that your teeth fall out while you take your insult.

When the age old favourite “Baa Baa Black Sheep” is considered too racy, when “Santa” can’t laugh “Ho Ho Ho” and when the “Seven Dwarfs” are being pushed for a change to “Gnomes” you know that things are going too far. ‘Political Correctness’ is starting to rewrite the age-old fairy tales that are entwined with nothing but innocence. No matter what the physical appearance these are stories that have never meant ill towards anyone. The “Black Sheep” was black because that was the colour of its wool; it had nothing to do with the faux pas around the word.

Are we going to have to re-name everything such as the way the “fairy penguin” (apparently a bit to gay) is now known as the “little penguin”... which then will probably continue to change to “Gnome” just like the “Seven Dwarfs”. What’s even more stupid is that the name of the penguin didn’t hurt anyone’s feelings. As Kamahl Fox, chairman of gay support group Gold Coast Breakers said, “if they were called poofter penguins or something more direct, it might be a problem but I don’t see the name fairy penguin as a mickey take.” In most cases there are no victims, just some ‘Political Correctness’ dip shit trying to protect the people that don’t care.

In up coming game release for “Resident Evil 5” the political bastards are all lining up to spat their ‘political correctness’. In the game you play as a character travelling to Rural Africa to fight the new onslaught of zombies spawning there but god forbid if you would have to kill some black zombies. The political correctness entourage felt that a white protagonist killing hordes of black zombies is racist. They seem to have conveniently failed to mention the main playable black female girl that is partnered up with him and also kicking zombie ass regardless of the colour of that zombies ass. What is even more outrageous is that the previous installment (Resident Evil 4) was based in Spain but no one even mentioned racism.

Don’t get me wrong; a little political correctness can be great when your stepping on eggshells or sucking up but stand up and call it for what it is. I mean for god sake, we have obese people wandering the streets looking for their next person to eat and people in the media calling them “curvy”. That bastard isn’t curvy; he’s just a fat bastard. By no means am I saying go forth and relate Indians to curry because that is only showing your immaturity and stupidity. Political Correctness has made us see that words do hurt people but when a trend starts to change innocent fairy tales and assure people that they are a healthy weight of 200kg then you know the apple has gone sour. — Michael Mason

Baa Baa Black Sheep is considered too racy

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Sponge in conjunction with Fourml Creative Studio is proud to support the Moonee Valley City Council’s short film festival “Fling Fest” and its endeavours to encourage, support and provide outlet for the creativity of youth within the community.

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