by Meaghan Weiley (@weileycyrus)
Thinking of the name Heir Traffic immediately draws me to their dissonant, gut-punching live shows. Vocalist Hugh Mitchell usually stands front and centre, swaying fervently - microphone in one hand, its stand clasped firmly in the other. Often at times you’ll find Hugh’s substituted it for a pint of beer, the amber liquid sloshing as it struggles to keep up with him. Whilst all this occurs, guitarist Zac Marshman shoves his car keys between his guitar strings, football team lanyard dangling from the guitar’s neck. It’s a harmonious kind of chaos.
Now, following up 2019’s local cult hit “Is To Clamber, To Climb?” (so much of a cult hit a Facebook meme group was formed), Heir Traffic’s double single “The Roman Road / The Bellows” continues the Melbourne band’s dip into discordant post-punk. Recorded in Frankston by keyboardist Joe Nurrish, the singles strive to encapsulate their live performances - Mitchell spitting his poetic rambles, ever complimented by a barrage of drums and guitar. They’re two singles restrained from pushing beyond their boundaries; tight, compact, loaded with pressure - in the band’s own words, they’re pure “tempered unrest - both raw and equally hermetic.”