PARADISE RIFLEBIRDS deliver a rare gem with “Victorian Evening”.

WORDS: Graham Ashton PHOTOGRAPHY Supplied

PARADISE RIFLEBIRDS are the perfect example of a band that make music for the right reasons. This commitment to art for arts sake shines through in the songs on “Victorian Evening”.

Emerging in Brisbane in the late 2000s as ‘The Riflebirds’ on LoFly Records, they played at iconic Australian venues such as the Zoo and the Hangar in Brisbane and the Esplanade Hotel in Melbourne before serious illness and unchecked perfectionism cruelled their momentum. One name change and a slew of singles later, The Paradise Riflebirds unleash their debut album.

Produced by Lee Cardan at Sunshine Recorder Studios in Melbourne and Konstatin Kersting at Airlock Studios in Brisbane, the album explores themes of nostalgia, poverty, violence, abandonment, corruption, isolation, entrapment and escape through the lens of remote and rural Australia. Consisting of Simon John, Joel Edmondson and John Tulloch, wrangling guest bassist Tom Fraser and drummer Toby Bender for the album.

“Victorian Evening” is a wild sonic ride full of surprises. Standout songs like “Goat Paths To Nowhere” and “Cannon In The Yard” takes surprising turns where the listener comes out the other side in a better place. PARADISE RIFLEBIRDS are a band made up of members from the four corners of the globe. “Victorian Evening” is a cohesive statement despite adventurous arrangements held together by intensely creative personal lyrics.

This is an album for music fans that listen for the right reasons.