"Out and Down" b/w "Francisee" is the latest 45 from Sydney's Straight Arrows. Recorded/artwork by Owen Penglis. Limited to 300 copies. 

I've heard the name of Australia's Straight Arrows mentioned quite a few times over the last decade or so. Somehow though, I have never actually consciously HEARD them til this recently released two songer on Spacecase Records.

There's a durability in the way some bands can have guitars wring and twist Byrdsian chimes into curious, different new shapes. "Out and Down" is one of those kinds of songs that does that thing. Wrap a blanket of fuzz around that mutated jangle, add a swing that's well adept in both stomp & way. Then dip it in a light & chilly mist of echo. Don't worry about it getting too icy though. The heat coming off of Owen Penglis' bratty bellow practically starts a fire.
--Dale Merrill, Smashin' Transistors

Sydney, Australia’s coolest group of guitar slingers dropped a new 7″ on Spacecase Records for 2018. Two new guitar-driven garage bangers fill the grooves on this single, combining for nearly 5 minutes of pure, unadulterated rock and roll.

This single looks to be their first release on a US-based record label since their sophomore LP on Hozac Records. It’s a glorious return to form for the Sydney 4-piece, who never really lost their step anyway – they were just quiet all through 2017. But if this single is any indication, that’s all about to change…

“Out & Down” opens with a gritty guitar tangle, quickly creating that infectious element that always seems to spearhead any Straight Arrows material. Frontman Owen Penglis leads the way with his distinctly boyish snarl, complete with some distant vocal howling in the background. “Every day I worry what my life’s about,” he cries, and he’s certainly not alone. The second half of the track is splintered with some buzzy guitar soloing, laying down a perfectly chaotic finale to this energetic single.

B-side “Francisee” is fast-paced cave stomper of sorts, driven by the steady pummel of the kick drum. Penglis sings as if he had dollar signs for eyes, imagining heavy pockets and a thick wallet from all his incoming cash. The bruising track follows through with its relentless attack for a full minute and a half, eventually burning out and coming to a screeching halt. There’s the lone formula of simplicity that they clung to for these two tracks, proving in only 5 minutes time that sometimes less truly is more.
--Styrofoam Drone