After a brief brain explosion of 'don't know what the fuck to listen to' whilst driving home last Friday night I shifted my Ipod into shuffle mode which is something I rarely do and probably should try more often. A few skips forward between Arrested Development and maybe a Madonna track (how did that get in there? hmmm) I came across an old fave The Minders. Happy surf rock acoustic something - perhaps Jack Johnson should take a leaf from their book... no he needs the entire tree.
The Minders have been playing together for 8 years since their conception in Colorado and are well respected with music types throughout the US. They also belong to the great indie label, The Elephant Six Collective, who've spun out the likes of Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control and SClub favourites Of Montreal (they just completed a US tour with the latter).
Bright, Guilty World was released last July and is a top little number considering it's their 6th full length. Here's a track 'Don't Stop' off the album as well as Elliot Smith covering their hit 'Hooray for Tuesday'.

After coming across The Minders on that same car trip home, I browsed through my iPod to find more tracks and accidently stumbled across Sydney band, Minder. Another band that had been lost in my faulty iPod hard drive. Minder are melodic rock at its best - something the Sydney scene is perhaps lacking(?). Although The Forgotten Army is back... maybe a revival is on the way.
Check out this track from their debut self titled EP. Also go and see them if you get a chance. They do a killer live show.