Benalla, a sleepy town in Victoria's North East, is not the kind of place you would expect to find the likes of rock songwriter/musician Lisa Maxwell. Yet Benalla is where Lisa wrote and recorded her debut album, a high-energy, ferocious, melodic, direct, honest, tongue-in-cheek, paradoxical production titled Select Vacancy.

So, how does such a rock album come to fruition in a place renowned for its laid-back, latte-by-the-lake lifestyle?

Following the positive response to her song Say What I Mean on 2003's Bent Incubator compilation, Lisa recorded a bunch of raw, guitar-based tracks that displayed a keen pop-rock sensibility, which would become her 2005 debut EP Bad Day. The EP produced the Rage (ABC-TV) and Rage On Demand viewer favourite Harmonic Rock, a chaotic instrumental with a video inspired by the Japanese horror film Ring. Tracks from the EP received national airplay in Australia and a favourable response and airplay in the UK, Japan, USA, and Canada, as did follow-up single Never Coming Back Here Again.

2004 and 2005 saw Lisa perform her music in many live incarnations: as a four-on-the-floor rock band, a drums-and-guitar two piece not unlike the White Stripes, with multiple tracks of pre-recorded sound effects, some striking solo acoustic performances and finally a three piece band line-up. Translating her material for such a variety of settings got Lisa thinking about different production and songwriting directions for her debut long player.

'There has been a lot of refining, re-recording, remixing and writing happening,' explains Lisa, 'not to mention lots of different influences encountered throughout the recording process.'

A variety of instruments and sounds can be heard on Select Vacancy: dulcimer, Wurlitzer piano and 'fly spray can' slide on Not So Easy, subsonic bass and a hint of synth on Out Of Sight, slide guitar on Same Story and 80's-inspired keyboards and electronic rhythmic sounds courtesy of a collaboration with producer Chris Gates on Waste Of A Life. Even pieces of Lisa's original demos, recorded herself on her laptop computer with a $10 microphone, made it into the final mix.

The title track and opener, Select Vacancy, is packed with energy and intense melancholy. Rampant guitars are fronted by Lisa's vitriolic snarl on Anna, while the ferocity of I Know has had listeners drawing favourable comparisons to the likes of Queens Of The Stone Age. Then again, fans and critics alike have also mentioned Divinyls, Powderfinger, Blondie and Nirvana in trying to describe Lisa Maxwell's sound.

Hear for yourself: we recommend playing this one loud. Enjoy it.

Feel a little more neurotic and isolated than usual...

"Walls of guitars playing host to a disturbingly powerful set of lungs" - Border Mail

"The catch line, Don’t say I will still ringing in my brain for days after hearing it, what a hook!" - TheDwarf.com.au

"This debut album shows the striking talent she possesses, in her well-crafted and often confronting songs" - Mediasearch

Downloads:

• Press Photo 1 (300 dpi)
  
• Press Photo 2 (300 dpi)
  

Discography

	Select Vacancy Format: CD Album Released: August 2006 1. Select Vacancy 2. Anna 3. I Know 4. Waste Of A Life 5. Delusion 6. Secrets And Lies 7. Not So Easy 8. Never Coming Back Here Again 9. Harmonic Rock 10. Same Story 11. Out Of Sight
	Never Coming Back Here Again Format: CD ejector single Released: November 2005 1. Never Coming Back Here Again 2. Same Story (single version) 3. Never Coming Back Here Again (Piano Mix)
	Bad Day Format: CD-EP Released: February 2005 1. Bad Day 2. Delusion 3. Ego 4. Harmonic Rock 5. Whatever You Say
	The Bent Incubator Format: Compilation CD Released: July 2003 Various artists from North East Victoria, featuring Lisa's tracks 'Say What I Mean' and 'Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind'.