In the past few years, Australian music has made a significant international  impact. After Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know,” we arrive at a more recent phenomenon: The Jezabels. The ‘Intensindie’ quartet plays a fusion of alternative rock and indie pop that seeks to please.

The band was founded in 2007, when Hayley Mary (vocals), Heather Shannon (keys), and Samuel Lockwood (guitar) met at the University of Sydney and became, as Lockwood describes, “slightly friends.”

The trio bonded over a mutual adoration for music and their previous (and temporary) “experimentation with other musical ventures.” They soon found their fourth and final band mate: Nik Kaloper.

“The Jezabels really came together when we found Nik. That’s when we knew that this hobby of ours was turning serious; serious enough for this to be a career for us all,” explains Lockwood.

Finding themselves collectively inspired by Arcade Fire, The National, and Radiohead, their sound reflects the “theatrical ‘80s” that they describe as “loud and melodic.” Ever since their 2007 debut album Prisoners, which they saw as a “panoramic study of tension and emancipation,” they have since released a trilogy of stylistically fluent EPs.

Promoting Prisoners, the band is winding down their global tour in North America (with Yukon Blonde), before finishing things off in Europe (alongside Skunk Anansie).

“It’s funny to see where your music strikes a chord geographically with an audience. Never in our wildest dreams did we think Ireland, Germany, America, and Canada would have reacted to our musicianship the way they have,” says Lockwood.

In addition to garnering exuberant support from an international community of fans, The Jezabels’ musical energy has landed them spots on top US charts, iTunes Australia’s “Song of the Week,” as well as AIR and APRA nominations. Their most recent source of excitement: winning the “Best Independent Artist” award from the Australian Independent Record Labels Association.

“It’s such a privilege. We’re really, really stoked. Since we’re completely independent in Australia, this win concretes the fact that staying so was a good decision for us. We’ve learned that independence in the music industry in any way, shape, or form, is essential to our experimentation,” says Lockwood.

The Jezabels’ future plans consist of expanding their fan base and returning to the road with even more musical offerings. This time around, an album is on the agenda. “We’re all itching to write a really, really great album that will lead us to another tour,” says Lockwood. “We’re finding this ‘touring’ thing to be pretty addictive!”

The grandiose drama and Gothic approach characteristic of their distinct sound has undeniably reached far beyond Australian borders, and The Jezabels are maintaining a pace that’s bound to increase. If you’re into Australian accents and powerful yet elegantly structured “Intensindie,” The Jezabels provide all this and more, on a rock-infused platform.

The Jezabels are playing tonight, 8 p.m. at at Cabaret du Mile-End (5240 Avenue du Parc). Admission is $28.95. 

HITS

The Mindy Project (FOX, Tuesdays @ 9:30p.m.)

The Mindy Project was a hit even before its premiere on Sept. 25. Creator, writer, and lead actress Mindy Kaling, who gained fame as the pop culture obsessed Kelly Kapoor on The Office, is to thank for its success. The show’s pilot was one of the most discussed during the May TV previews, and it hasn’t disappointed. Mindy humourously plays a OB/GYN desperate for love, but distracted by the two handsome doctors who are definitely not what she is looking for. FOX has faith in its New Girl companion, and has picked it up for a full season.

Elementary (CBS, Thursdays @ 10 PM)

In its  re-imagining of Sherlock Holmes, CBS has a surefire hit with its new crime drama Elementary. The show is set in the Big Apple with Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Watson. The chemistry between Elementary’s two stars is already pleasing fans. CBS has placed the show on Thursday night, a good sign of confidence. Audience favourites include the female spin on Watson, and a none-too-sober Holmes, to bring viewers back to what they know and love. In a land of SVUs and CSIs, Elementary is a nice break from the normal procedural drama, and is definitely worth a view.

UP IN THE AIR

Revolution (NBC, Mondays @ 10 PM)

NBC has high hopes for Revolution, a post-apocalyptic science fiction drama. The series deals with an unknown phenomenon that disabled all electricity-dependent technology on earth. After a huge marketing push, NBC has deemed Revolution’s performance reliable enough to pick it up for a full season. Even though the concept seems intriguing, the show still gives off a “seen it” vibe, and lacks a captivating cast, aside from Giancarlo Esposito of recent Breaking Bad fame. Revolution is definitely worth checking out—but as viewers have learned with Alcatraz, just because J. J. Abrams stamps a show with an executive producer credit, doesn’t mean it’s the next Lost.

The New Normal (NBC, Tuesdays @ 9:30 PM)

Ryan Murphy, creator of Glee and American Horror Story, brings us The New Normal, a cute, fast-paced sitcom. Deemed a mix of Modern Family and Glee, the show focuses on a gay couple in California that uses a surrogate to have a baby. The pilot was captivating, and featured great comedic and emotional performances from its star-studded cast, comprised of Justin Bartha (The Hangover), Andrew Rannells (Girls), and Ellen Barkin. The show tapers off after its pilot, but is still worth watching to catch Barkin as a Sue Slyvester-type conservative grandmother, completely opposed to her granddaughter helping out a gay couple with their dream of having a family. Even though NBC has picked the show up for a full season, concerns arise over whether its creative edge will continue—Ryan Murphy is probably one of the busiest men in Hollywood, juggling three shows at once. He can’t be everywhere—or can he?

MISSES

The Neighbors (ABC, Wednesdays @ 8:30 PM)

ABC’s new alien/family comedy hybrid is a definite miss. The alphabet network seemed to have high hopes for The Neighbors, giving it the time slot immediately following Modern Family for its premiere. Negative reviews and concerns that alien jokes will quickly become stale are giving the network cause to worry. The show deals with a New Jersey family that moves into a gated community swarming with aliens, who had overtaken a new development complex years earlier. Don’t be surprised if you see ABC yank this one from its schedule in the weeks to come.

Guys With Kids (NBC, Wednesdays @ 8:30 PM)

When Jimmy Fallon announced he was involved in a new NBC comedy, the Twitterverse erupted. Disappointingly however, Guys With Kids hasn’t met expectations. Anthony Anderson stars in this comedy about men in their 30s with newborn children; the jokes are generic, and the idea feels a little too reminiscent of the recent film What To Expect When You’re Expecting. Since its Wednesday night partner Animal Practice (which starred Justin Kirk of Weeds as a veterinarian) has already been cancelled, things are not looking good for Guys With Kids.

“They’re in our house maybe ten minutes and already Mark’s lecturing us on the Israeli occupation. Mark and Lauren live in Jerusalem, and people from there think it gives them the right.”

So read the opening lines of Nathan Englander’s What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, his award-winning short story collection.

At first glance, Englander tackles the contemporary version of the Jewish Question. What is the relationship between  secular Jews and the orthodox? What about those who live in Israel­—are they any more Jewish (whatever that means today) than those who stayed in the U.S.? How should we treat the tragedy that was the Holocaust (even here, the dilemma arises: was or is?) with due respect while moving on with our lives?

Englander’s dialogue flows in beautifully rhythmic Yiddish cadences, familiar to anyone who’s watched an episode of Seinfeld. Englander is a careful observer, but is not as much of a minimalist as Raymond Carver (whose What We Talk About When We Talk About Love influenced this collection). Carver treats love, and all its discontents, with sharp vignettes; his writing is cold and sparse, with the occasional instance of insight emerging like the top of some grim iceberg. Englander, however, is more open to exploring the ideas which grip his characters, leading readers to identify with them immediately, in a less pessimistic sense. Whether readers are Jewish or not, the characters’ happiness is ours; their vices, their weaknesses, are ours too.

In broader terms, however, Englander’s stories speak to the challenges of being an artist—in this case, a writer. There are two requisites to writing—knowing how to write, and having something to write about.  Englander’s generation was bestowed with happy childhoods, devoid of what has been historically used as creative fuel. They’ve been lucky enough to avoid both abject poverty and the carnage of war; the only worthy topic left is love.

Hemingway once said that there is nothing to writing—all you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. Englander follows suit, at his most honest and vulnerable when writing about an old flame. His candid style verges on an intimate rambling in “Everything I Know About My Family on My Mother’s Side,” the collection’s most touching story. Here, Englander mixes equal doses of regret and self-fulfilment, as he wrestles with his identity to find fodder for his stories, and mourns the loss of his first love.

In truth, however, Englander moves beyond the mainstays of love, poverty, and war. Some say an artist must learn how to show beauty in the mundane; if so, Englander writes what he knows, and writes it with plainspoken honesty, peppered with sharp, perfectly timed wit.  With a keen eye for the poignant instances which colour our lives, Englander has produced a masterfully written collection of short stories. Like all good writing, it’s what we talk about when we talk about being human.

“Buddy, what’s happening? How’s the weekend?”

“Hey dude, same old. But, I did see this movie—the one produced by Luc Besson? The guy that directed Leon: The Professional and The Fifth Element. Oh, that’s what it was—Taken 2, with Liam Neeson.”

“Man, I loved the first Taken! When he plays Bryan Mills, that retired security specialist that wreaks havoc and gets his daughter back from these European gangsters? It was like watching my dad play a secret agent. I loved that!”

“Yeah, this one is kind of similar, but even more awesome. This time around though, all the leftover gangsters from the first movie want to kill Mills because he killed their gangster friends. While he’s in Istanbul with his family, they go all… well, Taken on him, and grab him and his wife, while his daughter helps out.”

“I don’t know, it sounds pretty much like the first movie… I mean, even the bad guys are the same, right?”

“Well, yeah, but this time, there are all these subplots. Like, he’s getting back together with his ex-wife, and his daughter can’t drive and has a boyfriend—so I connect with it more now. Now that I think about it, I guess they’re all pretty lame, and don’t really serve the story, but at least there’s some filler there, right?”

“Uhhh… I don’t know dude, sounds kind of weak. What about all the action, was that decent? The first one had some cool sequences, this one must have some of those too, right?”

“Oh yeah, for sure! I mean, I think it did. It was shot all shaky and close up, so you couldn’t really see what was going on during the fights and car chases. But then again, that’s what it feels like to be in the middle of the action, right?”

“Yeah… I’m not so sure. It sounds like it was just a poor call on the director’s part.”

“Well, that could be. But dude, the script was really sharp. Neeson used this really clever thing where he got the daughter to throw grenades all over Istanbul so that he could hear where they blew up and calculate where she was, so that she could find him and bring him a gun. They did that for about 15 minutes, which was a little repetitive I guess, but—”

“Wait, wait, that’s not a sharp script at all. That’s lame. Did it have any cool dialogue, at least? The first one had that awesome line that everyone always remembers, the one where Mills says ‘I don’t know who you are, I don’t know what you want, but if you don’t let my daughter go, I will find you and I will kill you.’”

“Yeah, I mean, he’s taken in this one, so he doesn’t really have a chance to make threatening phone calls. I noticed that he gives really good directions over the phone, which, you know, is super rare, so that was kind of cool.”

“Dude, my dad is terrible at directions.”