From Two live in Newcastle, one lives in Cairns

As far as musical about-faces go, they don't come much more extreme than switching from drumming in a jazz outfit to fronting an exhilarating pop-punk mob. That's what happened to Jenna McDougall in the two years between her meeting bass player Cameron Adler and him and his mates inviting her to sing for their then fledgling band, Tonight Alive, in 2008. Three years later, the Sydney five-piece have funded, recorded and sold more than 20,000 copies of their debut EP, All ShapesDisguises, signed a deal with record company giant Sony Music and spent the past few months in Los Angeles recording their imminent debut album with producer Mark Trombino (Blink-182, Jimmy Eat World). ''I think [going to] the US was the best thing we've ever done,'' says McDougall, who is, admittedly, still only 18. ''Everyone just worked really well together and I think the album is probably going to be everything we wanted it to be.'' The first single from it, Wasting Away, provides a shamelessly catchy signpost to what to expect - and Tonight Alive make no apologies for that. ''I don't think it's something you can deny, really,'' McDougall says. ''It sort of just came out of us and we weren't gonna try and push it away. ''We all listen to punk, we all listen to metal but you can't escape pop - and I don't think it's such a bad idea to infuse the two.'' THE LAST KINECTION Genre Indigenous hip-hop.From Two live in Newcastle, one lives in Cairns. Label Elefant Traks.Coming gigs March 26, 10am-6pm, Platform Hip-Hop Festival at the Block, Redfern, free. To describe siblings Naomi and Joel Wenitong and their DJ pal Jacob Turier as enjoying a resurrection with their crew the Last Kinection isn't far from the truth - literally as well as creatively. Not only were they all previously successful with other outfits (Naomi with the RB-pop confection Shakaya, Joel and Turier with indigenous hip-hop trailblazers Local Knowledge), they were lucky to survive a horrendous car crash in 2008. Now working on their second - and likely breakthrough - album, Next of Kin, they're on to what Joel describes as ''the happy half''. ''The first half was songs we wrote after the car accident, so they were kind of pretty intense,'' he says. ''We are up to some more upbeat, kind of 'I survived' Rosetta Stone Arabic songs now.'' Proudly Aboriginal, the Last Kinection's heritage not only informs their funky, forward-thinking but accessible hip-hop, Wenitong believes it makes them unique. ''It's just who we are,'' he says. ''It opens up so much more, I guess, originality in the music and so many more areas that no one else does do or even can do, for that matter. The songs we've been working on now, we've just been putting some [Aboriginal] language, lingo chants over the top and it just sounds like nothing else - and it means something, as well, to us.'' LUKE DICKENS Genre Between rock and a country place.From Young, NSW.Rural Press Events.Coming gigs March 11, 8.30pm, Riverstone Schofields Memorial Club, free. You may remember him from such TV shows as Australian Idol (2008 season). Luke Dickens was the sheep shearer from Young who entered the TV talent show for a bit of a laugh, discovered he was pretty good and came second in the whole thing. Having since decided to make a proper go of this music lark, Dickens released an album of good-time blues-rock last year (Underdog) and has lately found a new audience as winner of the prestigious Star Maker contest at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in January. ''I won't be changin' my style up none,'' he says, in typical no-nonsense fashion, ''but the music, we're certainly gonna transpose it slightly so that the city guys and the blues lovers and the country lovers are all gonna have something there for 'em.''

Posted in: Rosetta Stone,Rosetta Stone Outlet,rosetta stone software,Rosetta Stone V3