This is one of the most surprising releases of the year to me. Avantdale Bowling Club is a powerful, personal, and deeply musical piece of work. Without the liner notes in front of me to check the track credits, all that is really known to me is that the creator and MC behind Avantdale Bowling Club is New Zealand's Tom Scott, who better than me can sum up the heart of the album ... "This record is about... growing up. I think. It's about dealing with your own stuff for once. Accepting responsibility, maybe. It's a self help book addressed to myself. And just like every other piece of art ever made in history of the hominid, I was going through some shit when I was making it. I'd just left home and everyone I knew, looking to chase a dream. It was an awkward phase, like stage two puberty. I was learning how to be grown. Humility had my pride in a headlock. I was the old man at the art exhibition, the young boy at the art gallery. Everyone was in a K-hole, I was at K-Mart." Hear Avantdale Bowling Club's self-titled album below - right now, it's a highly recommended listen...