Hero Or Dirt? by Barrage

One of the finest electro pop records released in Australia ever. Laden with incredible compositions, a stunning achievement and a world-class release.
Scene Magazine (Brisbane, Australia)
FBI RADIO ALBUM OF THE WEEK

Released in March 2005 / FM12

Indie / Electro-Pop / Experimental

Hero Or Dirt? is Barrage's debut album and was released mid-2005. It's certainly one of the finest albums we have had the pleasure to release. Barrage has now evolved into Mark Barrage - his up-to-date bio and info on his amazing new album Delays is available at the Mistletone website

1. Hour Of Pink Dominoes 2:52
2. Fantasy Number 2:37
3. Shift 1:46
4. Unconvinced 1:59
5. Cankers In Skillet 2:05
6. Unsentimental 2:28
7. Marceline 3:27
8. Tides 2:40
9. Dissipation 1:49
10. Corridor 2:53
11. Lucifer Song 2:19
12. Sad Box 2:19
13. Projection Of Defeat 3:01
14. No Away Out 3:44
15. Infidelity 2:15
16. Mouth Lace 2:12

Barrage website
Barrage myspace site

“. . . this record is laden with incredible compositions. Hero or Dirt? is a stunning achievement made even more surprising given that it is Barrage’s debut. It is accessible without compromise, and unique in its understated experimentalism – a world-class release.”
S7digital (www.spinach7.com)

“ Hero or Genius? . . . ‘Hero or Dirt?’ is one of finest electro pop records released in Australia ever. Barrage is Mark Gomes, a man drowning in his own melancholy. Second track ‘Fantasy Number’ encapsulates Barrage, lo-fi electro that swells with Morrisey-esque imagery.
‘Hero or Dirt?’s masterpiece is ‘Lucifer’ a track which reminds one of Barrage’s subtle ability to write a song which is steeped in teenage desperation, rejection and heartbreak, yet the song is about satan. ‘Lucifer’ is more fragile than any song Phil Elvrum could write, more touching than any Chan Marshall ballad, more haunting than any GYBE! piece and more sincere than Patrick Wolf’s schtick. Barrage is an introspective songsmith who will make you dance and then cry.” Scene Magazine (Brisbane, Australia)

(4 stars) “With the austere moodiness of early 80s new romanticism and the bounce-riddled aesthetics of early 90s melodic electronics,
the record has a strangely distrurbing edge.”
The Big Issue

Mark Gomes (ex-Lovepack) has dropped a bewitching debut album — in a perfect world the sleeve would be bound in leather and lace with Gomes personally delivering each copy. This precious document is woven with care, decorated with buzzing tones and sustained pitches that gather, warm and raw, ‘round syncopated, shifting drum hops.
Mess and Noise