Words: James Frostick
Band image: Gen Kay
In August, Naarm/Melbourne-based aural agitators and power-punk pugilists Clamm will return to the spotlight to release Care – a new LP featuring 15 tracks of focused furore – through Chapter Music. The trio are getting the cogs of the hype machine cranking with lead single ‘Bit Much’, a sprinting spanker that funnels the anxiety associated with living in a collapsing society into a fiery three-minute fracas. Continue reading Listen: CLAMM – ‘BIT MUCH’
Words: James Frostick
Band image: Charlie Hillhouse
Frosty synth-pop three-piece 100% has awoken from an elongated hibernation period with new sounds to share. Last week the Naarm and Meanjin-based group released ‘Abandon’, a composition imbued with the group’s signature coolly detached atmospherics and operatic, moonlight-clothed glamour. It preludes the release of the trio’s debut album, Clear Visions, which will be released later this year via esteemed underground hit factory It Records.
Words: James Frostick
Artist image: Nicole Reed
Naarm/Melbourne duo Vacuum sowed some sensational aural discord when they dropped their self-titled debut album through Heavy Machinery Records and It Records back in February. After letting our brains marinate in their brand of knotted industrial unce for just over a month, the duo is reaching out once more from the strobe and shadow to gift us with their self-directed and produced visual treatment for standout slice ‘I’ll Call You’ – an unsettling-yet-hypnotic montage that pairs perfectly with its sinisterly sneaking soundtrack.
Words: James Frostick
Band photos: Anita Shao
Some familiar faces from Naarm/Melbourne’s musical melting pot have thrown their talents together to form Skid City, an eruptive and disruptive quintet specialising in no-frills rock ‘n’ roll. Ahead of the April release of the group’s debut LP, Skid City are gifting the world a teensy taste in the form of ‘Blue’ – a masterclass in haywire, white-knuckled ruckus that sounds timeless and essential.
Words: James Frostick
Band image: Ben Salter
Today Lutruwita/Tasmania-based trio Free Live Sports releases Stay Grounded, its first ever set of recordings put to tape. Over nine tracks the group cannily cobble together a collection of rough-hewn hooks, rickety riffs and rattletrap rhythms that belie the majority of the group’s neophyte abilities. Prioritising instinct over technique, Stay Grounded showcases the group’s keen sense for sound and ethos of placing fun over fidelity to engaging results.
Continue reading Premiere: FREE LIVE SPORTS – STAY GROUNDED (ROUGH SKIES RECORDS, 2021)
Words: James Frostick
Band image: Gus Hunt
Cover art: Jill Wilkinson
In just over a month’s time, Eora Country/Sydney group Shrapnel will release its new long-play effort Alasitas. Lead single ‘Orpheum Protocol’ showcases a sonic departure for the group, which builds upon existing guitar-centric foundations and accentuates them with some charmingly off-centre instrumentation – hinting towards a newfound freedom and flexibility in sound. Continue reading Premiere: SHRAPNEL – ‘ORPHEUM PROTOCOL’
Words: James Frostick
Artist image: Aaron Claringbold
Ela Stiles is today releasing a white-knuckled, adrenaline-fuelled remix of ‘Vilification Brunch’ – a similarly visceral number by post-punk foursome Voice Imitator. The remix swaps Voice Imitator’s motorik chug and echoing whispers for a wired pulsing synth thump, bringing the band’s deadpan and surrealist critique on modern living into sharp relief without lessening any of its minatory qualities.
Continue reading Premiere: ELA Stiles / VOICE IMITATOR– ‘VILIFICATION BRUNCH’ (REMIX)
Words: James Frostick
Meanjin/Brisbane-based experimental-pop troika Spirit Bunny are today releasing the second track from their forthcoming album Uncanny Valley. Inspired and informed by relentless shellacking endured during sub-tropical summers, ‘Stomping’ sees Spirit Bunny maintaining composure even as sweat drips into their eyes and over their repurposed instruments.
Words: James Frostick
Band image: Elizabeth Riley
Following hot on the heels of previous single ‘Temporary Solution’, Naarm/Melbourne-based indie rock quintet The Vovos are saying good riddance to bad rubbish with follow-up single ‘Spring Cleaning’. This animated number showcases the group’s mature attitude to dealing with unrewarding friendships – consciously uncoupling from low-value folks in favour of more nourishing relationships.
Words: James Frostick
Artist image: Alex Gordon-Smith
Kaurna Country-based collective Dom & The Wizards are mere weeks away from the release of forthcoming record The Australian Cyclone Intensity Scale (out on April 2 via Tenth Court), but are squeezing in one more appetiser in the form of new single ‘Classical Antiquity Sunsets’. The track sees bandleader Dom continuing his marvellous storytelling streak, weaving sinister tales set to the kind of sun-warped music that can only emanate from his corner of the continent. Continue reading Premiere: DOM & THE WIZARDS – ‘CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY SUNSETS’
Weirdo Wasteland 