New tracks and first thoughts can be found here.
Words: James Frostick
Band image: Felix Mooneeram
Less than a month into 2020 and we have a frontrunner for song of the year. Melbourne power-pop five-piece Romero is dropping a double A-side brimming with trenchant energy. Brilliantly radiant and uncompromising from the outset, ‘Honey’ is the kind of summer-appropriate track we could use during a period of noxious current affairs.
Words: James Frostick
Artist image: Tim Hardy
Canberra-based neo-synth-pop artist Gus McGrath aka California Girls is releasing the second track from his forthcoming record Beat Boy. ‘Small Birds’ is an irresistibly danceable track that places the listener in the bowels of a pulsing subterranean rave as Gus moves through a heaving mass of bodies, searching for true intimacy amid an uncaring world hooked on physical immediacy.
Words: James Frostick
Image: Charlotte Tobin
In between period of activity with Hierophants and Parsnip, Melbourne musician Paris Rebel Richens has been slowly chipping away at a collection of solo recordings. Operating under the name P.P. Rebel, Paris has assembled these songs (all self-written, performed and recorded) into P.P Is… Peeping Piebald Past The Night! a solo tape set for release in November. ‘Where The Quiet Go’ is the album’s springy lead single, a track born from the contemplation-inducing solitude of silence, but is not beholden to it.
Continue reading Premiere: P.P. REBEL – ‘WHERE THE QUIET GO’
Words: James Frostick
Band image: Jake Quentin Lewis-Hurn (@cockneytravels)
Boasting a hearty dose of sonic savagery and ruinous punk chug, Future Suck gives ears a taste of a forthcoming cassette release with ‘Brat’. This demo track is short, sweet and to the point, which is the best way to introduce yourself when ears are being pulled in every direction.
Words: James Frostick
It’s been 15-odd months since Melbourne hard-rockin’ trio Power took us on a high-octane joyride with their Turned On LP, and now someone’s gone and given them the damn keys again. This outing, Power is only zipping a quick circuit with a two-track 7-inch single, but they’re pressing the accelerator even harder than before. Power peels out and away with a blistering intensity that leaves nothing behind but a scent of petrol fumes and burnt rubber.
Continue reading Listen: POWER – ‘THE FOOL’/’GIVE IT ALL TO ME’
Words: James Frostick
Band pic: Bill Golding
Draped in black leather and black denim, Melbourne’s full-moon rock’n’rollers ROT T.V. are on the cusp of dropping their very first 7-inch single. The single’s A-side track F.D.A. is a suitably full-throttle introduction. Here – fuelled by a hungry intensity and boasting a carnivorous edge – ROT T.V. circles like a pack of predatory animals, gradually wearing down your defences until they’re close enough to bite.
Words: James Frostick
Band photo: Chloe Mullowney
Album art: Jonno Ross-Brewin and James Kane
Melbourne five-piece Program (featuring members of The Stroppies, The Blinds, The Faculty, Meter Men and DARTS) is today announcing the mid-October release of Show Me – the band’s debut LP – through Anti Fade Records. Spearheading the announcement is the album lead single ‘Motorbike’ – a track of classic rock-radio-tinged melody mixed with a charming dollop of Australian twang. Although easy on the ears, the song’s breezy sound carries a feeling of earnest yearning – like you’re stuck inside while the outside world basks in the glory of a beautiful day.
