NEWS
Premieres / Exclusives
Premiere: Damien Binder declares ‘I Can’t Believe My Mind’ with a delicious poetic and melancholic muscularity.
Damien Binder is a unique artist who balances incredible productivity with constant quality – a firm favourite here at the antipodean outpost of Backseat Mafia. He has followed up the…
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Single Premiere: Dolium – All My Sins
Lo-fi/post-punk/scuzz-rockers Dolium return with a brand new explosive single ‘ All My Sins’ and BSM is honoured to bring you the premiere. Out today via Sister 9 Recordings, the track is the…
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Premiere: The Hunter Express slink into view on atmospheric new single ‘Easier’.
There’s a particular kind of songwriting that only arrives when you stop trying to write it. That’s the space The Hunter Express found themselves in with ‘Easier’, the…
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Premiere: Chris Masuak’s Dog Soldier exclusively unveil video for ‘The Shiny Side’ as former Radio Birdman guitarist locks in East Coast dates for ‘The Shiny Side Tour’
Chris ‘Klondike’ Masuak doesn’t do things by halves, and neither does the title track of his self-titled album with Dog Soldier. Backseat Mafia is thrilled to premiere the…
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Premiere: ‘Bad News Travels Fast’ – The Psychotic Turnbuckles are back wrestling in the ring after 32 years, and it’s a slam dunk.
In the congested gig listings of the late eighties in Sydney, the Psychotic Turnbuckles were frequent visitors with their wrestling tropes, outrageous wigs and a larrikin sense of humour…
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Track / Video
Track: ‘This Ain’t How It Ends’ – Crystal Set return with a little jingle jangle sweetness ahead of tour.
Still recovering from the sonic onslaught of their recent single ‘Pretty Schemes’ that we premiered a few weeks ago (see here), the magnificent Crystal Set are back again with…
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Track: Victoria unveil a twin blast of nostalgic goodness with double A sides ‘AK79’ and ‘Kids My Age’.
It’s just like those fabled London buses – nothing comes for ages then all of a sudden, two come at once. I guess I might be accused of trying to twist a well worn phrase into a…
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Track: The Great Emu War Casualties are on ‘Cold Food Ave’ with a bang, and that’s alright for sure.
Earlier this year, The Great Emu War Casualties (TGEWC) released their debut album ‘Public Sweetheart No. 1’ to great acclaim (reviewed by me here, and described as being an album…
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Album Reviews
EP Review: エミエミ (emi emi) unveils her debut self-titled EP, and you’ll need shades and dancing shoes.
Sometimes – actually quite often – it gets very dark and cold in the southern headquarters of Backseat Mafia, where the next port of call to the south is Antarctica. But to adopt…
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EP Review: There’s life in them still – Brisbane jangle pop legends Ups and Downs sound better than ever on ‘Radio Is Dead’
‘Radio Is Dead’ is a bold title for a band to hang an EP on in 2026, but then Ups and Downs have never been shy about naming things plainly. Formed in Brisbane in the early…
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Review: Noah Hill’s first solo outing is a break-up record, but with a difference
Review: Noah Hill's first solo outing is a break-up record, but with a difference
#noahhill #okoknow #folkmusic #albumreview
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Natalie Imbruglia releases her new record – Algorithm
It would be easy for Natalie Imbruglia to spend the rest of her career trading on the legacy of “Torn”. Instead, Algorithm finds her doing pretty much the opposite: making a record that sounds…
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EP Review: A Very Special Episode – AVSE
A Very Special Episode share their brilliant new EP, AVSE. The five-track release showcases intense, evocative instrumentation, raw and immediate performances, and memorable songwriting…
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Say Psych: EP Review: Throw Down Bones – 4EP
4EP is the new EP from Milan/London experimental band Throw Down Bones, marking a deeper shift into dark electronic / IDM territory for a band that has long sought out the middle ground…
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Interviews
Meet: Stacy Jones on art respecting art and not overthinking
Stacy Jones on playing live, art respecting art and not overthinking
#americanhifi #stacyjones #rockmusic #interview #livemusic
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Meet: Kirk Brandon predicted the future. But no-one was listening
Spear of Destiny's Kirk Brandon is on tour right now. We got together to talk about Chelsea, reclaiming the music and seeing into the future…
#kirkbrandon #spearofdestiny #interview…
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Interview: It’s Not a Documentary — It’s an Act: Baxter Dury on Nepotism, Performance and the Strange Theatre of Modern Life
When I last saw Baxter Dury, it was during Dark Mofo in Hobart — a setting whose nocturnal weirdness felt oddly perfect for his particular brand of dry, late-night storytelling. Over the past…
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Feature: Fokofpolisiekar Reflect on Swanesang at 20 as Australian & NZ Tour Extends Legacy
South African punk band Fokofpolisiekar reflect on Swanesang 20 years on, as Hunter Kennedy discusses identity, rebellion and taking the band's music to audiences in Australia and New Zealand.
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Meet: A.S. Fanning Talks About His New Album ‘Take Me Back To Nowhere’
On his fourth studio album Take Me Back To Nowhere, A.S. Fanning sounds both unmoored and quietly resolute. Drawing inspiration from science-fiction, experimental sound worlds, and a newly…
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Meet: Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys Talk Us Through New Single & The Upcoming Album ‘Pale Bloom’
With a body of work that thrives on tension, restraint, and emotional depth, Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys have built a reputation for music that lingers long after it’s heard. As they move…
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Features / Playlists
News: Hard-Fi to Headline Harlequins’ Big Summer Kick-Off at Allianz Stadium
British indie heavyweights Hard-Fi are set to return to their South West London stomping grounds this May. The Staines-formed outfit has been confirmed as the headline act…
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Interview: It’s Not a Documentary — It’s an Act: Baxter Dury on Nepotism, Performance and the Strange Theatre of Modern Life
When I last saw Baxter Dury, it was during Dark Mofo in Hobart — a setting whose nocturnal weirdness felt oddly perfect for his particular brand of dry, late-night storytelling. Over the past…
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Feature: Backseat Mafia’s photographic tribute to Bluesfest Byron Bay
For four years, Backseat Mafia has covered Bluesfest Byron Bay, an iconic event on the Australian music calendar. On March 13th, just three weeks before what would have been the 37th Bluesfest…
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Live review
Live Review: Gaerea & Conjurer. Manchester Club Academy 11/09/2026
Manchester Club Academy was the setting for a night of crushing riffs, suffocating atmosphere and some seriously intense performances, as British heavyweights Conjurer opened proceedings…
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Live Review + Photo Galleries: Melbourne Ska Orchestra bring another round as Monte Loco Rides Again comes to Altar Bar, Hobart 11.09.2026
On a planet reeling with crippling debt, widening wealth inequality, extremism, wars and all sorts of other future shock, it is thoroughly relieving to have folk such as Nicky Bomba, maestro…
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Live Gallery: Belle and Sebastian celebrate 30 years of ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’ at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre 13.09.2026
Thirty years after ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’ arrived, Belle and Sebastian are at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre celebrating the album that turned them into one of indie pop’s most loved bands.…
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Live Gallery: Electric Callboy turn Sydney’s Afterpay Arena into a metalcore party with Ice Nine Kills and coldrain 10.09.2026
Sydney’s Afterpay Arena is already humming long before Electric Callboy appear. Tonight is the Sydney stop on the German band’s biggest Australian headline tour yet, and the crowd pouring into…
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Live Review: Soulfly, Nailbomb & Exorcism. Manchester Academy 2. 07/09/2026
Manchester has never been a city that needs much encouragement to embrace a night of heavy music, but there was something particularly ferocious about the prospect of Soulfly, Nailbomb and…
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Live Review: Natalie Imbruglia, The Wardrobe, Leeds. 04.09.26
Natalie Imbruglia launches her new album – Algorithm – at The Wardrobe in Leeds
#natalieimbruglia #albumlaunch #livemusic #gigphotography
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Film
News: First Look At Oasis’ Reunion Film Don’t Look Back In Anger
One year after Oasis stunned the music world by returning to the stage for their first live performance together in 16 years, the band’s extraordinary comeback is set to be immortalised…
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Film Review: ‘The Best Summer’ is a bittersweet time capsule of alternative music’s golden age
There is something almost unbelievable about The Best Summer. What began as footage shot casually by filmmaker Tamra Davis while accompanying the Summersault festival around Australia in 1995…
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News: Kylie Minogue opens her archives for new three-part documentary KYLIE
Some pop stars have eras. Kylie Minogue has decades. From her first rush of fame as Charlene on Neighbours to becoming one of the most reliable hitmakers in modern pop,…
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News: The life and times of William Arthur and his iconic Sydney band Glide is explored in ‘Disappear Here’, a film by Ben deHoedt.
Glide were a seminal Sydney band that burned brightly and all together too briefly in the nineties, beset by tragedy when their singer and songwriter William Arthur died at the end of that…
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Film Review: January
Winter can be a magical time of year and there’s nothing more atmospheric than a sprinkling of snow. In many places, that light covering becomes something different entirely. In Eastern…
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Sundance Review: Iron Butterflies
As we approach the first anniversary of the full Russian invasion of Ukraine, it’s easy to forget that this war didn’t start in 2022. Indeed, the (recent) troubles with Russia can be traced…
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