Track: Key Out – Stray
The warm fuzzy shoegaze sound of Sydney band Key Out is at the fore in their new single ‘Stray’ – a delightful shimmering piece that seems soaked in nostalgia and an air of satisfying wistfulness. Mixed and mastered by the legendary Wayne Connolly (Underground Lovers, Youth Group, You am I and Died Pretty amongst others) …
Track: 2Squared/Mark Gardener (Ride) – Chained
Ride‘s Mark Gardener has collaborated with 2Squared (Stephan Haeri of France’s Télépopmusik) in the depths of isolation in his new purpose-built OX4 Sound studio to produce a very nice slice of chilled, reflective electronica – ‘Chained’. The lyrics reflect a very difficult time for Gardener following the break up of Ride. Gardener explains: I wrote …
See: DMA’s release video for The Glow
We were highly impressed by the title track off DMA’s forthcoming album ‘The Glow’, describing it as having hallmark euphoric stadium-perfected choruses, anthemic and pulsating yet underpinned by an air of melancholia. What we have come to expect, in other words, from one of Australia’s most impressive musical exports. The band has just released an …
See: The Clockworks – The Future Is Not What It Was
Clocking in at just 2 minutes and forty-one seconds, ‘The Future Is Not What It Was’, the new single from The Clockworks, immediately makes it clear this is a band with a future, built on the genes of a very admirable past. The angular, stop/start delivery is reminiscent of the very best of the post …
See: The Chills: The Triumph and Tragedy of Martin Phillipps
The Chills are one of New Zealand’s finest exports – born out of the inimitable Flying Nun Records era in the eighties and from a coterie of bands coming out of the small town of Dunedin. And like many antipodean bands that arose at that time, they shone so very brightly but burned out so …
Album Review: Empathy Test – Monsters
With an explosive track opener like ‘Monsters’, Empathy Test clearly sets out their vast ambitions for their new album, also called ‘Monsters’. And these ambitions are decidedly and unequivocally met in what is a brilliant, bold and very exciting album. Empathy Test, in this album, tread a fine path between outright commercial accessibility and a …
See: We Melt Chocolate – Blue Hair Girl
Florentine band We Melt Chocolate are an indelible part of Italy’s explosive indie music scene along with bands like Unruly Girls, Rev Rev Rev and the many magnificent psych bands covered recently on Backseat Mafia’s series on Italian psych music. We Melt Chocolate have just released an engrossing video for the song ‘Blue Hair Girl’ …
Album Review: Tim Burgess – I Love The New Sky
If it wan’t enough that Tim Burgess fronts one of the most beloved, successful and long lasting indie bands The Charlatans, or that he has singularly redefined music in the COVID-19 age of isolation through his now legendary twitter parties, Burgess has now released an absolutely stunning solo album. And let’s get one thing straight, …
EP: The Know – wearetheknow
The Know consist of husband and wife duo Daniel Knowles and Jennifer Farmer. Knowles had previously worked as a producer and guitarist for UK shoegaze band Amusement Parks on Fire. This pedigree shows. Their new EP, ‘wearetheknow’, out now through those purveyors of extremely high quality music, Shore Dive Records is an indelible, sparkling release that …
Premiere: Garsa – The Devil’s Own
After releasing a stunning debut earlier this year, (‘Jimmy sour highs‘) solo artist Martin Garside, operating under the name Garsa, is back with another perfect slice of dream pop/ shoegaze in ‘The Devil’s Own’, which Backseat Mafia is proud to premiere. This is a beautiful release, infused with an air of wistfulness and yearning and …