Backseat Downunder
Track: KAI CULT lights a fuse with ‘Cigarette Burns’
With a frenetic pace tilting along at full speed, Melbourne artist KAI CULT‘s new single ‘Cigarette Burns’ is energetic, unhinged and absolutely satisfying. Like a masked antagonist careering through the night with a chainsaw, the music slashes and burns under the band’s disturbed, yelping, laconic vocals. It’s controlled chaos, utterly cathartic with a genetic connection …
Track: MOAT – a collaboration between Marty Willson-Piper (ex The Church) and Niko Röhlcke – releases the brilliant single ‘Helpless You’.
Marty Willson-Piper was a founding member of the legendary Australian band The Church – an iconic and much loved figure with his rock star image, hooped earrings, paisley shirts and Rickenbackers. His was an integral part of the sixties jingle jangle guitar sound that heavily influenced an international movement with bands such as REM. While …
EP Review: New Zealand’s Bitter Defeat launch a veritable rocket with their brilliant EP ‘Minor Victory’
Blasting out with ‘Light That Shines’ is a an appropriate taster of what’s to come from Bitter Defeat‘s new EP ‘Minor Victory’. Lauded by me last year, this is a hyperactive and anarchic track of joy: a new wave pogo-inducing rocket-fueled delight. And what I love about this band is its lack of pretension, a …
EP Review: Nick Ward’s deeply personal treatise on identity in ‘Everything I Wish I Told You’ is beautiful, empowering pop.
Sydney’s Nick Ward is only nineteen but the maturity and stature of his new EP, ‘Everything I Wish I Told You’ is phenomenal. In instrumentation, vocals and lyrical themes, this is a fully formed piece of indie pop that sparkles with melody and rhythms. The themes are very personal and born from the strictures of …
Premiere: Damien Binder’s new single ‘Here It Is’ is a shining beacon of soul-stirring, anthemic indie pop.
We are honoured to premiere the new single ‘Here It Is’ from New Zealand-born Western Australian resident Damien Binder which is out on Friday, 5 February 2021. Binder began his musical life in nineties NZ band Second Child before moving west to Australia – Perth to be precise – and releasing, to date, four solo …
Track: Brisbane’s highly talented musician RINSE unleashes dream pop perfection in track ‘Tamarynd (Wherever I am)’
RINSE is the solo work of Joe Agius, a central and compelling figure in the hyperactive and vibrant Brisbane musical scene. A collaborator with Hatchie (a firm Backseat Mafia favourite), Agius has just released the magnificent single ‘Tamarynd (Wherever I am)’ from his forthcoming debut EP, ‘Wherever I Am’ out 5 March 2021. In a …
EP Review: Hope D’s ‘Cash Only’ EP is a gorgeously textured, multi-layered and expressive pop delight.
Brisbane is battling for the title of the most creative indie pop centre of the southern hemisphere at the moment, epitomised by a number of acts like Hatchie and Mallrat featuring highly talented female artists that display a prodigious talent for songwriting. Brisbane’s Hope D is another case for the prosecution. Her new EP ‘Cash …
Track: Cousin Betty pays tribute to the glories of the mixtape in the romping single ‘Tape Hiss’
There is a very specific audience which will recognise the many obscure references to names like Peter Russell Clark, TDK cassette advertisements and Countdown in the new single, ‘Tape Hiss’ from Australian band Cousin Betty. Namely, Australians growing up in the eighties when the music show Countdown ruled the airwaves and provided a musical education …
Track: Buddy Glass paints a poignant tale of family and loss in ‘The Spirit of a Small Town’
In my review of Buddy Glass’s album ‘Wow and Flutter’ last year, I said the album was absolute delight: an immersive journey into the poetic and expressive world of Buddy Glass. Glass has just released a poignant video for the track ‘The Spirit of a Small Town’ – a song dealing with memories of his …
Track: Middle Kids announce release of new album and provide a taster in the brilliant single ‘Questions’
Sydney trio Middle Kids are a band in the ascendant – their debut album ‘Lost Friends’ released in 2018 received universal praise, leading to some notable supports and US tv appearances – check out a stunning live performance of the album here. Ultimately the band moved to Los Angeles where they have worked on their …