naarm

Premiere: Naarm/Melbourne artist Garagee builds an evocative and luscious ‘Firewall’ ft. Jane McArthur ahead of album and launch date.
We are honoured to bring you first listen to the new single ‘Firewall’ from instrumentalist Garagee (the work of Rob McPherson) and featuring the vocals of Jane MacArthur. Garagee has worked in the past with Steve Kilbey (The Church) and is about to release the album ‘Garageee III’ ‘Firewall’ starts with the most delicate harmonics …

Track: There’s a shimmering space to ‘Breathe’ as the magnificent RINSE announces new ‘Starfish’ EP.
The sun always shines brighter, even on a cold winter’s day in the deep south, when Naarm/Melbourne-based shoegaze dream popster RINSE releases another single. And the radiance is altogether brighter with the news that it will be part of a new EP entitled ‘Starfish’, out through Cohort Records on 20 June 2024. RINSE is of …

Premiere: Naarm/Melbourne band Jazz Tiger signs to False Peak Records and exclusively unveils a soothing sonic journey to ‘Batemans Bay’ ahead of debut album.
Ultra cool Brisbane label False Peak Records has announced the signing of Naarm/Melbourne band Jazz Tiger and we are honoured to premiere their first single on the label, the atmospheric and languid ‘Batemans Bay’. Like warm summer shower, the song flows with a soothing delicacy, dappling guitars and a frisson of melancholy augmented by the …

Track: It’s ‘the last one’ from Naarm/Melbourne band Fan Girl who unleash an exciting helter skelter whirlwind.
There is an organic and wild piano riff that careers throughout the new single ‘the last one’ from Naarm/Melbourne band Fan Girl that is a chaotic thread intertwining with the thundering guitars and the sardonic delivery of singer Noah Harris. The overall package has a whiff of a Hammer horror soundtrack with a slightly unnerving …

News: Melbourne dream pop jangle giants Quivers announce signing to Merge Records, new album ‘Oyster Cuts’ and lead off with single ‘Apparition’.
It’s a big day today for one of Australia’s premiere indie pop merchants Quivers who have announced their signing to the prestigious US label Merge Records as well as the launch on 9 August 2024 of a new album entitled ‘Oyster Cuts’. And if that wasn’t enough (and it never is), a new single ‘Apparitions’ …

Meet: We chat to Mick Harvey (The Birthday Party, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds) about wild characters, leaving the Bad Seeds, mortality and pride
Mick Harvey, founding member of seminal and legendary bands, The Birthday Party and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, has made a profound and lasting contribution to indie music. His ability to write and co-write some of the classic songs of these bands have only been matched by his cool and collective demeanour – a …

Album Review: Simon Bailey’s elegant instrumental album ‘Moonscapes’ etches beautiful shapes in the firmament
Simon Bailey used to be in early 2000s band Pony Face – a band that also had Anth Dymke, a regular on our review pages from his solo work and collaborations with Golden Fang and Jo Meares. Through his label Pony Face Records, Bailey has just released an exquisite collection of instrumentals in his new …

Premiere: Blackbirds F.C. are back on the field and score a blinder with the evocative ‘Rings Around The Sun’.
Back in November 2022, Naarm/Melbourne band Blackbirds F.C. impressed with their album ‘Magiclands’ (see my review here, complete with the usual lame puns), and now we are proud to premiere their gorgeous new single ‘Rings Around The Sun’. Coasting on a delicious Hammond organ bed, the vocal duties are taken up by Gina Hearnden as …

Album Review: The ‘Heathen Sound’ of Big League is a deliciously fuzzy onslaught filled with melody and chainsaws.
Much loved here at Backseat Mafia, Naarm/Melbourne band Big League began as a series of lounge-room recordings by husband and wife team Travis (guitar, vocals) & Marie Velthoven (bass) before expanding into a full band and an even fuller sound. And the sound is bigger than Ben Hur. Big League have released a new album, ‘Hethen Sound’, and according to …