New wave
Track & News: Gut Health Releases Latest Dance-Punk Single ‘Cool Moderator’ Ahead of Upcoming Debut Album ‘Stiletto’ + Tour Dates
Naarm/Melbourne-based dance-punk sextet Gut Health has announced their highly anticipated debut album, ‘Stiletto’, set for release on October 11 via Highly Contagious/AWAL. Extra excitedly, they’ve just released the second single from the album, ‘Cool Moderator’, a bratty, groove-driven track that promises to be a dance floor favourite and offers a glimpse of the glitter that …
Track: lutruwita’s brilliant A. Swayze & The Ghosts claim ‘He Is Dead’ in another raucous punk blast of Antarctic chill, on announcement of sophomore album ‘Let’s Live a Life Better Than This’
Favourites here at the southern outpost of Backseat Mafia, A. Swayze & The Ghosts are back with a renewed fervor following their come back single earlier this year ‘Cool Cucumber’. ‘He Is Dead’ confirms that the band’s palette is filled with many colours as they explore new territories beyond their punk origins – a dash …
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 …
Live Review and Gallery: Pandemonium Rocks Festival, Caribbean Gardens, Melbourne 20.04.2024
It’s been a tough year for Festivals over last few years and after some rather turbulent times leading up to today’s date, the Pandemonium Rocks Festival reached the finishing line, somewhat starved and slimmed down but just as determined to entertain. Original headliners Deep Purple, Placebo and Gang of Four fell by the wayside and …
EP Review: ‘Accelerator’ – life speeds up for the brilliant HighSchool in this haunting epic release ahead of European tour.
Today, the imperial HighSchool release their EP ‘Accelerator’ via [PIAS] Australia, and it fulfils all promises made by the series of singles that anticipated its release. Based in London but coming from Naarm/Melbourne the band normally consists of brother and sister Rory and Lilli Trobbiani (related to Frank Trobbiani from The Wreckery) and Luke Scott, but Lilli …
Live Review & Gallery: Australia Bids Farewell to Beloved Post-Punk Ensemble Johnny Hunter – 19.04.24, Low 302, Eora/Sydney
In a moment tinged with both melancholy and anticipation, Eora/Sydney’s beloved post-punk ensemble, Johnny Hunter, prepares to bid adieu as they set sail for the UK, their signature eyeliner and instruments in tow. Marking this significant occasion and coinciding with the release of their latest single ‘Frustration 2.0’, Johnny Hunter bestowed upon their devoted fans …
Premiere: Italy’s Varanasi unveil video for the track ‘L’odore della notte’ off their evocative album ‘Cattedrali per principianti’
It’s an irritating side to this reviewing malarkey that you sometimes miss little treasures along the way, and certainly the album release by one of my beloved Italian bands, the dark and gothic Varanasi, fell victim to this overload during the Christmas hiatus. At the end of the year they released their album ‘Cattedrali per …
Album review: Fleeting Persuasion unveil their new gothic-tinged album ‘Will They Come Back’ – a collection of dark yearning tracks from the underworld.
Masters of the dark arts of post punk atmospheric music, Fleeting Persuasion today unveil the new album ‘Will They Come Back’. It’s a powerful dark epistle highlighted by arching ambulant bass, jangling and scything guitars with distant dreamy vocals that seemingly hang in the ether. Fleeting Persuasion is driven by James Harrison (guitar/vocals) who wrote and …
Track: Great Australian Bank provide a solid investment with their searing new single ‘In Your Eyes’, and live dates.
Great Australian Bank live up to the solid foundations promised by their name with a thumping great single ‘In Your Eyes’. The sound has a distinctly antipodean feel to it, born from the sticky carpeted pubs of the endless suburbs filed with passion and energy. A guitar attack that recalls The Church is thrown into …
EP Review: Le Shiv unveil a masterclass in anthemic indie pop with their epic new EP ‘New World Colour’, as they head out on tour.
The new EP ‘New World Colour’ from Le Shiv offers a bright start to the year, and, quite frankly, boldly stands out in the post festive season deluge of releases. The band has been garnering a lot of attention with their unique brand of indie rock, including writing with Grouplove’s Andrew Wessen on their latest …