NEWS
Premieres / Exclusives
Premiere: Bathe in the rivers of blood as Matt Malone & the Holy Spirits unleash the brooding ‘The Beast 666’, ahead of live date.
Just in time for Halloween and the third in a triumvirate of devilish releases (following ‘Wolfman and ‘Jealous’), we are proud to premiere the new single ‘The Beast…
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EP Review: The Summertimes sign to Golden Robot Records and unveil the fittingly titled EP ‘Luminous’.
There could not be a more appropriately named band than The Summertimes, nor a more fitting title to their new EP ‘Luminous’ which we are proud to premiere today. Newly signed to…
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Premiere: Georgia Ray turns to dark alt-country on ‘No God Out Here’
Backseat Mafia is delighted to premiere No God Out Here, the new single from Melbourne singer-songwriter Georgia Ray and a strikingly dark turn from an artist previously better known for…
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Premiere: Andrew McKeag Band inject a shot of psychedelic desert-rock into the hypnotic new single ‘Highway Dust’
Andrew McKeag has been making a racket for a few decades, and he has never been short of work. He has played sessions, teched guitars, managed tours and booked clubs, and these days he holds…
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Premiere: Gun Laws confront the compromises of survival on the volatile new single ‘Deals! Deals! Deals!’
Naarm/Melbourne post-punk five-piece Gun Laws are back, and Backseat Mafia has the exclusive premiere of their new single “Deals! Deals! Deals!”, out 18 September. The track is…
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Track / Video
Track: Lutruwita/Tasmanian-born Lasca Dry trades sunshine for shadows in the hazy, hypnotic slow-burn of ‘Mad Heartbeat’
Those of us who have followed Lasca Dry from her earliest days know her for a particular kind of joy. Think of the day-glo hyperactivity of ‘Pretty Face‘, the dazzling warmth of…
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News: Thirty years after they last went quiet, Eora/Sydney’s cult psychedelic heroes the legendary Drop City are thrillingly ‘Alive’, and all is good in the world.
Reunions are usually about looking back. You get the anniversary reissue, the victory-lap shows and a set full of songs people already love. Drop City did all of that in 2025 when they…
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Track: ‘Pretty Please’ – Juice Webster unveils a gorgeous dis track as a tour is announced ahead of new album.
Juice Webster‘s new single ‘Pretty Please’ features her trademark velvet vocals backed with a more muscular instrumentation as a brooding, ominous backdrop. According to…
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Album Reviews
Album Review: Allison de Groot & Rich Ruth- ‘Allison de Groot & Rich Ruth’: bringing something singular to the ambient country soundscape.
Michael Ruth aka Rich Ruth has been at the hub of Nashville’s more experimental fringe for a while now. You may have caught him live as part of Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collective on their many…
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EP Review: The Summertimes sign to Golden Robot Records and unveil the fittingly titled EP ‘Luminous’.
There could not be a more appropriately named band than The Summertimes, nor a more fitting title to their new EP ‘Luminous’ which we are proud to premiere today. Newly signed to…
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Album Review: We are given ‘The Fuzzy End of the Lollipop’ by the ever glorious the black watch and it’s another outrageous delight.
the black watch, steered with a delicate and melodious craft by the prestigious and proliferate John Andrew Fredrick, are back to delight our senses with the cutely titled album ‘The…
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Album Review: Helen – ‘Linda’s Head’: So much more than a retro reminder, Grouper and co refresh the shoegazing soundscape.
It may be over a decade since dream-pop shoegazers Helen first shimmered into view with ‘The Original Faces’ but their follow-up, ‘Linda’s Head’, shouldn’t be seen as a come-back album.…
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Album Review: Josefin Öhrn’s ‘Cherry’ is a sensual, sun-dappled second adolescence that shimmers with beauty.
Josefin Öhrn has made an album about falling headlong into desire again, and she isn’t the least bit coy about it. ‘Cherry’, her solo debut, was written during a period of…
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Album Review: Also Steve Bates – ‘An Infinite Antenna’: switching wavelengths and finding another dazzling electronic charge.
Montreal-based sound artist and musician Also Steve Bates seems to thrive on setting himself challenges. For his 2022 debut for Constellation, ‘All The Things That Happen’ he focused on the…
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Interviews
Meet: Where did that come from? Midge Ure (Ultravox, Visage and Live Aid) talks to us about his unfinished business and his treasured legacy.
Ahead of his rescheduled Australian tour on the Catalogue: The Hits tour, the Ultravox frontman talks with me about Joe Dolce, Scottish tenacity, and why he refuses to sulk through Vienna. The…
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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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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 Gallery: Yours and Owls Festival Take Over Wollongong Streets for Day Two – 04.10.26
On Sunday, Yours & Owls moved conveniently into Wollongong city centre and the streets came alive. The festival’s second day has a different character entirely, and you’re…
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Live Gallery: Yours and Owls Festival Bring BBNO$, G-Flip, Ball Park Music, DMA’s and more to Wollongong – Day One! 03.10.26
Yours & Owls began as a Wollongong coffee shop that happened to put on gigs. It grew into a venue, then a booking agency, and has been running its festival since 2014. This year, in a…
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Live Gallery: The Cribs make a noisy return to Sydney after eight years away 05.10.2026
Eight years is a long time between Australian tours, but The Cribs are finally back in Sydney. Tonight the Factory Theatre belongs to Gary, Ryan and Ross Jarman, three brothers from Wakefield…
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Live Review plus Gallery: Underground Lovers with Amaya Laucirica, The Corner Hotel, Melbourne, 4 October 2026
There was a delicious meeting of two icons this Sunday late afternoon in Melbourne. The venerable Corner Hotel celebrated its thirty years – no small feat surviving in the cut throat…
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Live Gallery: Nouvelle Vague turn the Metro Theatre into a French new wave playground 3.10.2026
There is a neat bit of symmetry to tonight at the Metro even before Nouvelle Vague appear. Australian singer-songwriter Nadéah opens the show, but she is hardly a stranger to the band. A…
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Live Gallery: Amelie Farren, Lilith Max and Rabbitology at Off Broadway in St Louis 2.10.2026
Three headliners, one packed room and an audience that seemed to know every word. Amelie Farren, Lilith Max and Rabbitology brought their triple-headlining tour to Off Broadway in St Louis on…
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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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