Arun Kendall, Author at Backseat Mafia

Track: Sydney’s Bellwether may be ‘Halfway Happy’, but they’re creating a lot of good fun punky pop joy. Debut EP and live dates announced.

On the back of two already very impressive singles (‘Charade’ and ‘Shortsighted’), Sydney pop punksters Bellwether are again leading the field with their new single ‘Halfway Happy’. This is all…

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Premiere: From The Tiger’s Mouth, ‘Morning News’ is a broadcast of urgent positivity amongst the gloom.

Former Bengal Lancers member Harry Sullivan has made the most of the horrors of the past few years to create the From The Tiger’s Mouth project, and we are very…

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Track: A. Smyth returns with the lush and atmospheric single ‘Long Night’ and news of live dates.

Last year’s ‘Lost Animals’ from Dublin troubadour A. Smyth (reviewed by me here) was a gorgeous collection of delicate musings and lush vibrant instrumentation. Smyth is back with a new…

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News: Resurrection – the best festival in the world, Dark Mofo Festival, resumes abnormal services.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel – a flickering ember of hope – as the organisers of the iconic Dark Mofo Festival in Hobart announced the…

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Premiere: Sydney’s Winter Starlings alight with the jangling statuesque single ‘Arise’ and announce launch date.

We are honoured to premiere the new single ‘Arise’ from Sydney group Winter Starlings. ‘Arise’ has a warm veracity with raw and visceral guitars that jangle into the stratosphere, replete…

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News: Dreamy popster Annie Hamilton announces debut album with release of the hypnotic and psychedelic ‘Night Off’ as well as dates in Europe.

A psychedelic fugue permeates the sparkling new single ‘Night Off’ from multi-talented Australian musician, visual artist and fashion designer Annie Hamilton. It comes as a tasty appetiser for Hamilton’s newly announced…

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Not Forgotten: We revisit Augie March’s stunning debut ‘Sunset Studies’ from 2000 – still an essential antipodean sonic milestone – which gets a belated 21st birthday party.

By 2000, by the time Y2K anxiety had dissipated and, before the events of 9/11 cast a pall everywhere, post grunge was solidifying its place in the world and the…

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Track: Sydney vibrant pop punksters A Swift Farewell reconnect with another visceral anthemic blast in new track ‘Stressed Out Ft Clay J Gladstone’.

More infective than a global pandemic (but infinitely far more enjoyable), the new single ‘Stressed Out’ from those punk pop maestros A Swift Farewell is a hyperactive, hyperkinetic bouncy blast…

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News: Chicago’s coolest trio Horsegirl announce debut album ‘Versions of Modern Performance’ through Matador Records and unveil the utterly brilliant single ‘Anti-glory’.

With an attitude that recalls The Jesus and Mary Chain and scuzzy, fuzzy drone attack, Horsegirl have just delivered a stunning single ‘Anti-glory’ – filled with a certain cognitive and…

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Track: Royel Otis, with new single ‘Oysters in My Pocket’, have emitted a cheeky ray of joyous light. Plus tour news,

With the joyous swagger of unruly schoolboys and a barely repressed incandescent sense of joy, the new single ‘Oysters in My Pocket’ from Sydney duo Royel Otis is like an…

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