Arun Kendall, Author at Backseat Mafia

Album Review: Sparks are ‘MAD!’ and their enduring legacy is safe.

In the realm of art-pop, few acts have maintained the level of inventive audacity that Sparks have exhibited over their five-decade career. With their 28th studio album, MAD!, the Mael…

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Live Review: Dark Mofo Festival – Cold Cave provide an injection of heat into the Winter Festival, The Odeon Theatre, Hobart 7 June 2025

Cold Cave’s performance at Hobart’s Odeon Theatre on 7 June 2025, created an incandescent ray of light in the deepest darkest winter at the southern capital at the very edge…

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Track: Cousin Tony’s Brand New Firebird ease into the universe with the expansive statuesque ‘My Ghost & Its Crawling’ ahead of new album ‘Rosewater Crocodile’

The sonic behemoth that is Cousin Tony’s Brand New Firebird (CTBNF) roll into our universe, foot flat to the floor, with the grand expansive and enigmatic single ‘My Ghost &…

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Track: TEENS are interred in a ‘Shallow Grave’ and the earth is moving ahead of new album.

Careering along like a fully loaded semi-trailer that’s lost its brakes, the new single ‘Shallow Grave’ from Tasmanian sensations TEENS is a visceral cavalcade of guitars and melody ringing out…

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Premiere: Moderate Lovers unveil a passionate paean to things that have passed in the stunning debut ‘Lost City’.

With an onslaught of fuzzy rumbling guitars that has a buzz-saw edge, the debut single from Eora/Sydney trio Moderate Lovers is a poignant reminder that change and evolution aren’t always…

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Premiere: ‘Surprised’ – Silver Fleet Ships announce signing to False Peak Records, debut album ‘Before Never, After Forever’ and orchestral new single.

Joining fellow Tasmanians follow in signing to Meanjin/Brisbane’s marvellous False Peaks Records, we are honoured to premiere the new single ‘Surprised’ from Nipaluna/Hobart band Silver Fleet Ships, ahead of their…

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EP Review: Look ‘Yonder’ – Sunsick Daisy unveil the shimmering widescreen wonder of a sophomore release.

Fresh out of school and already finalists in the 2022 JJJ Unearthed competition, Adelaide’s Sunsick Daisy released their spectacular debut EP ‘Breathe In…Breathe Out’ in 2023 (see my review here). They…

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Track: Aotearoa/New Zealand based dream pop/shoegaze exponent T.G. Shand unveils new direction and single ‘The Deadpan Break’

A firm favourite of the antipodean outpost of Backseat Mafia, T.G. Shand is the moniker of Ōtautahi/Christchurch resident Annemarie Duff, formerly of the legendary Melbourne shoegaze band Miniatures (on the iconic…

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Album Review: An aural delight ‘By Design’ – With yet another landslide of impeccable songwriting, The Electorate unveil their new album.

The Electorate are finally back with a follow-up to their magnificent 2020 album ‘You Don’t Have Time To Stay Lost’ (see my review here). ‘By Design’, out tomorrow, puts on full…

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Track: Boorloo/Perth artist ALEIA makes an ethereal debut with her track ‘Had Your Fun’.

The most isolated capital in the world, Boorloo/Perth has always been a fertile petrie dish for musical talent, and the debut single ‘Had Your Fun’ from ALEIA is a case…

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