Premiere: Wilding releases sublime pop single ‘Swipe Right’
We are very pleased to premiere the video for the single ‘Swipe Right’ from Wilding, the work of UK-born and Australian resident Justin Wilding Stokes. ‘Swipe Right’ is pop eccentricity at its best and the creative mind of Wilding is accentuated by the lockdown-shot video involving dating apps, philosophical stick insects and a delicious pop …
Album Review: A. Swayze and the Ghosts release the brilliant debut album ‘Paid Salvation’
Emerging from Hobart at the very edge of the settled world, A. Swayze and the Ghosts (AS&TG) are loud, noisy, abrasive, shouty, opinionated and – did I say loud? They are also, somewhat antithetically, the purveyors of some of the greatest intelligent pop songs around. ‘Paid Salvation’, their new album is a triumph – full …
Track: Eskobar – Living in the Sky
If there is one certainty, Swedish retro-rockers Eskobar are a gift that keeps giving. ‘Living in the Sky is their fifth single release this year and while there will be few secrets left on their forthcoming album Chapter 2, the band’s prolific output has not seen any dissolution in the quality of their material. ‘Living …
Track: Pirra – Limousine Lies
Based in Wollongong, south of Sydney, Pirra have released a driving new single ‘Limousine Lies’ that pelts along at an embracing pace with a synth spine and a haunting, melancholic vocal. There are echoes of eighties new wave and an M83 thrum throughout and even a hint of Lorde in the lyrics. Of the single, …
Album Review: Buddy Glass – Wow and Flutter
Buddy Glass is the nom-de-plume of Bruno Brayovic who plays in Sydney Peabody (a veritable institution). He has a colourful history – arriving as a refugee from fascist Chile with his family in 1983 and starting life in the infamous Villawood Migrant Hostel. This colourful past bleeds into his new album ‘Wow and Flutter’: a …
Meet: We chat with Johnny Hunter and find out about wasted youth, putting on a show and the soundtrack of their lives. Plus tour news.
Last month I was highly impressed by the debut EP ‘Early Trauma’ from Sydney band Johnny Hunter – it’s a new new wave for our times. So impressed was I that I had to find out more from the band – about how they got together, their influences, their favourite songs and their striking image. …
Meet: We have a chat with Babybird’s Stephen Jones about that hit single, his creative process and the music industry. Plus we review his new album.
While Babybird will always be associated with the global hit ‘You’re Gorgeous‘, the prodigious talent behind the name, Stephen Jones, has never ceased creating sublime indie pop over the course of his career. In a sense, the music industry may have moved away, but Jones’s songwriting magic has remained a constant. Jones might have the …
Track: Bitter Defeat – The Light That Shines
Bitter Defeat hails from Kirikiriroa/Hamilton in the North Island of New Zealand and their debut single ‘The Light That Shines’ is an effervescent slice of classic New Zealand indie pop mixed with a Buzzcocks swagger and a rousing chorus. Bitter Defeat consists of Rob Shirlow (Guitar, Vocals), Ben Manning(Guitar, Backing vocals), Kathryn Thompson (Drums), Ian …
Album Review: St. Ove – County Show
St Ove hail from Aylesbury and the surrounding villages, Wendover and Quainton in England and yet a gentle, jangling air of Athens , Georgia can be detected in their sound. ‘County Show’ is an evocative album – gentle, evenly paced and full of a yearning sense of aching joy. There is a bucolic air of wistful …
Track: EWAH and the Vision of Paradise – Vultures
EWAH and the Vision of Paradise have the dubious honour of being the last band to be reviewed live on Backseat Mafia before the global lockdown, so it’s nice to return to the band when things are slowly – ever so slowly – returning to normal. ‘Vultures’ is their new single and it is a …