Arun Kendall, Author at Backseat Mafia

Track: Naarm/Melbourne’s HighSchool make a welcome return with the louche ‘149’ and news of debut album on the way.

Following up their magnificent EP ‘Accelerator’ last year (see my 9/10 review here), the mighty HighSchool return for 2025 with the vibrant single ‘149’ through [PIAS] Australia. With their trademark insouciance and laid…

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Track: Boorloo/Perth’s EDIE releases the buoyant indie pop track ‘Girl’s Girl’.

Boorloo/Perth artist EDIE today unveils the catchy slice of indie pop that is ‘Girl’s Girl’; a blinding ray of Western Australian sunshine that has an underlying feisty message about the…

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Track: Indie Naarm/Melbourne superlative group Bleak Squad (Adalita, Mick Harvey, Mick Turner and Marty Brown) announce debut album ‘Strange Love’ and unveil the frosty single ‘Lost My Head’.

You can’t get much more super than news of the new group, Naarm/Melbourne’s Bleak Squad, consisting of living legends Mick Turner (Dirty Three, Mess Esque), Mick Harvey (Nick Cave &…

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Track: ‘I Was on That Roof Once’ – New Zealand’s epic Ringlets bounce back with third single ahead of album release

New Zealand’s Ringlets recently announced the release of their second album, with the cute title ‘The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time For Walkies)’ for 27 June 2025, and have unveiled…

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News: The legendary David Byrne announces new album ‘Who Is The Sky?’ with the irrepressible and buoyant single ‘Everybody Laughs’ as a taster and massive world tour.

David Byrne has always been an influential and innovative musician from his time in the iconic Talking Heads to his solo and collaboration work that have magnified his talent exponentially.…

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Album Review: Pulp gives us ‘More’ – returning with an aged beauty and graceful pose but the same louche insouciance we missed.

In ‘More’, Pulp return not with a bang but with a graceful, knowing nod – like old friends who’ve learned that the quietest whispers can sometimes carry the heaviest truths.…

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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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