Track: Wollongong duo Chimers unveil the electric ‘Generator’ ahead of massive gig schedule.
‘Generator’ from Wollongong duo Chimers has a visceral, urgent edge that creates a monstrous sound for such a small band. The track has a new wave, post punk urgency with a bleeding edge of fuzzy and clattering rhymes that suddenly ends in a cataclysmic stop. It’s pulse-quickening stuff: distant vocals are cold and observant while …
Track: Straight Arrows hit the target with a rambunctious ‘Fast Product’, ahead of some esteemed support gigs
With their new single ‘Fast Product’, Straight Arrows do just what they promise on the package: pinpoint accurate emissions of hyperactive sonic noise that crackles and pops with vitality and effervescence. Out through Rice Is Nice Records and Agitated (UK/EU), this is a blistering track that has at its genetic core traces of the late …
See: The brilliant The Gin Palace release a mesmerising live performance video for their magnificent debut track ‘Burn Your Heart Out’.
After last year’s thrilling debut single ‘Burn Your Heart Out’, supergroup The Gin Palace have kicked off 2023 with a suitable enigmatic and studied video for what was one of my favourite tracks from the year. The power and the passion ingrained in the song is on full display in the video – Peter Fenton’s …
Track: Oceans crest a shoegaze wave with the jangle fest of ‘Pure’, with launch date and new album announced.
Originally a solo effort by Melbournian Thomas Lee, the sparkling bright blue azure sounds of Oceans are now the creation of a fully fledged five piece band, and their new single ‘Pure’ is a hazy summer breeze of delight. Waves of jangling guitars and melancholic layered vocals feature in an immersive fugue. The sound draws …
News: Sunnyboys expand their swansong farewell tour ‘The Last Dance – 2023’.
The Sunnyboys are a veritable indie institution – a blinding light that shone briefly in the eighties with a power pop brilliance that had an indelible effect on the music scene in Australia and beyond – crossing from indie darlings to a national mainstream phenomenon with their effervescent jangling sounds and pop sensibilities. Their stellar …
Track: Spring Skier know ‘How To Work A Room’ with their usual panache and style – another window opened in the glorious Advent Calendar from False Peak Records.
Summer solstice passed us by just the other day and now the days get shorter as winter comes to the antipodean headquarters of Backseat Mafia. Although, it has to be said, in the southern outpost of Hobart, winter never actually left. With all the changes and the mutability of the seasons as an analogy for …
News: Terry Hall dies at age 63
We are very sad to report that the legendary Terry Hall has died at the young age of 63. Terence Edward Hall (19 March 1959 – 19 December 2022) was an English musician and the lead singer of the Specials, and formerly of Fun Boy Three, the Colourfield, Terry, Blair & Anouchka and Vegas.[1] He released two solo albums and has also collaborated …
Feature: Backseat Downunder Team’s Favourite Antipodean Albums of 2022, and Favourite Gigs
In many end of year best albums of 2022 put together by outlets such as The Guardian and NME, there has been a distinct absence of antipodean bands – an astounding omission given the depth of quality exhibited by Australian and New Zealand artists in 2022. For the past few years, to counterbalance this annual …
Track: Gena Rose Bruce knows the bittersweet taste of ‘Misery and Misfortune’ – the third exquisite single off her forthcoming album ‘Deep Is The Way’.
With surprising interventions by what could only be described as squiggly synths, the new single from the superb Gena Rose Bruce ‘Misery and Misfortune’ is a slow burning spark that oozes a languid sensuality over a solid musical base. The instrumentation provides an Arctic motorik electronic bed over which Bruce delivers her soft, expressive velvet …