Sydney post punk band Johnny Hunter have long been on my list of spectacular rising bands in Australia with a series of stunning singles over the past two years and their magnificent debut EP ‘Early Trauma’ (reviewed by me here). I interviewed them back in 2020 and their intelligence, passion and creativity shone through. Now the band has revealed its debut full length album ‘Want’ will be released through Cooking Vinyl Australia on 24 June 2022. And to further entice us in their come hither way, the band has unveiled their dreamy new single ‘Dreams’.
Hopelessly romantic, ‘Dreams’ gently applies the brakes to Johnny Hunter’s frenetic pace and is a paean to a sense of time and place and the ever changing face of Sydney. Enigmatic frontman Nick Hutt says:
The Sydney I grew up in is a very different Sydney to the one we live in today. Iconic buildings have been knocked down for skyrise apartments and famous music venues destroyed by political legislation. One day you are walking down the street in the sunshine, and the next you’re confined to the four walls of your own bedroom. Johnny Hunter started playing live music during the death of live music in Sydney – wallowing in self pity and declaring the current state of affairs to be insurmountable would result in this band not existing. The same goes for experiencing any modern day hardships – we can’t dwell upon them, we need to run with them in order to progress.
Crystalline shimmering guitars etch the horizon above a muscular rhythm section, and Hutt’s vocals are passionate and urgent with a rousing epic chorus. This is a statuesque and cinematic track; a veritable stadium anthem filled with passion, melancholy and drama:
Johnny Hunter is a band that just keeps on getting better. ‘Dreams’ is out now and can be downloaded and streamed here.
‘Want’ is going to be something very special indeed, with a number of singles already released over the past year. Hutt says:
Every song is a challenge we faced as a band and as individuals in realising who Johnny Hunter is and ultimately who we truly are.
Produced by Jack Moffitt (The Preatures) and mixed by critically acclaimed engineer Adam Greenspan (IDLES, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds), ‘Want’ reimagines the sound of new wave and new romantics for the 21st century, fusing them into a surging 10-tracks that are as poetic as they are anthemic; as ferocious as they are vulnerable.
You can pre-order the album here.
Tracklist:
1. Want
2. Endless Days
3. The Floor
4. Life
5. Dreams
6. Fracture
7. Cry Like A Man
8. Eternity Fades
9. Take Off
10. Clover
Feature Photograph: Tom Wilkinson
