US garage-rock quartet The Darts have been announced as special guests for two dates on The Damned’s upcoming Australian tour, joining the British punk veterans in Brisbane and Melbourne.
The announcement brings together two bands connected not only by their roots in punk and garage rock, but by a shared history. The Darts have previously toured with The Damned, and their return to the bill comes as the Arizona-founded group continues an extensive period of international touring behind their latest album, Halloween Love Songs.
Formed in 2016, The Darts have built their reputation on a particularly potent strain of garage rock: Nicole Laurenne’s Farfisa organ and vocals sitting at the centre of distorted guitars, pounding rhythms and a visual identity steeped in black-clad ’60s cool. The current lineup features Laurenne alongside bassist Lindsay Scarey, guitarist Rebecca Davidson and original drummer Rikki Watson.
Released in 2026 through Adrenalin Fix Music and Meow Hiss Music, Halloween Love Songs pushes that formula further into the band’s darker corners while retaining the immediacy that has become central to their live reputation. The record has subsequently drawn attention from Rolling Stone, Rock & Folk, BBC Radio and France 24.
The band’s touring history is equally extensive. Alongside previous dates with The Damned, The Darts have shared stages with The Living End and Billie Joe Armstrong’s The Longshot, while their travels have taken them to Punk Rock Bowling, Sjock Festival, Cosmic Trip, Roots & Roses and France’s Binic Folk Blues Festival.
Their music has also travelled well beyond the garage-rock circuit, including a placement in Peaky Blinders, while one of the stranger chapters in their recent history saw the band perform inside Scotland’s Barlinnie Prison.
It is onstage, however, that The Darts have established their strongest calling card. Laurenne’s organ gives the band an immediately recognisable sonic signature, while the four-piece approach garage rock with the looseness and physicality of a band that has spent a considerable portion of its existence on the road.
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