It is always a privilege to premiere a debut single for a band and the pleasure is always doubled when it’s something as good as ‘You’ll Never Know’ from Sydney indie band SXY XMS (pronounced Sexy Christmas).
The track jets off with a chunky shimmering guitar that could have been lifted from a Stones album, swaggering with a gait more pronounced than a top heavy sailing ship in stormy seas. The vocals from Bow Campbell enter with a louche insouciance, deep and rich, thundering and quivering like a Las Vegas lounge singer with a delicious sneering presence. When the soaring chorus kicks in it sounds like Chris Bailey from The Saints and Iggy Pop wrestling with the same vocal chords, a melodic anthem that takes up permanent residency in the brain. Does anyone else remember a band called The Nails? There are trace elements of the same degree of swagger and arrogance that is cathartic and energizing.
Proceedings are briefly interrupted by a flailing wild guitar solo entering like a turbocharger that fires up the engine, barely in control, before normal service is resumed. Campbell says of the track, quoting the late great Kris Kristofferson:
I’d rather be sorry for something I did, than for something I didn’t do.
No apologies needed: this is a great and stunning debut.
The track comes off the band’s EP ‘Righto’ due out on 1 April 2025.
SXY XMS are a prime examples of the Marrickville Sound with members having played (or still play) in a veritable history lesson of Australian alternative rock – Front End Loader, The Clouds, Psyclone Smyle, Jimmy and the Boys, Dead Marines, Too Easy Band, Sleepy Jackson, The Smart Folk, Rose Tattoo. Proving yet again that creativity has no use-by date.
SXY XMS are:
Bow Campbell – vocals, guitar
Ben Nightingale – guitars, vocals
Chris Newton – bass, vocals
Scott Johnston – drums, percussion, vocals
Christmas comes twice this year – you can catch the band launching the EP on 29 March at the iconic Gasoline Pony in Marrickville – details below:
Feature Photograph: Jo Saunders
