backseat downunder

Live Review: TOWNS, Waywards, Sydney, 21.05.22
King Street in Newtown was flourishing with mixed levels of excitement and edginess. At the heart of it, next to the station and that nightmare of a junction, a newly label signed Adelaidean duo called TOWNS were coordinating their night in a flurry of meet and greets well overdue. My night started off in rather …

Premiere: The Shrugs exude an insouciant pop fuzz blast with a serious message in their thundering ‘Shoebox’, and announce a launch date for the single.
With a makeup from some of Sydney’s coolest bands (and an indelible part of the emerging Marrickville Sound), The Shrugs blast into our consciousness with their pop fuzz onslaught of ‘Shoebox’, which we are proud to premiere today ahead of its release tomorrow. Members of bands such as Imperial Broads, Belles Will Ring, Sister Jane, …

Album Review: HIGH ACE to Unveil Stunning Debut Album Release “Snowcap Menace”
Every now and then, a full-length LP/CD comes along that stops you dead in your tracks. Snowcap Menace is unmistakably one such album. The brainchild of Australian folk-rock husband & wife duo, Jeff Lang and Alison Ferrier, Snowcap Menace is a virtual cornucopia of the pair’s musical influences and varying styles, ranging from blues, ethno-folk …

Track: TOWNS unveil the fuzzy hook-laden track ‘Season 5 (Break My Fall)’ and announce signing to label Farmer And The Owl and tour dates.
If you’ve ever had the chance to meet either Aston or Dan from TOWNS, you’ll know that they’re not only of the sweetest and kindest humans on earth, but you’d also know just how much personality and character they inject into their projects. Everything they do is multicoloured and distinctive, and their new single ‘Season …

Premiere: The Good Love emit golden sonic rays with the radiant single ‘Sunshine Sometime’ and announce rural tour.
We are honoured to premiere the new video from NSW outfit The Good Love – a slinky, soul-inflected piece of solid gold. Glorious harmonies and epic choruses combine to create something quite anthemic. There’s an easy sixties glow, touched with a hint of psychedelia, and singer Leroy Ashford-Meehan’s golden tonsils add a pastoral, bucolic glow. …

Premiere: Local The Neighbour unveils the radiant and charming video for the gorgeous dreamy pop track ‘Point The Guard’.
We are delighted to premiere the mesmerising new video for the track ‘Point The Guard’ from Melbourne-based artist Local the Neighbour (the work of Taiwanese/Australian artist David Quested). There’s a delightful ambulatory flow to the track which eases along inside the brain like sliding down a slippery slide, emitting golden rays of joy. With a …

Album Review: Mallrat’s ‘Butterfly Blue’ is a perfect collection of pure pop jewels, fused with indie rock and rap, that glitters and glows.
It’s hard to believe ‘Butterfly Blue’ (out through Dew Process) is Mallrat‘s debut album. She has graced us with two stunning EPs and a series of brilliant singles that have illustrated her perfect amalgam of feisty yet achingly beautiful tracks that seamlessly drift between pure pop, indie rock and rap (sometimes all within one song), …

Live Review: Holy Holy – The Odeon Theatre, Hobart 06.05.22
We’ve interviewed them, reviewed their last album (which was listed by Backseat Mafia in the top 100 releases of last year), and now we had a chance to see the magnificent Holy Holy tread the boards in the much COVID delayed but highly anticipated ‘Hello My Beautiful World’ tour. This was a magnificence performance, buoyed …

Track: Laura Mac unveil a blinding ray of high-stepping sunshine with new track ‘Don’t Know What I’m Thinking’, and announce debut gigs.
Laura Mac‘s new single ‘Don’t Know What I’m Thinking’ is a effervescent blast of sonic goodness, with a hyper kinetic disco shuffle in a paean to bacchanalian excess. This Sunshine Coast band certainly knows how to bottle the sun’s rays and spray serotonin over the most light-deprived individual. The sound is all blistering pop and …