backseat downunder
Album Review: Luke Seymoup’s ‘Tales of Suburban Angst’ is an effervescent collection of power pop punk gems.
We met Luke Seymoup with the release of the single ‘Paint’ – a gloriously hyperactive piece of power pop – and he has now released the album ‘Tales of Suburban Angst’. Seymoup has continued with what he started out with: a collection of danceable, anthemic pop gems that glisten and sparkle with a self-deprecating sense …
Premiere: Brisbane’s A Country Practice unveils beautiful, emotive video for the poignant track ‘The Longest Drought’ and announce launch dates.
A Country Practice exemplify an archetypal antipodean sound: unabashed Australian accents mixed with a detailed eye for the minutiae of everyday life, bursting ripe with a poignancy and sense of place. We are very honoured to be able to premiere the exquisite video for the track ‘The Longest Drought’ from the band’s debut album ‘I …
Track: Sydney’s Jet City Sports Club unveil a spirited, jangling slice of heavenly melancholic pop in track ‘She Don’t Need No One’ and announce launch date.
With a genetic make up that has hints of The Sundays and The Cranberries as well as an antipodean bloodline stretching back to bands like Even As We Speak, The Killjoys and The Clouds, Sydney band Jet City Sports Club have released the sparkling ‘She Don’t Need One’. It’s jingle jangle guitars aplenty with with …
Track: Sydney’s power pop maestros The Nature Strip return to the fray with a bit of essential ‘Surgery’ and a launch gig.
It’s been a while since The Nature Strip brightened our world with their brand of quirky, intelligent power pop (last seen back in 2018 with the EP ‘Past Pacific’, reviewed by me here). In the intervening time, however, they haven’t really left us at all – John Encarnacao’s Warmer project and Pete Marley’s Marveline project …
Album Review: Brisbane’s Noir et Blanc (Amber Ramsay from Cloud Tangle) unveils the ambient classicism of ‘Wallflower Pedestrian’: a beautiful immersive sonic journey.
Noir et Blanc is the new vehicle for Brisbane’s prodigious dream pop wonder Amber Ramsay from the ethereal Cloud Tangle. And ethereal is an adjective that’s going to get quite a run in this review. Where Noir et Blanc departs from Ramsay’s other work is that the music is solely instrumental – a sort of …
News: The enigmatic prince of funk Donny Benét announces new EP, global tour dates and new instrumental single ‘Le Piano’
Sydney-based composer Donny Benét has perfected a brand of uber cool funk – driven by his proficient bass playing – that has caught the world’s attention, with past albums stretching back to his 2011 debut ‘Don’t Hold Back’. COVID restrictions prevented Benét touring his last album ‘Mr Experience’ in 2020 but to salve the pain, …
Track: Perth’s Great Gable’s new single ‘Our Love’ is a gliding, soaring slice of sparkling sunshine. Plus tour news.
‘Our Love’, the new single from Westerns Australia’s Great Gable, eases through the consciousness like a bird gliding through a cloudless blue sky: the sparse and evocative music fluttering and turning effortlessly while the vocals are soft and easy. The result is something quite mesmerising, like lying in a floatation tank while your senses drift …
Track: Sydney punksters Fangz bare all in their new thumping slice of punky pop ‘Falling Is Pretty Normal’ and announce Australian tour.
Like an unleashed hungry junkyard dog, Fangz are heading straight for your jugular – a unrelenting wall of thumping pumping punky rock blasting like a tornado through your head in the new single ‘Falling Is Pretty Normal’. In executing such a visceral blast, the band is not afraid to deal with themes of loss and …
Album Review: Mild Orange emit incandescent rays of sunshine in their new shimmering album ‘Looking For Space’: a dream pop classic that sets a high benchmark for 2022.
New Zealand’s dream pop maestros Mild Orange have been casting light into the shadows of the past two years with a steady supply of pulsating, glossy and shimmering singles. ‘Looking For Space’ is the ultimate result: a collection of mesmerising and intoxicating tracks that confirm Mild Orange’s glorious contribution to the global stage. When we …
Track: New Zealand power popsters The Beths unveil ebullient fizzy single with a dark message ‘A Real Thing’, and announce signing to Ivy League Records.
New Zealand band The Beths‘ ability to delivery frenetic ebullient pop is never more evident than in their endearing new single ‘A Real Thing’: a powerhouse of a track that bubbles and sparkles like an opened bottle of shaken fizz. There is an almost naïve delivery, certainly a low-fi blitz and a dash of yearning …