Sydney
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 …
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 …
Premiere: Sydney RADICALS unveil the thundering and pulse-quickening single ‘falling faster slowly’ and announce tour details.
We are pleased to premiere the thundering new single ‘falling faster slowly’ from Sydney-based band RADICALS: a four minute earth-shattering aural blitzkrieg. A pounding rhythm section provides an anchor for the excoriating buzzing guitars and the sonorous, melodic vocals, cutting like a knife through butter. It is highly cathartic rock’n’roll. Lead vocalist Brandon Wade says …
News: Sydney’s premiere art pop outfit Loose Fit announce debut album ‘Social Graces’ and releases title track, a paean to awkwardness, as a tasty hors d’oeuvre.
Loose Fit have an angular jagged art pop sound that is quite unique and utterly satisfying. We covered their recent release ‘Exhale’ and found it an exhilarating tour de force, and now the band commences 2022 with news of their debut album ‘Social Graces’, out through Fatcat Records/Spunk Records on 28 April 2022. And to …
Track: The visceral and rampant RedHook aim their impressive arsenal at keyboard warriors in the blistering ‘Low Budget Horror’ and announce rescheduled tour dates.
RedHook incorporate a vast and powerful array of weaponry in their visceral take down of cowardly keyboard warriors in the explosive ‘Low Budget Horror’. Slamming heavy metal riffs, electronic intrusions with a dose of growling death metals utterings and anthemic choruses combine to create a cathartic dose of pure energy. Lead vocalist Emmy Mack explains the inspiration …
News: The legendary The Church announce resumption of normal services, with US tour announcement.
The magnificent The Church have announced the resumption of normal services with the announcement of new dates for a US tour. Originally set to celebrate 40 years of music in 2020 and inevitably postponed due to – well, you know what – the band has set new dates on the brink of the release of …
Track: Julienne Harvey’s ‘Rot’ is an enigmatic and thrilling gothic trip.
In her new single ‘Rot’, Sydney artist Julienne Harvey‘s soaring vocals seem aged in a whiskey-soaked barrel, and delivered with added melancholia in some darkened cavern in the early hours of the morning after a night of glorious excess. Influenced by the like of Radiohead and Portishead, it is rather incredible that at the time …
Premiere: Mako Bron’s ‘cloudbites’ EP is an effervescent and glorious pop masterpiece, with a dark heart and uplifting melodies.
Mako Bron is the brainchild of one musician/producer Chris Brookman, and the single ‘Straight Down’ went to straight up to my top five Australian/New Zealand single releases for 2021. We at Backseat Mafia are therefore absolutely thrilled to be asked to premiere Mako Bron’s new EP, ‘cloudbites’, set for release on 3 January 2022. Brookman …
Track: Sydney’s Lisa Caruso sums up the zeitgeist with her glorious, anthemic track ‘It Doesn’t Feel Like Christmas’
It’s been over a year since Sydney chanteuse Lisa Caruso released her highly impressive debut album ‘In Feelings’ (see my review here) and the intervening time has been horrific for the globe in general. In recognition of the deprivations suffered by many, Caruso has decided to release an acknowledgement of the afflictions many suffer during …
Track: Sydney’s End Scene unveil the jangling melodic single ‘Bittersweet Spell’ ahead of release of their new album ‘All My Ghosts’ on 10 December.
There is a recognisable antipodean jingle jangle thrum in Sydney band End Scene‘s reflective track ‘Bittersweet Spell’. With the hallmark features of a beautiful melody, sparkling instrumentation and intelligent, yearning lyrics, this is a classic inner city Sydney sound – what I’ve labelled the Marrickville Sound – with anthemic bounce and an ethereal aura. The …