The Underground StageEssential new music from Australia’s most exciting artists
Taking cues from the Bugs or Ball Park Music school of enthusiastically happy guitar pop, Kogo’s new one is as cheery as a box of balloons. With a mix of that aw-shucks vocal and sharp instrumentation, this is high-energy songwriting that delivers a potent sugar rush. A guaranteed day-brightener.
Bursting out of its own seams with vein-bulging energy, After School Care summon the ghosts of The Replacements and inject a hefty dose of Bad//Dreems dustiness to conjure up a high-tension gem. Twitchy and jerky, travelling at an unsafe speed, this is as much pure stress relief as it is a grand explosion of spiky, […]
Cry Club are a deeply unusual duo. First off, they write songs about tarot cards yet manage to make a touching, meaningful point about anxiety and hope – that is not an easy thing to do without sounding like an idiot. If nailing that wasn’t enough, they also conjure up fantastic tracks like this that […]
If there was any stronger 90s aesthetic here it would be A Very Special Episode of Sabrina The Teenage Witch – it is also just as much pop-punk fun as that sounds. It even has the good sense to completely lose its head in the last minute, which ensures you slide right off the end […]
As a rule, hip-hop tracks are born from electronics – samples, loops, and lines created from zeroes and ones, with lyrics dropped on top. The bonkers-but-accurately named Matt Hsu’s Obscure Orchestra turns this on its head and inside out. Hsu performs as a one-man live orchestra (and it is a pretty full orchestra) with guests […]
The Dead Love re-emerge just as winter is ending and it’s both as welcome as a sunny morning and bouncier than a spring lamb. The guitars are pure and sparkling and it’s liable to see you nod your head straight off your shoulders – if this doesn’t leave you with a smile on your face, […]
Snark’s ‘Impostor’ EP thrums and pops with the V8 rumble of two already-released tracks and three new ones, including this well-crafted piece of work. ‘Three Twenty-Seven’ is a restless beast, taking you from standing starts to high velocity enough times and at enough speed to give you whiplash. In the final yards the throttles are […]
Jerranis tend to veer between Dave Grohl and Dead Kennedys, between those signature Foo Fighter harmony lines and unfiltered Biafra sneering. It’s the teeth that are on display on this little outfit from their spring collection, stamping about like it’s having a tantrum. Whatever mood they’re in on any particular song though, Jerranis have an […]
Catholic Guilt have a superb collection of songs here on their ‘This Is What Honesty Sounds Like’ EP, with this new track being the one where you get your phone lights out. On ‘Boutique Affair’ they gave it the wonky beans, but on ‘Life In Three Part Harmony’ it all gets a bit more serious-face […]