50: youproblem

What I said about… youproblem’s set at The Trocadero Room:

“There is so much bounce in here – the primal sound of the very best nights out – that it’s enough to snap a heel, or an ankle. A pure expression of fun times.”

49: Sesame Girl

What I said about… Sesame Girl at Shark Bar

“Sesame Girl disguise their strength behind deceptively gentle performance, a blazing rage barely hidden behind cotton wool. It soars and shines and gleams, but it’s only afterwards you realise it’s left bruises and marks all over.”

48: Blake Cateris

What I said about… Blake Cateris at The Golden Barley:

“Blake Cateris is an artist obsessed with the craft of it all. Every stroke of every strum, every note from his throat comes off like it’s been pored over, fine-tuned, and pondered deeply. It’s never weighed down though, even the tracks with heavier ideas are light and aerated, delicate and agile on their toes despite the songwriting heft and vocal muscle they carry.”

47: Sophisticated Dingo

What I said about… Sophisticated Dingo’s track “I Don’t Mind“:

“It’s phone-lights-on time for Sophisticated Dingo, with a track that pauses for a bit of breath amid their high-velocity catalog. It’s big feels, and it feels big.”

46: Cymbidium

What I said about… Cymbidium at Three Wise Monkeys:

“Cymbidium build and build and build over their set, seemingly wielding the lightest of touches but somehow leaving us with glorious head wounds. There’s just bags and bags of charm here, and it veers from new-kid-at-school shy to you-in-MY-house-now levels of fun. What a pleasure.“

45: smallways.

What I said about… smallways. at Oxford Art Factory Gallery Bar:

“From start to end it’s relentless, battering, hilarious, sharp-edged, manic, high-velocity fun and is more than capable of causing meteorological – if not geological – disturbances.”

44: Blake Williams

What I said about… Blake Williams at The Duke Of Enmore:

“Blake Williams’ set is all sugary pop-punk, tempered and balanced with darker notes. These wired songs are as taut as they are giddy good fun, sharp teeth in the wild grin. As sweet as it comes off, it’s the salt and the spice that you remember.”

43: Last Quokka

What I said about… Last Quokka at Factory Theatre:

“Last Quokka – one of the finest punk bands in this country – spent a good day and a half trying to get here, only arriving at the venue literally minutes before they started playing a truly ferocious set, brimming with adrenaline and chaos.”

42: Raised As Wolves

What I said about… Raised As Wolves at The Duke Of Enmore:

“Raised As Wolves sound absolutely bloody furious tonight. Not just a bit of a huff, not a low miff, but absolutely raging with anger. They’ve always been right on the edge of a blazing temper, but tonight these wild songs push right up against a towering, thundering mood that tears the earlobes off. Yikes, and also, awesome.”

41: Amends

What I said about… Amends at Vic On The Park:

“If everything seems dark and clouded and just too damned close, Amends will be there to bring bigger, wider, and brighter skies through songs that are just as expansive.”

40: Ebolagoldfish

What I said about… Ebolagoldfish at The Townie:

“Ebolagoldfish going acoustic is a trip, a set where a lot of pretending to muck about actually delivers some of the most tightly complex songs you’ll hear. The close harmonies cut like blades, and songs like ‘Powers’ actually gain strength for being stripped right back. Yes, they’re having a lot of fun. No, it’s not even funny how good it sounds.”

39: Chimers

What I said about… Chimers at The Trocadero Room:

“Chimers sell out tonight’s show, density in crowd and sound. There may only be two of them, but Chimers make a hell of a racket, packing more noise into songs than two people should reasonably make, a pounding bag of tracks delivered with poise and precision. With enough thudding urgency to alarm the most placid of souls, and loud enough to knock down brick walls, it’s a beast of a set made of equal parts demolition and delirium.”

38: Great Job!

What I said about… Great Job! at Factory Theatre:

“Few bands just make me as plain damn happy as Great Job! do, inventive and mischevious songwriting disguised as a melee of giddy chaos. Even the sad bits soar, banishing whatever terrible mood you might happen to find yourself in.”

37: Human Noise

What I said about… Human Noise at Oxford Art Factory Gallery Bar:

“Like smoke in a still, cold night sky, Human Noise float and twist around your head, catching the light but impossible to grab hold of. It’s got its own physics, its own laws, and it demands you bend to it, regardless of how uncomfortable it makes you. Brilliant and baffling, dense yet danceable, there are few sets out there right now as complex and commanding as this.”

36: DOWNGIRL

“Keeping up the pace with their reliably searing live shows and a twin-header single release this year DOWNGIRL kept their foot on the gas in 2024, with the promise – or threat – of more to come in 2025”

35: Lady Lazarus

What I said about… Lady Lazarus at The Townie:

“Lady Lazarus have burned bright in their short, sharp two years so far, which makes it a harder blow to know they’re moving to Berlin. This penultimate edition highlights exactly what we’ll miss and the Berliners stand to gain – fearsome energy and performance, savage guitars and pounding snarl, and an unshakeable commitment to raising hell while grinning like loons.“

34: DIVEBAR YOUTH

What I said about… DIVEBAR YOUTH at UTS Underground during SXSW Sydney:

“DIVEBAR YOUTH struts and stalks the stage while the set moves with precision through great big hairy monsters and softer moments of silky pleasure. While the music ranges in tone and pace, the effort going in and effect coming out doesn’t falter for a second.”

33: The Toothpicks

What I said about… The Toothpicks at North Sydney Festival:

“The Toothpicks soar and wheel like mad birds, flittering between rhythms and keys and riffs within songs, strange constructions somehow making perfect, poetic sense.”

32: GRXCE

What I said about… GRXCE at The Chippo :

“When a band doesn’t just not get bored of their own songs but clearly spends time refining and punching them up, putting in the work and the effort, it doesn’t just show, it rips your damn hair out at the roots.”

31: Jet City Sports Club

What I said about… Jet City Sports Club at North Sydney Festival:

“Jet City Sports Club’s dreamy jangle also comes with heavyweight ballast, sky-high melodies flying despite the musical heft it carries. Enough to drag anyone out of the worst mood, it’s a musical updraft to rise and soar along to.”

30: So I Says To Mabel

What I said about… So I Says To Mabel at Moshpit:

“So I Says To Mabel barrel through the building like a giant train made of Vans trainers and good times, grazed shins and busted ankles as far as the eye can see. High tempo from the off to the end, it’s a challenge to see who’s having more fun, them or us.”

29: Haley Holgate

What I said about… Haley Holgate at Metro Social:

“Haley Holgate’s fabulous solo set barely raises its voice above a whisper, but the stories and the emotion that pour off the stage yank your head around towards it, demanding attention. The sharp wit and the keen observations match with engaging narrative and rich musicality to leave you far better off than you were when you arrived. Right there, that’s the job of an artist. Job done.”

28: The Tullamarines

What I said about… The Tullamarines at The Loft, SXSW Sydney:

“Pure, unadulterated fun just bleeds off The Tullamarines, a full load of jumpy chaos mixed in with madly catchy tune.”

27: The Gooch Palms

What I said about… The Gooch Palms at Vic On The Park:

“The Gooch Palms are back, and the world is once more in its proper shape. If you’re just starting a band, it’s easy to over-engineer it – these bloody legends are here to show you how to keep it simple without losing a step. Absolutely massive songs, more punk than your way cool cousin, and fangs like daggers remind us of just what we’ve been missing out on. Forget Oasis – this is the reunion we all needed.”

26: Straight Arrows

What I said about… Straight Arrows at Crowbar:

“Straight Arrows are as crisp and sharp as ever tonight, a set of reliable groove and enviable knowledge of song. Catchy, energetic, and epically good fun, you know what you’re going to get and it’s only ever delivered to the highest of standards.”

25: Molly Rocket

What I said about… Molly Rocket at Vic On The Park:

“Molly Rocket are ferocious and joyous, a grab bag of sharp-edged fun and games. Grungy and bouncy and entirely made of razors, the whole set works hard to ease you in but it’s only at the end you realise all your clothes are covered in your own blood. Amazing.”

24: Drunk Mums

What I said about… Drunk Mums at Crowbar:

“Drunk Mums roar like a hurricane has landed in your living room, the fine china smashing into pieces and the paint ripped off the walls. Brimming with joy despite the fangs on display, this is nothing but furious, frenetic, fun.”

23: Organs

What I said about… Organs at Bootleggers:

“Organs may be suffering from the after effects of a back injury but, even when wounded, Organs never lack spine. As furious and as rich as ever, nimbly switching between pulse-raisers and heartbreakers as easily as you or I might change a sock, I’ve always loved the wide-eyed madness that sits alongside the more thoughtful moments. Back? They never left.”

22: FANGZ

What I said about… FANGZ at Shark Bar:

“FANGZ debut in Manly to a crowd on the verge of going feral at the start, and who aren’t exactly calmed down by the titanic racket they are treated to. New stuff, old stuff, it doesn’t matter, this is – in a regrettably literal sense from one enthusiastic mooning punter – hairy-arsed and crazed, the sound of a thousand jet engines exploding into life and roaring directly overhead.”

21: CLEWS

What I said about… CLEWS at The Lord Gladstone, SXSW Sydney:

“CLEWS are a delight with teeth, beautifully crafted songs delivered with rich grace, yet you’re never far away from a sharp edge to cut yourself on. By turns floral and muscular, it’s a set to delight in but to never understimate.”

20: Carla Wehbe

What I said about… Carla Wehbe at Metro Social:

“Carla Wehbe really seems to be enjoying this. Accompanied tonight by (someone put a leash on my excitable heart) no less than Charlie Collins, it’s a close-up acoustic session made of classic pop covers that matter to and have inspired her (ABBA, Swift, Roan, Wheatus) but interspersed with crowd-chosen originals – a festival of singalongs and delight. While the fun is being had though, that voice is nothing but serious business, so full of air and light that it flies right away yet so dense and physical you’re left bruised and floored. Deceptively casual magic.”

19: Adam Newling

What I said about… Adam Newling at Vic On The Park:

“An Adam Newling set is like sinking into the world’s comfiest chair – it might come off old and worn down but it’s just perfect for the moment. The musical brain at work behind these songs is fearsome, but it never lands like anything other than a comfort and a balm, a cool dressing for the wounds of the day. Sink in, indulge.”

18: Folk Bitch Trio

What I said about… Folk Bitch Trio at Low 302:

“As Folk Bitch Trio start their first of two sold out Sydney shows this week, the heavens open outside, the downpour even audible inside the venue. Nothing will dampen this show or our moods though, this glorious set of gentle three-part harmonies, coupled with the sharpest of tongues in the songwriting, is as bright as a spring morning. Outside everyone’s running for sanctuary, but in here we’ve already got plenty.”

17: Secret World

What I said about… Secret World at Bootleggers:

“Secret World are – and honestly, you could just stop reading after the next two words – fucking magnificent. This is a spectacular set, a hardcore throat fronting soaring music, a band that sounds happy but pounds on raw nerves like a gang of hammers. There’s genuinely something happening tonight, you can just feel it – and they sense it as much as we all do. The real measure of any artist isn’t the streams they get or the gongs they collect, it’s the passion of the crowd in front of them. On that scale, this fabulous band are flying well off the top of it.”

16: Joan & The Giants

What I said about… Joan & The Giants at The Lord Gladstone, SXSW Sydney:

“Bursting with light, Joan & the Giants XXL sized guitar-pop stretches the walls of The Lord Gladstone, threatening to burst out all over the street. Crisp, soaring, and wildly good fun.”

15: Annie Hamilton

What I said about… Annie Hamilton at Shark Bar:

“Like we’re on the end of marionette strings, we all dance to Annie Hamilton’s tune tonight. Whether we’re being pulled along by the beat of tracks like ‘Dynamite’, hypnotised by that killer violin, or dragged onto the rocks by the siren call of the vocal, our moves are no longer our own. The surrender is bliss.”

14: Oscar The Wild

What I said about… Oscar The Wild at The Botany View:

“Oscar The Wild’s pristine and shiny songs are the golden ticket tonight – a winning combo of sweet and sour, vicious wit behind the soft embrace. There’s moments here for us all, dancing and laughing and crying and hugging, but behind it all is a wicked-sharp understanding of how to have fun and turn it into song. A truly fabulous band, and one I could watch between sunset and sunrise, over and over again.”

13: Full Flower Moon Band

What I said about… Full Flower Moon Band at UTS Underground, SXSW Sydney:

“Full Flower Moon Band stomp the ceiling tiles out of Rolling Stone House at SXSW Sydney, darkly tinged and dangerous. As fabulous as they are threatening.”

12: A. Swayze & The Ghosts

What I said about… A. Swayze & The Ghosts at The Lansdowne, SXSW Sydney:

“Mad, shuddering movement accompanies every part of A. Swayze & The Ghosts’ set, theatrical and expansive. Thrilling songs, dark but uplifting, set the scene and ring around the room.”

11: FVNERAL

What I said about… FVNERAL at The Botany View :

“FVNERAL are moving slowly but steadily from a band that initially only played incredibly sad and beautiful songs into a band that plays incredibly sad and beautiful songs but is determined to make us miserable buggers have a good time anyway. It’s still mostly set somewhere in a deep, dark well of sad – but ever so gradually, set by set, this already-fabulous band are (whisper it) coming off a bit happy. Whatever mood they’re in though, they remain one of our very, very best.”

10: Clay J Gladstone

What I said about… Clay J Gladstone at Wayward’s :

“Clay J Gladstone play old and new tracks to headline the launch of DefWolf Records, and there are few bands who’ll celebrate more wildly or welcome you in more warmly. Always having a whale of a time, their set is always as infectious as it is deliriously bonkers, neurotic emo notes rubbing up against giddy mayhem. Glorious chaos.”

9: Hockey Dad

What I said about… Hockey Dad at UTS Underground, SXSW Sydney:

“Hockey Dad rip into Rolling Stone House, as fizzing as ever, seemingly simple songs that conjure complexity nonetheless. New and old tracks fit together, the pieces making – as always – a wonderful whole.”

8: Late November

What I said about… Late November at The Alley, SXSW Sydney:

“What a joy it is. A Late November set bursts with fun, spilling metaphorically and literally well off the stage. All eight of them – horn section and all – create a racket so happy and delirious that it’s impossible to avoid, ignore, or say meh to. If we didn’t have a band like this, you’d want to invent them. Now that we do, we should cherish them. Fabulous.”

7: Radio Free Alice

What I said about… Radio Free Alice at The Lansdowne:

“Radio Free Alice are unusual, as in not the usual sort of thing you hear on a stage. That plaintive vocal stutters and jabs, dancing around spikier rhythms and guitars, a glorious, flailing mess of both emotion and strength. There’s no sense they’re trying to please anyone but themselves – in a world where everyone’s grasping for recognition, this is a band that gives a lot more than it seems to care about getting. A rare treat.”

6: Antenna

What I said about… Antenna at The Trocadero Room:

“I’ve seen Antenna twice in just a few weeks, both times right at the end of the year, and in those two short shows they’re now basically camped out towards the top of my holy-cow-I’m-glad-I-caught-that-show list. Immediate doesn’t quite cover it – this set causes a reaction like Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction, a massive jolt direct to the heart but familiar like it had always been there. A thrill.”

5: Nick Ward

What I said about… Nick Ward at Oxford Art Factory:

“Nick Ward writes songs with incredible delicacy and precision, but are built with such magnificent heft and weight that the walls start collapsing before you even realise there’s been an explosion. Spectacular musicality, a rare ear for an unusual melody, and enough charm to melt concrete, it’s a hell of a set. Quietly wild and utterly brilliant.”

4: 3%

What I said about… 3% at The Chipppo, SXSW Sydney:

“Titianic and boiling with energy, 3% are a force of word and sound. The core of the project is protest and fury, and the delivery is defiance and inspiration but they’re clearly relishing every second of it, as are we.”

3: ixaras

What I said about… ixaras at Shark Bar:

“ixaras might be playing with fewer years than most under her belt, but she and her killer band do it with more presence, songwriting chops, and sheer bloody energy than nine out of ten cats. It’s hard to overdo it about how impressive this set is – forget the age chat, just about every artist out there would or should sell a kidney for a set like this. It’s wild, it’s happy as hell, it’s bright pop with a sneer and a smile, it’s astonishingly complicated but it’s easy to dance to… yeah, impressive doesn’t really do it justice. Utterly, utterly, thrilling.”

2: The Buoys

What I said about… The Buoys at UTS Underground, SXSW Sydney:

“Try to pick nine of the best songs by The Buoys and you’d need to pick at least twenty, but this powerhouse of a set comes pretty damn close. Even when singing about distance or heartbreak, this is thirty straight minutes of unfiltered joy, not a beat going by without raising hairs or rattling bones. When The Buoys are playing, everything is just plain better. One of our very best, and one we should treasure beyond measure.”