ISOTOPES frontman Justin Miller is striking out on his own under the moniker JSTNXMLLR. His debut single “Fake Fcuk” is a modern pop-punk anthem. I love the way that electronic beat sits underneath the classic early ‘00s pop-punk sound. If you were cranking Blink-182 and Good Charlotte back in the day, you’re going to love this one.
“Fake Fcuk is about shadowing your problems from everyone like it’s all a big charade,” Justin explained. “You can run, but you’re still going to have to come home and face them one day.”
“Fake Fcuk”’s release ushers in a new era of music for Justin.
“I feel like ISOTOPES helped me touch on some real personal subjects whereas JSTNXMLLR is the side of my personality I feel like I’ve lost since my teenage years. So, it’s almost as if I’ve had all these ideas brewing in the whole process and I finally get to be myself again. I think the most interesting thing about this project is that myself and Stevie [Knight, his long-time collaborator] have been mates for around 10 years and we’ve always spoken about doing something like this. I guess the one good thing about COVID was allowing us to really knuckle down on bringing this idea to life.”
Watch this space. With a debut single this strong, there’s bound to be more great music to come.
Blue Mountains sibling band Storm & Stone have released their fabulous new single “Run.” This track defies genre. I thought I had it pegged as a sassy, Destiny’s Child-inspired soul track, but once that chorus kicks in it takes a dark country left turn. It’s unexpected, but a real delight. And can we just take a moment to appreciate those incredible harmonies? The way sisters August and Auriel and their brother Hallelujah come together is just so special.
“Auriel had started showing me murder ballads, and some of Dolly Parton’s darker stories,” August explained of the song’s inspiration. “When we were writing and working on it, I really wanted us to have the energy of a train leaving a station. A build-up of excitement and movement forward as the song came to its climax to bring the story even more to life.”
“Run” is also the first song that Auriel and August penned together.
“I think for me, when we were writing this song with August, I really wanted to express how it felt to be on the other side of a love song, in the desperate dark place the song talks to,” Auriel said. “I also wanted something with a beat that had a lot of movement, to sort of follow the emotional movement the song talks about.”
The song’s dark feel is perfectly matched by the video set in Heartly Vale Cemetery in the Blue Mountains.
“The story is one of a woman experiencing her partner being drawn to another woman, but what ensues after that is left somewhat up in the air. What happened? What is going to happen? That ambiguity was enthralling,” said Thomas Crnkovic of Cranky Dog Production, who directed and produced the clip. “Are we listening to someone’s internal torment from trying to keep a grip on a relationship that’s slipping away? Are we witnesses to the aftermath of a crime of passion? Both? I wanted to make a video that honours those stakes and that ambiguity. Maybe spirits can hear our darkest thoughts, maybe nothing can. Either way: Run.”
These guys are the real deal. I’m really looking forward to hearing more of what they can do.
Image used with permission from Wildheart Publicity
Gold Coast Alt Fiction has just dropped their new single “Yesterday,” their first release since 2020. This is a cracking track that effortlessly melds indie-pop influences with coastal rock. What a way to come back.
“It’s about understanding what goes up in a relationship must come down,” explained Alt Fiction’s singer and guitarist Will Tyler. “About remembering the best times to help you through the worst, and coming to grips with the fact that no relationship can stay perfect.”
The song’s coastal vibes are reflected in the lyric video for “Yesterday.” If you want to sing along, this one’s for you.
Alt Fiction say they’re ready to pick up where they left off before the pandemic. Keep an eye on their Facebook page to find out what comes next.
Image used with permission from Island Records Australia
It’s an exciting time for musicians and their fans. After COVID-19 brought the world to a screeching halt, we’re all starting to reconnect with one another and live music. In that spirit of connection, Western Australia’s Last Quokka and Victoria’s Plaster of Paris have joined forces for a “full-tilt punk rock extravaganza” travelling the country this April and May. Before it kicks off, I caught up with the bands to chat about the tour, how the pandemic hit them, and what comes next.
Last Quokka, we’re chatting because you’re about to kick off a national tour, which must be so exciting for you as a Western Australian band. How are you feeling about it?
LQ: Honestly it feels like a bit of dream right now, so until we’re there it’s hard to know how to feel! But we’re incredibly excited. This has been such a long time coming and obviously like every band not having the opportunity to tour these last two years has been a struggle. We’ve also had a bit of a line-up change so it’s going to be rad to get to travel together as a new five-piece. And of course we’re super pumped to be able to hang with Plaster of Paris.
What have you missed most about touring the country?
LQ: Last Quokka is really all about the live energy and the community connection we make through playing so we’ve missed that a lot. It’s also just such a rad thing to be able to travel with your mates and play shows.
Plaster of Paris, you’re joining Last Quokka on this tour. How did that come about?
POP: We just kept talking after our Sonic Masala shows together got cancelled in Brisbane last year and we all just seem connected. Both bands are running DIY gigs and self-releasing and working in these scenes that centralise politics and feminism and community so it just feels symbiotic to come together. And so fun!
After all the lockdowns in Victoria, it must be pretty exciting to simply get back to playing for audiences. How did the pandemic treat you?
POP: We had an album to mix and release during the pandemic so Melbourne’s crazy long lockdown gave us time, if nothing else, to focus on what we wanted to achieve. We drove Paul Maybury a little mad I’m sure with remixes and redos, but by the end we got something we are incredibly proud of and I’m not sure we would have made the same album pre-pandemic. A silver lining perhaps?
Last Quokka, as a Western Australian band you’ve probably had a really different experience of the pandemic than a lot of East Coast acts. I saw photos from gigs that looked almost normal while we were in lockdown, yet you were cut off from the rest of the country for so long. What was that experience like for you?
LQ: It was exactly as you’ve said really. It felt super weird and privileged to be playing shows like RTRFMs In The Pines or Yardstock to thousands of people while our mates over east were in lockdown, but that said the isolation has definitely been pretty intense. While it feels dumb to complain about it, we’re already so very isolated over here and that was just hugely reinforced, especially with East Coast bands not being able to come over. Also, Perth is an odd place. While there is a great DIY and lefty community in general, it’s a very conservative place and can feel very suffocating at times. So it is great to get out.
Plaster of Paris, during the pandemic you released your album, Lost Familiar. What was it like to put that out in the world at a time when you couldn’t tour the country?
POP: Hitting ‘Public’ on Bandcamp and collectively opening beers in our lounge rooms. Doing a band Zoom when we were nominated for Best Rock Punk Act in the Music Victoria Awards and clinking virtual champagne flutes. Connecting with online fans and making email buddies across the globe in places like Estonia and Portugal. Doing interviews on Instagram Live with Spanish blogs at 3 am (and getting the day wrong and having to do it all over again). Making the “Danceflaw” filmclip in the exercise hour we had each day (literally Nicola and Zec exercise/dancing in empty streets of Thornbury with a camera). These are the weird things you do for album releases in a pandemic!
Why did you release the album during the pandemic? Was there ever a time that you considering holding it back?
POP: We started recording this album in 2015/2016 and had a lot of setbacks. By the time the pandemic hit we just went along and kept pushing and took it as another challenge. A big scary one! But being with our creative family was all we wanted to do. The album is so much about the family you create, particularly as queer-identifying humans. You build this new family that let you be yourself and we wanted to celebrate that because lockdowns often separated us from safe spaces and chosen families. Our lost familia.
The music you make is so ballsy and bold, I’m sure it takes a lot of people by surprise. The post-punk genre is so dominated by men. What’s it like for Plaster of Paris playing in that space?
POP: Ha! Ballsy! Imagine if we described music as Breasty! I’m not having a crack … I just wonder if we’ll ever ungender strength and anger and loudness. Even now it scares people when female-identifying people are loud. All you have to do is cross the river in Melbourne and play a crowd that has never seen a punk band and watch them squirm and get confused in 2022! Their idea of loud women is Miley Cyrus covering Metallica. (Hashtag I love Miley FYI). We’re all fans of hard rock, the riot grrrl movement was instrumental to me understanding I was allowed to be in the band not just hang out with them. I used to sit on the floor of my male friends’ rehearsals watching them. All of a sudden I started seeing women playing instruments and I picked up a guitar. We still need representation, especially as instrumentalists. As older women we need to see ourselves too, ageism is real in the music industry. As Zec sings in “State of Emergency” – we “want Social Currency” and “a community to speak to me”.
I was reminded of a lot of female punk pioneers as I listened to your album. Who are some of your influences?
POP: My heart will always be with the ’90s ladies like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile and other affiliated acts like Helium and Sleater Kinney and the ’70s UK punks: The Slits, Raincoats, XRay Spex. Zec loves Siouxsie Sioux, Nina Hagan, Wayne County and her love of Kate Bush and Bowie is clear in her phrasing. As a guitarist, I also love bands like Gossip and Yeah Yeah Yeahs because Plaster is a two-piece band mostly: guitar and drums. Three people just locking in. Having said that, we are touring as a five-piece!
How about you Last Quokka? What artists have made a big impression on you?
LQ: We did a whip around the band: Kirill – Michael Jackson, Carlota – Tool, Justin – IDLES, Ray – Fugazi, Trent – Phoebe Bridges.
What can music lovers expect from these shows?
LQ: Drunken shenanigans, conversations about Geoff Gallop, some booty shaking, and maybe some good music.
After the tour wraps up, what’s next for you?
LQ: We’re working on our fifth LP so that’s exciting and trying to eventually get over to the EU! A few of us are also thinking about getting more pets, maybe learning to play tennis. That kind of thing.
POP: Extend the tour with more dates!! Let’s do Tassie and Darwin and then Europe. Quokkas watch out!
If you’re ready to rock (and let’s face it, who isn’t?), you can catch Last Quokka and Plaster of Paris at the venues below. Check out the Last Quokka and Plaster of Paris socials for tickets and more details about the shows:
1 April 2022 – The Outpost, Brisbane (with Tape Off)
2 April 2022 – Eleven Dive Bar in Maroochydore (with Tape Off)
3 April 2022 – Sonic Sherpa, Brisbane (instore)
7 April 2022 – The Servo, Port Kembla (with The Elastic Waste Band)
8 April 2022 – Graveyard Shift @ The Lansdowne, Chippendale (with Yes I’m Leaving)
9 April 2022 – The Old Bar, Fitzroy (with Zig Zag)
10 April 2022 – Arvo show at the Barwon Club, Geelong (with Zig Zag)
6 May 2022 – The Bird, Northbridge (with Dead Tooth Hottie)
7 May 2022 – Yardstock! Fremantle
8 May 2022 – The Shed, Albany (with Pack Hoarse)
Images used with permission from Last Quokka and Plaster of Paris; photo credit for Plaster of Paris photo: Kalindy Williams
I was already pretty hyped for the release of Charlie Collins’ sophomore album, but hearing the fourth single from that release has made me want to listen even more. “Backseat Valentine” is an absolute banger, the sort of track that makes you want to turn the music up, dance with abandon, and sing into a hairbrush. The song is a bit of a left-turn for Charlie, but I like it!
“I’ve never written a song like that ever,” she said. “It’s embracing, the real fucking wild side of me, I love to go crazy and do spontaneous things sometimes.”
Fresh from supporting Gang of Youths in the UK and Ireland, Charlie is ready to make music for fans here at home. Her album Undone drops on April 29, the day before Charlie’s East Coast album launch tour begins.
30 April 2022 – Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane
5 May 2022 – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne
14 May 2022 – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
Image used with permission from Island Records Australia
I’m a big believer that there’s no point covering a song unless you can bring something new to it. It might not always please the purists, but if you’re putting your own artistic stamp on a song and saying something new through it, you’ve done your job. imbi’s take on Muddy Waters’ classic “Mannish Boy” is a dramatic departure from the original, but it makes a heartfelt commentary on gender identity that is worth listening to. There’s also no denying their vocal chops.
“I really tried to keep it as raw as possible; taking that authenticity as the baseline foundation. After that we added the decorative moments, made it really build and swell … it was a really beautiful process … [it’s] how I bring my essence to all the music I make,” imbi explained. “In paying homage to ground-breaking African American artists, I wanted to maintain that spirit of breaking the rules and shifting the norms and speaking to your lived experience unapologetically.”
This cover comes from Everybody Knows I’m Here, a 10-track compilation celebrating Chess Records’ 70th anniversary produced by Canberra artist Kojo “Kay” Ansah (Citizen Kay). I’m really looking forward to hearing the rest of the tunes when it drops on May 6. Physical copies of the album, including 12-inch vinyl, will be released later this year.
Image used with permission from Chester Records; photo credit @42069mm
With the Western Australian borders now open to triple-vaxxed travellers, many of us are thinking of a getaway to the Wildflower State. If you’re looking for a little inspiration, or a killer song for your playlist, check out “Bussell Hwy,” the latest track from Perth indie-rock trio Ghost Care.
“Bussell Hwy is all about the classic road trip! It’s where you’d rather be, and where you need to be and sometimes don’t realise,” the band said. “This song is about convincing your friends, and yourself, to get away from it all and just take a breather. This song is the nostalgia that we need, and the motivation to get back out there. We hope it can be everyone’s new road trip anthem for the future!”
Those open borders should help Ghost Care have a big 2022. They’ve just inked a deal with Tiny Triumphs management, and it shouldn’t be too long before we see them touring all over. Until then, local crowds can catch them launching “Bussell Hwy” at Scarborough’s Indian Ocean Hotel on April 8.
Image used with permission from Beehive PR; credit: Howie Ng
Listening to Josh Setterfield’s new single “Better Off,” it’s hard to believe that before 2016 he was fronting a pop-punk band. These days he’s a bona fide country artist, although he does bring a little more edge to his tunes than the average country star. This track is pure feel-good fun, with a hooky chorus that should have you singing along before those final guitar chords.
“We all know something we could be better off without, whether it’s a toxic relationship, friendship, bad habit or even in 2022 … Covid! I hope this song sparks something in people to help make the change or decision they need to improve their own lives … to be better off,” Josh said.
Josh is joining Casey Barnes on plenty of shows over the next few months. If you love modern country, you won’t want to miss these shows.
11 March 2022 – Yamba Bowling Club, Yamba
23 April 2022 – Longyard Hotel, Tamworth
29 April 2022 – Harvey Road Tavern, Gladstone
30 April 2022 – Great Western Hotel, Rockhampton
6 May 2022 – Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle
14 May 2022 – Dalrymple Hotel, Townsville
20 May 2022 – Racehorse Hotel, Ipswich
21 May 2022 – Miami Marketta, Gold Coast
19 August 2022 – NQ’s Rockin’ Country, Mackay
Sydney punk acts A Swift Farewell and Clay J Gladstone have joined forces for the collaboration of your dreams. Their new single “Stressed Out” perfectly showcases everything that makes these two local acts so special. If you’re feeling frustrated or struggling in any way today, you’re going to want to turn the volume all the way up on this one.
“The song is about not expressing emotions and often hiding and burying feelings until it gets too much.” A Swift Farewell explained. “We wanted to show our darker side with this track, as we felt our two previous singles were a fair bit more pop-influenced and mid-tempo. Funnily enough, its working title was actually ‘angry boi’.”
Creating the film clip at Marrickville’s Sydney Props Studio was a labour of love, according to A Swift Farewell frontwoman Emma Mather.
“We built the set ourselves,” she said. “It was a hustle! First, we had to build huge panels of fake grass. It represents the chaotic ‘inside’ of that same person who’s pretending they’re fine but hiding all their bad feelings. Then, at the end of the video, we tried representing ‘getting buried’ by having people throw gardening soil at us while we played. We thought this was a good idea, but it was so painful as the soil was getting into our eyes and mouths and clothes.”
A Swift Farewell will support the release of “Stressed Out” with a show at the Burdekin Hotel on March 27 supporting Heroes for Hire. If you heard the buzz when they supported FANGZ, Headstrong, or Cambridge, you’ll want to check this gig out.
Image used with permission from Good Intent; photo credit: Robbie Walcott
Meg Mac has just released a powerful, thought-provoking new single “Is It Worth Being Sad” that I know you’re going to love. Her music always gets me with its intimate, introspective lyrics and strong vocals. This track is no exception. Whatever you’re struggling to move past in your life, hopefully you can use this song as therapy as Meg did.
“I had just run away to the country,” she recalled of the time she wrote her new single. “I was running away from my troubles. I was living in peace and quiet finally and really thought I’d figured it all out, and it was all smooth sailing ahead. It was the start of sorting out my life. This song was like my first step—I didn’t know it then, though.”
I’m a big believer that the right song finds you when it’s supposed to. With so many of us feeling like 2022 will mark a new chapter, I’m sure this song will resonate with many of you.
