Aussie/Kiwi Guitar Pop- The scenes that just keep giving and giving

I couldn’t find a thread entirely devoted to this region, so I decided that there sure as shit needs to be one! I am continually amazed by the endless stream of rad guitar pop/indie rock coming out of the Antipodes. Melbourne is the much lauded epicenter of the “scene”, but I’ve been discovering great stuff from all corners of both countries- released on major indies all the way down to bandcamp level cassette labels. These bands are variously indebted to Flying Nun, The Go-Betweens, C86, Pavement, & the Velvet Underground- but there is something undeniably singular about the Aussie/Kiwi sound- smart, shimmering, catchy as hell guitar-pop music.

Many of these bands share members and you can be sure to find at least one solid side-project or spinoff from just about every band you discover. Some of my faves are Dick Diver, Twerps, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever (sooooooo good), The Stevens, Boomgates, Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Chook Race, Courtney Barnett, Scott & Charlene’s Wedding, Ghost Wave, Surf City, Salad Boys, Terror of the Deep…I’ve been putting together a giant mixtape over the last few years that now has over 100 bands represented so I could go on and on and on. Is this not the best thing happening in the musical world right now?

Ausmuteants
Blank Realm
Terry

they got all the good punk bands these days

people like that Royal Headache band

Kitchen's Floor
Deaf Wish

The last bastion of anything worthwhile called "indie rock" as far as I'm concerned. Current faves:
Flyying Colours
Shifting Sands
Death & The Maiden
Avoid!Avoid
Doprah
Drones
Street Chant

Fishrider is a great kiwi label.

I'm rapidly warming to King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. D D Dumbo has made some interesting records too.

The Terry record is good, but I really loved the singles. Fishrider rules, I have their shirt.

i forgot Trust Punks, they are good too

this is such a great track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUf6vuLhm-o

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever (sooooooo good)

otm

I should check the Terry album again, but anyway always liked Terry-related Dick Diver's Melbourne Florida (got their own thread, don't they?). Also lots of others, incl. Courtney Barnett, who seems like an astute student of the Go-Betweens---which reminds me, ilxor tylerw's tumblr has resurrected some mighty fine Go-Bets sets over the years (discussed on Go-Between threads)---don't have time now to check which links are still working, but he's re-upped several fairly recently:
http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/search/Go-Betweens Thanx again mr. t.

And I need to see what these guys are up to nowadays; covered their '08 album in the Voice:

Nuthin But Blue Skies

Die! Die! Die!
Promises, Promises (SAF)

"So much for blue skies! What about the future?" Thus New Zealand's young punks, Die! Die! Die!, fling exhortations back at a preacher who's told them, "You must believe!" They aren't really asking, but they also aren't echoing Johnny Rotten, that cunning London Irish drop-out, caterwauling "No-o-o/Fu-u-t-yahh" in a faux-cockney parody of a muezzin calling the faithful to prayer a quarter-century before 9/11. No, it's not quite the same, because outrages and disasters do take their places in the landscape. So even Die! Die! Die!, with their shrieky little name and shrieky little songs (tattooed in ears by the phonograph needles of Andrew Wilson's voice and guitar), soon find themselves pausing long enough to explain, quite reasonably, "Well sir, this winter, I cannot believe." "Blue Skies" is the last song on Die! Die! Die!'s second album, Promises, Promises. Last year's Steve Albini–recorded, self-titled debut's flying shards of impulsive/compulsive encounters encounters were caught by walls thrown up, of tracks tightened till they imploded (10 songs, in just over 20 minutes). But now, on this Shayne (of Straitjacket Fits) Carter–produced set, walls are pushed out as inner space-junk expands; shards reappear as pieces of Wilson's personal blue skies, of old hopes and dreams. Shattered, scattered voice and guitar can't help planting some bizarre memory garden of l-u-v. But the eloquent guts of Lachlan Anderson's bass will never digest such seeds so easily, and drummer Michael Prain's Keith Moon-style soloing-as-accompaniment dents craters in an everyday maze, where Wilson and "You!" grapple in reflective gear.

2nd vote for Ausmuteants. Amusements is pretty great. A year ago or so, it seemed like every single band I liked turned out to be Aussie.

(note to self: Spotify has a large Scientists zone, incl. those recent Numero comps---check 'em out.)

How strange, Tidal has the same stuff. Check 'em out.

Yeah, the free version

Sorry, I'd forgotten that all ILM members are living a subsistence farming experience in Indonesia. Spotify it is.

Thank you for this thread; really dug the Dick Diver, Salad Boys & Twerps albums last year.

Hey dow, last Die!x3 EP was kinda nice - female BVs are a new thing for them: https://diediedie.bandcamp.com/album/what-did-you-expect
Going to see them in a week or so.

I'm a little bit weary of these bands/this sound - been a bit of a death spiral for a decade now - but I can't fault the Street Chant or Sharpie Crows discography, I'm still anticipating the Bad Sav album, and Astro Children deserve a mention.

Fishrider Records is run by a total creep :/

I rate the first 4 Die! Die! Die! albums but that last one, "Swim", felt like a big drop-off unfortunately.

Thanks for linking the ep, etc! On first listen I like the first and last tracks best, esp. "Is What It Is," playing up the relatively mellower melodic riffage of the middle tracks while blending it with the bolder, older textures and dynamics, just a taste of those ("always leave 'em wanting more"). Hope an album's coming along this spring.

centre negative : wry vibrant trashcan pop

https://meltedicecream.bandcamp.com/track/secretly-hes-a-racist-2

the trendees : swell maps outsider pop

https://thetrendees.bandcamp.com/track/boring-party-3

file folder : suis genris keyboard popp

https://filefolder.bandcamp.com/album/new-countdown

opposite sex : whatevr dry wee fried anectodotal pop altohugh way more fired sonding generally than this

https://soundcloud.com/fishrider-records/opposite-sex-supermarket

wurld series : yer std pixies 90's pop stuff without being too bad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-RFcXe3-38

hex : brilliant women making badass black sabbath meets jefferson folking airplane rock

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPj6jk1P2JA

Camperdown & Out a sleeper in this scene.

https://camperdownandout.bandcamp.com/track/down-out

I also loved the Ruined Fortune record.

These guys Closet Straights really know their way around a tune:

https://cobrasnakenecktierecords.bandcamp.com/album/closet-straights

Anyone for The Laurels? More in a RIDE shoegaze/britpop vein.

https://thelaurels.bandcamp.com/

Their album "Mesozoic" is brilliant, even if not at all original.

When I lived in Australia 10 years ago, there was fuck all decent bands there. Whats happened?!

probably too obvious, but if you're on the fence about getting that new reissue of the Clean's Getaway, the bonus live disc is godlike. seriously some of the best Clean I've heard.

The thread's short so far, but it's still gone too long without a mention of Total Control. Few bands have got me excited the last few years like them.

Oh man, Getaway is so underrated. "Circle Canyon" is like the best Grateful Dead song not performed by the Dead

i think i was one of the underraters back in the day -- but it sounds fucking fantastic in 2016.

The thread's short so far, but it's still gone too long without a mention of Total Control. Few bands have got me excited the last few years like them.

Great band but I wouldn't characterize any of their music as "guitar pop."

courtney barnett was in the darren hanlon, laura jean orbit of folkier types before she hooked up with jen cloher and went grunge. I guess they're all go betweens fans at heart really.

hfs at ausmuteants great.

He lives in the US now, but this year's Moles album, which is really Richard Davies, is erratic but often great.

I love Total Control too, and think they might be the best of the bunch, but I also hesitated in a guitar pop thread. But it's sometimes a close call.

Probably right re Total Control, but with connections with other bands named here, I'd toss em in on the fringes.

Anyone keep up with/rate Surf Friends? This one from a few years back is a good viber, but I haven't really explored further.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi8oJpmItgI

Thanks for the Surf Friends shout. I really dig them. This EP was released this year https://edilsrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/dreams-are-real

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_CDK1-x72A

Alpine might be a little too mainstream pop but they do have guitars and could also be considered here

New RBCF EP is a ripper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zcYS69KFrw

It certainly is. The best rock n'roll band around at the moment

how i loved the sugargliders (from melbourne) at the time. they have this innocent, melodic, naive sound only bands from the antipodes have. the sarah comp "we're all trying to get there" has at least seven brilliant tunes by them. here is one fave:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtYaGea7FKg

This is pleasant jangly stuff:

https://chookrace.bandcamp.com/album/around-the-house

Just came across Rolling Stone Australia---doesn't seem that different from American so far---and this might not be thread-relevant---or good at all?---but kinda wondering: https://rollingstoneaus.com/reviews/post/the-blackeyed-susans-close-your-eyes-and-see/5680

Awesome new group called The Stroppies featuring members of The Stevens, Dick Diver, and Twerps. Also everything on this label is worth checking out.

https://hobbiesgalore.bandcamp.com/album/the-stroppies

Surreal, it sounds like some lost Flying Nun band from 1982.

Really loving Wireheads, Dylan/Fall word blizzards and just enough chords.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO_sorb0EFE

Thanks for that set Scott, really enjoying

Thanks for the recommendation, bendy. That's great, innocent indiepop with some good sprechgesang.

Witching Waves is another good crew that's not on the Scott list.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP2DvdqIsts
Really fond of Totally Mild, who is on the list.

Ha, well some searching reveals Witching Waves is UK, so disregard that, though they fit in style.

They sound very post-punk in a sonic youth kind of way. Some nice guitar noise and quite speedy. It does not really astonish me that they are not from the 5th continent. But i wouldn't have guessed england.

Gorgeous tune from the indiepop thread by a band from auckland:
https://therealpolyester.bandcamp.com/album/different-for-a-boy

Tags
carly rae feelings pop new zealand pop disco indie Auckland

https://daily.bandcamp.com/2018/04/04/new-zealand-indie-list/amp/

Terrible name but I'm enjoying the music of Tropical Fuck Storm, far different from the Clean-influenced peppy guitar pop of most Aussie bands

Tropical Fuck Storm thread starts here: The Drones - any good

New Stroppies album is out:

https://thestroppies.bandcamp.com/album/whoosh

So much aussie sprechgesang out there! The particular disaffected tone they all use seems to remind me of something older that must be an ur-influence, but I can't quite place it. It's not Mark E Smith

Jonathan Richman maybe?

ugh, jesus, of course it's Pavement isn't it

Cattle & Cane predates Pavement

Yep, I can see that it's all been thoroughly covered here: birth of the flattened cool: the origins of the indie voice?

I think Chuck was on the right path with his NZ Flying Nun reference

Dole-wave bands have frequently sounded rather flying Flying Nun, yeah.

Some of the acts with the most sprech in their sprechgesang also bring to mind Pip Proud (late 60s) and the Cannanes (80s).

Really digging this new Murlocs album:

https://themurlocs.bandcamp.com/

i gotta check that, i had young blindness and loopholes and lost track of what's out there. i mark them more in my psych than pop pile

They’re pretty stylistically diverse in a retro-garage band sort of way. Folk, blues, r&b, etc. are thrown into the blender, but they make it their own.

Probably a good place to note that there's a new Eddy Current Suppression Ring album "All in good time"

rly loving this comp, which i dont think has been mentioned on ilm before?

https://www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/va-i-won-t-have-to-think-about-you-compiled-by-bayu-and-moopie-lp/ACOLOUR.007LP.html

For people who liked that Chats single "Smoko" from a couple years ago, they have a full-length out that sounds pretty solid on first listen.

New Mini Skirt LP is catchy garage punk recommended for fans of "Light Up Gold" era Parquet Courts:

https://erstetheketontraeger.bandcamp.com/album/ett-093-mini-skirt-casino-lp

m.t. honey album sounds pretty good

Sure, there’s been Australian punk before now, but it was always under the guise of what was popular in the brother world and never of what was right around them. You would have never known bands like Scientists or The Saints were from Australia because there was no pride and (anti)nationalism to it. Most importantly, there was no accent. [from Mini Skirt bandcamp blurb]

Not sure this person could have been listening very broadly, tbh. There have been zillions of punk and indie bands over the last forty or so years with almost nauseatingly strong Aus accents, lol. Such that I've often wondered about exaggeration.

Surely there's an obvious reason why a voice like Chris Bailey's might not have stuck out as conspicuously Australian. "Orstralia" seems like pretty solid anti-nationalism regardless. And, as they liked to point out, they pre-dated most of their presumed influences anyway.

chris bailey sounds v australian to me

That blurb seems very misguided to me.

Thanks for the Mini Skirt tip, very fun! Reminds me a bit of Compulsion, a long forgotten 90s band.

New Murlocs album is out!

https://themurlocs.bandcamp.com/album/bittersweet-demons-3

Some songs are a bit samey, but I really like a large handful of jangly Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever tracks. Just saw them in W DC last night w/ their acoustic guitarist, 2 electric guitarists, bass and drums approach)

I've really gotten into The Stroppies lately, which features Stephanie from Dick Diver. I like all of their stuff, but this year's album is particularly good:

https://thestroppies.bandcamp.com/album/levity

Seconding that new Stroppies record (many have noted being into them in this thread, but yeah, I have listened to it a bunch).

Ah, my bad, didn't scroll back far enough for the Stroppies mentions.

Also a random fact I have noticed lately is that Mikey Young (Eddy Current/Total Control) seemingly masters an insane amount of good records that cross my path these days. No idea how he does it but his name is on an insane amount of records.

They were new to me this year too! Was just going through this thread for the first time and that was a nice coincidence (my girlfriend listens to a ton of Australian punk and so that is how I found them).

The Chats have fully embraced 1982 and it's pretty good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBeu6wEZDqw

Quite digging the danceable new psych-pop single from Dunedin band Soaked Oats: https://open.spotify.com/track/7ePzucJTuQWcQ41uzFjVcT?si=J_01WZy7SRS93dpV4W2ePQ

Posted previously in the NZ music thread, but still loving the new Fazerdaze song: https://open.spotify.com/track/2qkAa6IrUy5WWizVE1rpeh?si=9u0qWliWSou70CfEOntp4g

https://juliajacklin.bandcamp.com/album/pre-pleasure

Third Julia Jacklin LP is... quite good, I'm thinking, as someone who hadn't really been keeping up with the preview tracks. I've had reservations about her appropriating a, er, "Americana voice" or whatever, but working with a Montreal posse has seemingly brought her closer than ever to, say, the Mitski part of the spectrum. Kinda. Sorta.

Who am I going to review/interview/cover this book for? Hearing good things about detail, accuracy and lavish photographic spreads... https://t.co/dyS8wohYrr

— Kiran Dass (@SteelyDass) July 15, 2022

Going to be a great book. Weird that a Kiwi hasn't already written something like this but great that it's happening now before all that history gets lost.

Fazerdaze announced a new EP today:
https://www.flyingnun.co.nz/products/fazerdaze-break?mc_cid=e5ce2139fb&mc_eid=c024cda97c

I don't usually pass along so much self-promo, but what the hell, this sounds right:

The books offers a comprehensive history of the first seven years of Flying Nun when the label was based in Christchurch. The story of the label is told by the records themselves. Over 140 releases are covered, from The Clean's "Tally Ho!" single to The Verlaines' Bird-Dog LP.

— Matthew Goody (@m_c_goody) July 8, 2022

ok, ok!

Some details:
- 438 full colour pages
- 500+ images, including tons of never-before published photos.
- Entries on every @flyingnun record released from 1981 to mid-1988.
- Available in early November, 2022
- Details on how to order will follow soon.
- eBook will be available too

— Matthew Goody (@m_c_goody) July 8, 2022

Definitely buying that book. I can't seem to find a complete Flying Nun discography online unless someone can vouch for stuff on Discogs sorted by year.

I guess you could cross-check with the catalogue on the FN website but it'd be a nightmare:
https://www.flyingnun.co.nz/collections/flying-nun-catalog

And of course you're missing out on all the important related stuff on other local labels (Xpressway, Propeller etc.)

Flowertruck - 'Pretending'

I've had Flowertruck in my head since this was on Rage on the weekend. Apparently from Sydney with a not insignificant discography already. I now see their bio cites Orange Juice and Talking Heads as influences, almost as if they were algorithmically constructed to get me on the bandwagon. YMMV, etc. (My first hunch was that they might actually be New Zealanders but I suspect the goofiness merely brought to mind this awesome Bressa Creeting Cake video lol.)

Charles from Flowertruck also has an extremely likeable solo synth-pop project called Greenwave Beth

Actually it might technically be a duo! But last time I saw GB it was just Charles

Thanks! Listening now. Definitely likeable.