Arun Kendall

News: Aotearoa/New Zealand band Soft Bait offer ‘Life Advice’ – news of their new album being released through Flying Nun Records, with a taste through the visceral single ‘Long Line’. The new single 'Long Line' from Tāmaki Makaurau band Soft Bait is an angular juggernaut of attitude and swagger that is enticing with its shattering guitars and distant observant delivery. With a genetic code containing elements of The Fall, it's an über cool slice of post punk that canters along with a throbbing bass and scyting guitars. Lyrically, it's about the inherited things that weigh us down - as Josh Hunter from the band says:

News: Aotearoa/New Zealand band Soft Bait offer 'Life Advice' - news of their new album being released through Flying Nun Records, with a taste through the visceral single 'Long Line'.
@flyingnun @soft_bait
#softbait #backseatdownunder #flyingnun #indie #news #video #track

News: With new single ‘You’re So Adorable’, SnarskiCircusLindyBand set to release its long-awaited debut album ‘what’s said and what’s left unsaid in September, ahead of live dates With founding members Lindy Morrison (legendary drummer from The Go-Betweens) and Rob Snarski (the iconic Black Eyed Susans) at the helm, and joined by ‘Evil’ Graham Lee (The Triffids, The Blackeyed Susans), Shane O’Mara (Rebecca’s Empire, Chris Wilson, The Silversound) and Dan Kelly (Paul Kelly, Dan Kelly & The Alpha Males), the supergroup SnarskiCircusLindyBand (SCLB) today announces the release of their debut album 'what's said and what's left unsaid' for 26 September.

News: With new single 'You're So Adorable', SnarskiCircusLindyBand set to release its long-awaited debut album 'what’s said and what’s left unsaid in September, ahead of live dates.
@robsnarski @lindymorrison7
#SnarskiCircusLindyBand #backseatdownunder #indie #news #video

Album Review: Merpire immerses us in the beautiful tender embrace of ‘MILK POOL’. It’s been four years since we reviewed Merpire‘s last official release, the album ‘Simulation Ride’, and the Naarm/Melbourne-based award-winning multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter (the nom-de-plume of Rhiannon Atkinson-Howatt) is back with her new album 'MILK POOL': a marvellous sonic journey that puts to the fore her immersive vocals and wry intelligent delivery. Merpire shares of the album:  I recently overheard a quote by the Russian composer Rachmaninov on writing music.

Album Review: Merpire immerses us in the beautiful tender embrace of 'MILK POOL'.
@merpiremusic
#merpire #backseatdownunder #indie #albumreview #news #indie #pop #naarm #melbourne

EP Review: Sand Brothers sweep elegantly into the world with the glorious ‘Shadows In The Square’ EP It's been a while since we heard from Sand Brothers and their album 'Too Much Sky' (see my review here) but in surprise announcement they are back with a new EP entitled 'Shadows in The Square' and it's business as usual for these purveyors of the finest indie pop. These track didn't make the original album but that is certainly impressive considering the strength of songwriting.

EP Review: Sand Brothers sweep elegantly into the world with the glorious 'Shadows In The Square' EP
@sandbrothersband
#sandbrothers #backseatdownunder #indie #pop #EPReview

Premiere: Meanjin/Brisbane’s Shugorei team up with Shêm Allen and Karin Schaupp to release the shimmering single ‘The Charm’ ahead of new album. Shugorei‘s stunning live performance at the birthday bash of their esteemed label 4000 Records way back in 2021 first brought the experimental duo to my attention, and Backseat Mafia premiered their single ‘Meet The Sun’ back in 2023. They have now released the utterly enchanting single 'The Charm', in collaboration with vocalist Shêm Allen and guitarist Karin Schaupp which we are honoured to premiere.

Premiere: Meanjin/Brisbane's Shugorei team up with Shêm Allen and Karin Schaupp to release the shimmering single 'The Charm' ahead of new album.
@shogorei_music @4000records
#shugorei #premiere #backseatdowunder #meanjin #brisbane #indie #4000records #experimental #dreampop

Album review: Aotearoa’s Ringlets unveil ‘The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time for Walkies)’ – a spectacular post punk blast from the land of the long white cloud, with NZ tour announced. Aotearoa/New Zealand’s fabulous  Ringlets have released their second album, endearingly entitled ‘The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time For Walkies)’ and it is a blast of thoroughly commendable sonic joy. Ringlets so epitomise the classic Dunedin sound it is kind of fitting they are on the legendary Flying Nun and Leather Jackets Records label: intelligent wry pop at its very best.

Album review: Aotearoa's Ringlets unveil 'The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time for Walkies)' - a spectacular post punk blast from the land of the long white cloud.
@_ringlets @flyngnun
#ringlets #backseatdownunder #indie #postpunk #aotearoa #leatherjacketrecords #flyingnun

News: The indefatigable Royel Otis announce second album ‘hickey’ and tease us with the yearning single ‘car’ ahead of intimate live shows. It's lower case all round as one of our favourite rapscallions, Royel Otis, announce the release of their second album 'hickey' for release on Friday 22 August via OURNESS / Capitol Records, and provide a tempting appetiser in the form of single 'car'. 'car' has been co-written by Royel Otis (Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic) with writer/producers Blake Slatkin (Gracie Abrams, Omar Apollo) and Omer Fedi (Lil Nas X, the Kid LAROI), and has the trademark touch of endearing whimsy so associated with this band.

News: The indefatigable Royel Otis announce second album 'hickey' and tease us with the yearning single 'car' ahead of intimate live shows.
@royelotis @ourness
#royelotis #ourness #indie #backseatdownunder #track #video #news

Premiere: ‘Everything Is Temporary’ – but class is permanent as The Valery Trails prove their resilience with their eternal jangly pop sensibilities ahead of new album. We are very proud to premiere the new single 'Everything Is Temporary' from The Valery Trails: a soaring jangly slice of power pop heaven that sets the heart beating with its euphoric delivery. It's their first release since 2022's 'The Sky Is Blue' (reviewed by me here) and absence certainly makes the heart grow fonder with the welcomed return of their indelible melodies and harmonies. Intrinsic in the sound is the type of soaring melodies found in fellow Brisbane band The Saints' in their later mellow phase or The Go-Betweens, with an anthemic blast redolent of the Flying Nun roster - The Bats and The Chills.

Premiere: 'Everything Is Temporary' - but class is permanent as The Valery Trails prove their resilience with their eternal jangly pop sensibilities ahead of new album.
@thevalerytrails
#thevalerytrails #backseatdownunder #indie #premiere #track #video

News: Gold Coast-based (Yugambeh, Kombumerri) 6-piece band Selve announce new album ‘Breaking Into Heaven’ and kick off with the incandescent title track. Led by Jabirr Jabirr frontperson Loki Liddle – Gold Coast-based (Yugambeh, Kombumerri) 6-piece band Selve today announce their forthcoming debut album ‘Breaking Into Heaven’ due out on 12 September, w...

News: Gold Coast-based (Yugambeh, Kombumerri) 6-piece band Selve announce new album 'Breaking Into Heaven' and kick off with the incandescent title track.
@selvemusic
#selve #backseatdownunder #indie #goldcoast #Yugambeh #Kombumerri #track #news #video

www.backseatmafia.com/news-gold-co...

News: Fazerdaze is formally launching the album ‘Soft Power’ with an independently organised gig at the Powerhouse in Auckland. Last year's 'Soft Power' from Fazerdaze, released through Buttrfly/Virgin Music Group, was for me one of the albums of the year (see my review here). Fazerdaze spent a lot of the time since that release touring extensively across the US and Australia in support of Pond and Finneas and has only now had time to organise a formal launch for the album in Auckland, New Zealand on 22 March, with support from the formidable…

News: Fazerdaze is formally launching the album 'Soft Power' with an independently organised gig at the Powerhouse in Auckland.
@fazerdaze @officedogband @buttrflyrecords @virginmusicgroup @powerstation_nz
#fazerdaze #backseatdownunder #news #aotearoa #tour #newzealand #dreampop

Track: Fontaines D.C. unveil anthemic new single ‘It’s Amazing To Be Young’ ahead of antipodean tour. Following a year in which Fontaines D.C.'s album 'Romance' almost universally featured in critics' favourite albums of 2024, the Irish band has just released its brand new single 'It's Amazing To Be Young', and things are just getting exponentially better. And while I still steadfastly maintain debut single 'Boys From The Betterland' to be one of the singles of the past decade, Fontaines D.C.

Track: Fontaines D.C. unveil anthemic new single 'It's Amazing To Be Young' ahead of antipodean tour.
@fontainesband @remotecontrolrecords @xlrecordings
#fontainesdc #backseatdownunder #news #tour #track #dublin #indie

Track: It’s not a cover – Lutruwita/Tasmania’s go-to musician Jethro Pickett releases the shimmering and lush single ‘Jolene (not a cover)’ Jethro Pickett is the go-to guitarist in his home Lutriwitta/Tasmania - look at any recent release and you will find his signature chiming guitars sparkling somewhere in the mix (Clair Anne Taylor, EWAH and Christopher Coleman being recent examples). In his new single 'Jolene (not a cover' - which he is at pains to make quite clear is not a cover of Dolly Parton's classic - Pickett strikes out on his own and in the process has released something that sparkles and shines like the dappling sun on the cold waters off the sceptered isle he calls home.

Track: It's not a cover - Lutruwita/Tasmania's go-to musician Jethro Pickett releases the shimmering and lush single 'Jolene (not a cover)'
@jethropickett
#jethropickett #backseatdownunder #indie #folk #track #video #indie #behindthebeatrecords

Album Review: The majestic Horsegirl unveil their stunning masterpiece ‘Phonetics On And On’, ahead of US. UK and European tour. At the risk of using superlatives so early in a review, I haven’t got this excited about a band since I heard the first single from Fontaines D.C.. Originally from Chicago and now based in Ne…

Album Review: The majestic Horsegirl unveil their stunning masterpiece 'Phonetics On And On', ahead of US, UK and European tour.
@horsegirlmusic @matadorrecords.bsky.social
#horsegirl #matadorrecords #remotecontrolrecords #chicago #NYC #albumreview #indie #rock

www.backseatmafia.com/album-review...

Track: The Electorate votes for ‘Peace, Love & Kindness’ in a delectable new single ahead of new album in May. The magnificent The Electorate – a firm favourite here in the dusty hallowed halls of the antipodean headquarters of Backseat Mafia – have followed up their earlier comeback single &#82…

Track: The Electorate votes for 'Peace, Love & Kindness' in a delectable new single ahead of new album in May.
@theelectorate
#theelectorate #backseatdownunder #indie #pop #eora #sydney #track #news #themarrickvillesound

www.backseatmafia.com/track-the-el...

Premiere: Meanjin/Brisbane’s Zanna Black unveils the gorgeously evocative track ‘This Town’ – a glorious, ethereal paean to dispossession and loss. Meanjin/Brisbane singer/songwriter Zanna Black is releasing a gloriously ethereal track ‘This Town’ tomorrow and we are inordinately honoured to bring you an early listen. ‘This T…

Premiere: Meanjin/Brisbane's Zanna Black unveils the gorgeously evocative track 'This Town' - a glorious, ethereal paean to dispossession and loss. @zannablackmusic #zannablack #premiere #backseatdownunder #indie #pop #dreampop #meanjin #brisbane #track www.backseatmafia.com/premiere-mea...

At the age of thirty-seven
She realised she'd never ride
Through Paris in a sports car
With the warm wind in her hair

News: Indie icons Ed Kuepper (The Saints) and Jim White (Dirty Three) team up for new album, with first single ‘The Crying Dance’ released, with Kuepper solo tour on the cards. Following a thrilling tour last year between the two icons of Australian indie music, Ed Kuepper and Jim White have today announced the release of an album entitled ‘After The Flood’ on…

www.backseatmafia.com/news-indie-i...

Track: The inimitable Horsegirl ‘Switch Over’ with another über cool laconic delivery ahead of album release and tour. New York-based Chicago trio  Horsegirl today releases the laconic and über cool single ‘Switch Over’ ahead of their second album ‘Phonetics On and On’ which is out next mont…

Track: The inimitable Horsegirl 'Switch Over' with another über cool laconic delivery ahead of album release and tour.
@horsegirlmusic @matadorrecords
#horsegirl #matadorrecords #track #news #indie #chicago
@matadorrecords.bsky.social @musichorsegirl

www.backseatmafia.com/track-the-in...

Track: ‘Shout It To The Wind’ – The Lovetones return with a delicious, atmospheric intensity The ever dependable and utterly iconic The Lovetones are back to delicately entice our ears with their signatory jingle jangle auditory salve. Their new single ‘Shout It To The Wind’ po…

www.backseatmafia.com/track-shout-...

News: We are all going to ‘Hell In A Handbasket’ as the legendary Kim Salmon’s Smoked Salmon tread the boards across Australia With Kim Salmon and his band Smoked Salmon about to embark on an extensive Australian-wide tour, the band of reprobates take us on a deliciously excessive fuzzy trip to ‘Hell In A Handbasket&…

News: We are all going to 'Hell In A Handbasket' as Kim Salmon's Smoked Salmon tread the boards across Australia.
@mrkimsalmon @cheerssquadrecords
#smokedsalmon #kimsalmon #backseatdownunder #indie #track #news

www.backseatmafia.com/news-we-are-...

Track: New Zealand’s Nik Brinkman releases the shimmering new single ‘Long Way To Go’ ahead of new album. ‘Long Way to Go’ is the new single from New Zealand dream pop artist Nik Brinkman’s upcoming album ‘World Within’, and it’s a welcome return. Brinkman last blew us awa…

Track: New Zealand's Nik Brinkman releases the shimmering new single 'Long Way To Go' ahead of new album.
@nikbrinkman @declaredgoods @fineartsrecords
#nikbrinkman #backseatdownunder #track #news #dreampop #psych #indie

www.backseatmafia.com/track-new-ze...

Beautiful Stockholm

News: The majestic Horsegirl announce new album and grace us with the fabulously louche single ‘2468’ A lot has been happening to Chicago’s enigmatic Horsegirl since the release of their stunning debut ‘Versions of Modern Performance’ back in 2022 – of which I said in my rev…

News: The majestic Horsegirl announce new album and grace us with the fabulously louche single '2468'
@horsegirlmusic @matadorrecords @remotecontrolrecords
#horsegirl #indie #track #news #newyork #pop #shoegaze #dreampop
www.backseatmafia.com/news-the-maj...

Yes…tomorrow off to Copenhagen 😊 We had an enforced but very nice stay in Trondheim due to storms and we are being flown back to Bergen today.