Australian Guitar’s Fresh Frets: Vol. 11

ADAM NEWLING

HE IS A second-gen Greek-Australian with the spirit of a weathered Nashville country-rocker, fusing his love for steely twang and sizzling melancholy with his proven penchant for indie-rock (when he’s not jamming up a storm on his own accord, Newling plays in Ruby Fields’ band).

KINDA LIKE Andy Golledge, Buck Meek and Molly Burch.

CHECK OUT Newling’s stirring second EP, Half Cut And Dangerous (which at eight tracks spanning 32 minutes, feels much more like an album), on which he embodies a vivid rawness with his battered and emotive singing, and a rich soundscape that seeks – and never fails to find – the beauty in minimalism.

COLOURBLIND

THEY ARE A quartet of nostalgic alt-rockers on Kaurna land (Adelaide) turning their lingering teen angst into cathartic emo anthems begging to be screamed along to. The band have shared local stages with acts like Dear Seattle, Bugs and Cry Club, but they’re fast becoming national favourites in their own right. 

KINDA LIKE Ceres, Trophy Eyes, Title Fight and Microwave.

CHECK OUT Their gut-punching second EP, Semaphore. Like its striking cover (painted by local luminary Christina Lauren), the record hides pain behind its beauty, luring the listener in with gentle noodling and poised melodies before they’re shown no mercy in a beating of sharp and stormy emotion.

KAT EDWARDS

SHE IS A soulful singer-songwriter taking her equally playful and poignant indie-pop from nipaluna (Hobart) to the world. She debuted in 2017 with an EP of acoustic folk titled Sunk – which, mind you, was a fantastic record – but has since come into her own with an evolved sense of self and a newly coloured-in musicality steered by driving synthpop soundscapes and breezy guitars.

KINDA LIKE Gretta Ray, Clairo and Girl In Red.

CHECK OUT Her sizzly second EP, Best Bad News, which arrived in mid-August and hasn’t left our minds for a minute since. On it, Edwards soars from the dreamy (‘Pretty Dancer’) to the dour (‘Growing Pains’), with some damn fine grooves in-between (‘Best Bad News’). She’s a marvel to see live, too.

SUNSICK DAISY

THEY ARE A quartet of sonically ambitious high-schoolers on Kaurna land (Adelaide) doling out what they describe as “sour candy dream-pop”. Fittingly so, their tunes are sweet and breezy, echoing the all-time greats of shoegaze with a tasteful hint of surf-rock energy. It’s truly wild to think they’ve been around for less than a year.

KINDA LIKE Sweater Curse, Slowdive and Cocteau Twins.

CHECK OUT Their soaring debut single ‘Someone Like You’, which earned the band a spot as finalists in this year’s Triple J Unearthed High contest. They’re also fast becoming staples of Kaurna’s live circuit – you can catch them playing next with Teenage Joans on Friday October 14th.

TRACES

THEY ARE A trio of mosh-fiending mates from Tamworth (the country music capital of Australia), who – quite defiantly – opted out of lap steels and akoubras in favour of soul-thrashing breakdowns and brain‑tickling glitches. They deal in technicolour chaos.

KINDA LIKE Northlane, Spiritbox, Invent Animate and Volumes.

CHECK OUT  ‘Soul Killer’ and ‘Crown Of Thorns’, the first tastes of their convulsive and charged debut album, Red (which is sadly not an electro-core reimagining of Taylor Swift’s iconic 2012 LP). A release date for the record is yet to be locked in, though leader Jack Pallett tells Australian Guitar that it’s in the bag and will be out this year; keep your ears to the ground around November.

TWO KNIVES

THEY ARE A quintet of Novocastrian sad-jammers (including frontperson Rachel Maria Cox, who’s been featured in many an issue of Australian Guitar) “brought together by a mutual love of Simpsons references and emo music”. The former sadly isn’t featured in their output – yet, at least – but they certainly come through on the emo front, belting out some of the sharpest, most heartrending anthems this side of 2003.

KINDA LIKE The Lazy Susans, Luca Brasi and Sunny Day Real Estate.

CHECK OUT Their eponymous debut EP, which burns brightly with a gritty rawness that may stem from its DIY recording, but feels just as suited to its poignant themes of heartbreak, trauma and internal reckoning.