{"title":"Staff Picks: Best of 2025","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Repressed staff have picked their favourite releases of the year.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs featured in the January edition of Presser. \u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"dippers-clastic-rock-lp-copy","title":"Shrapnel - Sedan Crater LP","description":"\u003cp\u003eShrapnel, a band with 5 or so releases under their belt, have just made another one called ‘Sedan Crater’ for the esteemed Tenth Court record label. Starting off as the solo home recording project of Sam Wilkinson, Shrapnel has blossomed to become a real-deal guitar band where all members (Matthew Neville, Ben Schattner, Nick Johnson, Toby Baldwin) contribute songs and personality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou could probably allocate a boy band member archetype to each member: the mysterious one, the bad boy, the sensitive one, the small business owner etc… Just kidding, each fellas’ musical personalities aren’t so cut n’ dry, and create a group voice where a dense pool of ideas and loud noises fight for space, but end up in harmony.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShrapnel straddle writing songs that are pretty, but also irritable. Constructive, with a hint of destruction. Work shed psychedelia? I don’t know. When I listen to ‘Sedan Crater” I can’t help but think about how groups like The Moles and 3Ds incorporated The Pretty Things and The Pink Floyd into their jangle-pop without going all paisley dress up about it. - Nic\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMade it onto our ‘Best of 2025 (So Far!)’ list. View collection \u003ca title=\"“Best of 2025 (So Far!)”\" href=\"https:\/\/repressedrecords.com\/collections\/best-of-2025-so-far?pb=0\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 472px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=4035811961\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/shrapnelpog.bandcamp.com\/album\/sedan-crater\"\u003eSedan Crater by Shrapnel\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e","brand":"Tenth Court","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43748045914294,"sku":null,"price":38.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a0915436618_10_1.jpg?v=1737945615"},{"product_id":"lavender-flu-tracing-the-sand-by-the-pool-lp","title":"Lavender Flu - Tracing The Sand By The Pool LP","description":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eAlways a welcome moment to have a band as eclectic as Lavender Flu return time and time again. With their seeming on\/off switch between albums from rock band to free improv\/experimental group (of which I realise now we missed their last record in this form), “Tracing The Sand By The Pool” sees the group at their most eclectic (in song mode that is) and possibly the easiest entry point to their catalogue.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eMuch of the album sits within the kind of spaced out psych rock territory of their band LPs, all slap-back delay, chiming guitars, with soaring overdriven leads (a true contemporary to Mystic 100s in this realm). But there’s also an eclecticism here that (as usual with the group) draws from their deep well of collaborators, here joined by Miranda of The Spatulas, Shelby Jacobson, and Kate Williams (who also played on Lily Mullen’s LP). A dip into hardcore tinged punk here, a cover of a rare garage rock deep cut there, and ending on what’s gotta be the sweetest and best country-tinged version of Buckingham Nicks\/Fleetwood Mac’s ‘That’s Alright’ that I’ve ever heard!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e-Mitch\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eLavender Flu - Tracing The Sand By The Pool (In The Red, 2025), New LP, $44.95\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e@thelavenderflu @intheredrecords\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Midheaven","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43788839518390,"sku":"","price":44.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/LAVENDER_FLU_1024x1024_dc2d438f-e161-4356-be2b-8b5c95b015d5.png?v=1739848324"},{"product_id":"dumbells-up-late-with-lp","title":"Dumbells - Up Late With.... LP","description":"\u003cp\u003eDumbells are my favourite new band to see live in Sydney since, well, when live music started happening again. They embody a quality apparent in many of my favourite Sydney groups, where pre-existing music scenes blur and new alignments form. Whatever forces brought Sam Wilkinson (Shrapnel, Sachet) , Jen May(Tee Vee Repairmann), Ben Schattner (Shrapnel, VIPP) and Ishka Edmeades (Tee Vee Repairmann, Satanic Togas....) together has unlocked a certain hard-to-describe quality of rock ‘n’ roll I personally yearn for.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt’s hard to quantify this particular quality of r’n’r without a long list of nerdish reference points, but I think it’s how non-aligned with any particular sub-genre, or era, or tacked on caricature-ish style they are in their approach to amateur rock music that makes them not just another band in the endless sea of music.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn one hand, a child, or even a Pavement fan could immediately be wooed by the immediacy of the hooks, melodies and charismatic group dynamic expertly, but not too expertly, captured on ‘Up Late With Dumbells’. On the other hand, cold hearted cynics will have their record collector cockles warmed by a feeling akin to discovering Big Star’s Radio City or Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments’ Bait \u0026amp; Switch. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDumbells cross examine the classic \/ independent rock dialectic in a manner that’s musically informed, but more importantly intuitive. They aren’t in reaction to, or embracement of, any micro-trend but embrace the big picture of being in a humble rock band. Dumbells do shit with their guitars, bass, drums and voices that we all know feel good, natural and exciting, but maybe in a world rife with self consciousness and cynicism, often get lost in the sauce. - Nic Warnock (Repressed Records, R.I.P Society)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMade it onto our ‘Best of 2025 (So Far!)’ list! View \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/repressedrecords.com\/collections\/best-of-2025-so-far?pb=0\" title=\"Best of 2025 (So Far!)\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 472px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=3766015402\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/totalpunkrecords.bandcamp.com\/album\/up-late-with-2\"\u003eUp Late With by Dumbells\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e","brand":"Total Punk","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43851934236854,"sku":null,"price":34.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a0685838016_10.jpg?v=1742435820"},{"product_id":"alzheimer-blanks-alzheimer-blanks-cs","title":"Alzheimer Blanks - Alzheimer Blanks CS","description":"\u003cp\u003eThird release for If It’s New is Alzheimer Blanks debut cassette. Humid psychedelic electronics that peel as the tape rolls. 5 seductive tunes fused together. A winding path. Drifting to the centre. Forging melody from puzzle pieces. Samples cut, resampled and cut again. Captured afterthoughts of various obsession. Embracing mistakes. Submitting to a trance. Relishing mystery. Reliving playtime. Disregard genre. The listener can make up their own mind. The first of hopefully many entries. Recorded to tape in July 2024. - If It's New\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMade it onto our ‘Best of 2025 (So Far!)’ list. View collection \u003ca title=\"“Best of 2025 (So Far!)”\" href=\"https:\/\/repressedrecords.com\/collections\/best-of-2025-so-far?pb=0\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NfZMESSxIwc?si=Dv0zLCUeq8OmT11t\" title=\"YouTube video player\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Direct","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43858536595638,"sku":null,"price":12.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/b75c579a46d0ec9e4a69af7c6082190d.webp?v=1742703259"},{"product_id":"daily-toll-a-profound-non-event-lp","title":"Daily Toll - A Profound Non-Event LP","description":"\u003cp\u003eThose attuned to the ever-vibrant Australian underground may already be well familiar with Daily Toll, their consistent live presence since their inception in 2021 embroidered by a handful of (mostly) home-recorded, (mostly) digital self-releases that have steadily accumulated an appreciative following. Initially the project of self taught musician, poet \u0026amp; artist Kata Szász-Komlós(they\/them) and Jasper Craig-Adams(he\/him), and expended to a three piece with the more recent addition of friend Tom Stephens(he\/him), Daily Toll represents the union of three unique creative dispositions, of relationships blooming through the push and pull of creative practice. Mapping the band’s existence through their recorded output is to bear witness to the flux of three people learning to respond to one another and gently ossify into a collective vision that at once calls to mind folk song intimacy, post-punk dynamics and the artful poeticism of an adjacent Flying Nun legacy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIf those earlier recordings reflect a band imagining themselves into being in real time, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eA Profound Non-Event\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003eobserves a clear shift in both conviction and approach. Recorded in just three days with Alex Bennett at the purely analogue Sound Recordings studio in Castlemaine and holing up at night in the century old cottage situated beside the studio, sheltering from the late-June wind and rain within walls littered with instruments and microphones, lighting fires to stay warm. Kata describes the experience as defined by “candle light and creative camaraderie”, an idyllic account of a collection of songs that glide with an undeniably warm, easy charm, evidenced in particular in the record’s second half as the tone turns increasingly introspective, the very sound of a cold evening’s drift into night. When contrasted with the moody swirl and sing-song bounce of the opening trio of tracks, there’s clear evidence of a band not simply in the process of becoming, but committed to finding their truth in that process.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eStill, if Daily Toll display a reluctance to be wholly defined, then album centerpiece ‘Killincs‘ (positioned in the middle for a reason) might just be their Rosetta Stone. A verbose rumination on unsettled feelings of isolation and longing, exploring the challenges in making peace with one's decisions amidst the uncertainty of an often harsh world and the realisation that some things remain best unresolved - “I have the keys still, but I’ve buried the path”.\u003cbr\u003e- Tough Love\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMade it onto our ‘Best of 2025 (So Far!)’ list. View collection \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/repressedrecords.com\/collections\/best-of-2025-so-far?pb=0\" title=\"“Best of 2025 (So Far!)”\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 472px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1852355785\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/dailytoll.bandcamp.com\/album\/a-profound-non-event\"\u003eA Profound Non-Event by Daily Toll\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"World Of Echo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43881812328630,"sku":"","price":44.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a2997545890_10.jpg?v=1743393026"},{"product_id":"pissgrave-malignant-worthlessness-lp","title":"Pissgrave - Malignant Worthlessness LP","description":"\u003cp\u003e’m too frightened to review the latest Pissgrave record so instead I’m going to highlight some positives I can deduct from the back cover band photo…. All four members of Pissgrave seem to invest in long term use items of clothing, rejecting fast fashion and brand signifiers for robust work boots that I’m sure they’ll get years more use out of than a pair of Reebok Classics.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGetting together and playing xtreme music is a fantastic way to keep the mind sharp and the body in shape, they set a great example of how to keep friends into your 30s and how to combat the male loneliness epidemic. All in all, the creation of ‘Malignant Worthlessness’ is an activity full of social and civilisational value.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOk sorry for being silly (but also somewhat serious) about this significant slab of Death Metal, I just don’t have any more synonyms for brutal in the tank today. ‘Malignant Worthlessness’ is supremely thrilling and unhinged stuff, it’ll be on my best 2025 list for sure. Pissgrave capture the primitive essence of Death Metal, but also carve out their own unrelenting and bizarre sound.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI recently got hooked on Morbid Angel’s 7th studio album ‘Heretic’. An album that, unlike their first 6, no one has ever recommended to me. It’s got a weird almost no-bass, spongey guitar mix that a lot of people hate but paired with the hypnotising riffs, I find it very satisfying. I have to wonder if members of Pissgrave have a soft spot for ‘Heretic’, cause I feel a similar twisted and gratifying transcendence here. - Nic\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMade it onto our ‘Best of 2025 (So Far!)’ list. View collection \u003ca title=\"“Best of 2025 (So Far!)”\" href=\"https:\/\/repressedrecords.com\/collections\/best-of-2025-so-far?pb=0\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 439px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=2885129097\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/pissgrave.bandcamp.com\/album\/malignant-worthlessness\"\u003eMalignant Worthlessness by PISSGRAVE\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Midheaven","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43957311865014,"sku":"","price":44.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a3673690803_10.jpg?v=1746235663"},{"product_id":"nowhere-flower-heat-dome-lp","title":"Nowhere Flower - Heat Dome LP","description":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eAnother week, another project that involves a member of The Spatulas (whose latest LP I’ve been meaning to get a hold of for months now… On the to-do list!), another node in a world that in the last 6 months alone has seem members feature on great albums from Mordecai to Lavender Flu to Lily Mullen.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eNowhere Flower is the solo project of Lia Jarzombek and her second release under the moniker. A record that largely lacks a rhythm section, these songs are made up of hazy layers of overdubbed guitar, flutes, violins, synths, a wonderfully wheezing harmonica, and half-spoken half-sung vocals that all teeter on rickety footings. A record full of foggy mystery that feels like it sits somewhere between Angie’s song based material (or even her Southern Comfort collab with Harriet Hudson), the latest Mordecai LP, and somehow the gentle lo-fi tilt of the first couple of Cindy records outta San Fran.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e-Mitch\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMade it onto our ‘Best of 2025 (So Far!)’ list. View collection \u003ca title=\"“Best of 2025 (So Far!)”\" href=\"https:\/\/repressedrecords.com\/collections\/best-of-2025-so-far?pb=0\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 472px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=3681222361\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/nowhereflower.bandcamp.com\/album\/heat-dome-2\"\u003eHeat Dome by Nowhere Flower\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Midheaven","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43957479243958,"sku":"","price":49.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a1343464441_10.jpg?v=1746241896"},{"product_id":"wilson-tanner-legends-lp","title":"Wilson Tanner - Legends LP","description":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eWilson Tanner congregate for another en plein air offering, this time on a biodynamic grape-farm in South Australia. Don’t be turned off by premise as this is not your usual normie trip to the Margaret Valley, nor is it the kind of record you’d necessarily expect from the natural wine worker to music pipeline (personally, my knowledge of this world is contained to Adelaide ex-clean shirt hardcore dudes and Martin Frawley from Twerps), but trust me, there’s plenty of juice in this one to be squeezed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eIn the press release for the record, Efficient Space head honcho Michael Kucyk makes it clear that this is a “caricature of Australian viticulture,” and maybe caricature is the active word here, although it’s not so in your face. Think, the double meaning of ‘Legend’ as both nodding to myths of bacchanal debauchery, as well as a word that a tradie (or farmer?) might call you when they’ve forgotten your name.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eA booze inflected wooziness directs the whole thing. Guitars, field recordings, synths, etc. are fed into the juicer of a sequencer with lead lines from woodwinds and synths weaving their way throughout. The pair have this uncanny ability to straddle the edges of genres that are either annoyingly lean-back and passive or just totally over cooked by 2025—think ambient jazz, dub wise, or too-old-or-burntout-to-still-doof ‘experimental’ composition—but always skewing the music enough to keep it interesting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eWhat Michael in the press release calls “bung notes” prevail across the record, and detours into rattling acoustic guitars and firing up synths take this out of quaint soundtrack for a farm-stay territory and into something more reactive, off-the-cuff, and exciting. One for fans of recent classics such as A.R. Wilson’s Old Gold (I mean, he’s one half of the group, but it seems to be veering further into this territory), the warped naturalism of Troth’s debut LP, or the sleepy psychedelia of Yuta Matsamura’s Red Ribbons!\u003cbr\u003e-Mitch\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMade it onto our ‘Best of 2025 (So Far!)’ list. View collection \u003ca title=\"“Best of 2025 (So Far!)”\" href=\"https:\/\/repressedrecords.com\/collections\/best-of-2025-so-far?pb=0\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 472px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=4061793401\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/wilsontanner.bandcamp.com\/album\/legends-2\"\u003eLegends by Wilson Tanner\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Efficient Space","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43957512077494,"sku":"","price":42.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a3331560479_10.jpg?v=1746242625"},{"product_id":"grace-rogers-mad-dogs-lp","title":"Grace Rogers - Mad Dogs LP","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eApologies for the essay… For those that want the short of it - one that’s definitely gonna end up in my best of 2025 list!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eEvery year there’s a song-based record (for lack of a better term) that comes out of the periphery of my knowledge\/listening and totally floors me. I play it to death in the shop til my coworkers tell me to take my copy home where I keep on playing it ad nauseam but not really cos these are the kind of albums that are evergreen (see all past effusive comments about APIE, RD \u0026amp; The Roadhouse Band, Honey2Honey, Rosali, and Sweet Whirl).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eJust the other day I was wondering where this year’s album was gonna come from and then a box from Sophomore Lounge landed with Grace Rogers’ record. I feel like it might be too early to call, but also, I haven’t been able to stop listening to it since it turned up.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eHer music sounds at once classic and timeless, but also contemporary and strange. When he was in town last month, label head Ryan Davis was telling me about Rogers’ family and personal history within bluegrass music and perhaps this goes some way to explaining it. This isn’t a bluegrass record by any means, but it definitely feels informed by the story telling and rhythmic underpinnings of the genre.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eThe songs on Mad Dogs cover a hell of a lot of ground, from winding tales of family and local characters, cow-shit pollution, through to songs about working and living in the modern world (a chorus about Instagram without sounding naff!), and the kind of staring in the face of mortality that fans of Ryan Davis will enjoy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eBut what sets this aside from “yet-another-singer-songwriter” territory (and that’s no slight on the songs!), is the killer band she’s got on this LP. There’s this odd rhythmic push and pull to the music that speeds up and slows down that kind of reminds me of bluegrass (or maybe I’m imposing this?) or even Neil \u0026amp; Crazy Horse (not to mention the guitar tone!) and beautiful cello lines.\u003cbr\u003e-Mitch\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eKiller sleeve by Ceirra Evans\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 406px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=2006300041\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sophomorelounge.bandcamp.com\/album\/grace-rogers-mad-dogs\"\u003eGRACE ROGERS \"Mad Dogs\" by Grace Rogers\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Direct","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44076425150646,"sku":"","price":48.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a3095965979_10.jpg?v=1750998985"},{"product_id":"primitive-motion-lost-frequencies-2cd","title":"Primitive Motion - Lost Frequencies 2CD","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Over the past fifteen years, Primitive Motion, the Meanjin \/ Brisbane duo of musicians and visual artists Sandra Selig and Leighton Craig, have quietly, consistently, insistently, released a clutch of albums and singles that make good the dream of ‘variations on a theme.’ Their sound, loosely put, is a kind of kaleidoscope, abstract pop that’s webbed between rickety electronics, pulsating Krautrock, airy minimalism, and home-spun drone. If previous albums have focused on particular aspects of the Primitive Motion ‘thing’, with Lost Frequencies they’ve drawn a line in the sand, digging twenty-four songs out from their archives, all played exactly as you hear them, no overdubs, no excess; the moment of creation, unadorned.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn album of this length – over two hours – might read like a magnum opus, at first glance. But listening to Lost Frequencies is an entirely other experience, its relative bareness and fluidity cleaving to the diaristic and the documentarian. Rather than setting out with goal in mind and plan in hand, with Lost Frequencies, Primitive Motion arrive nowhere but land everywhere. The recordings here span almost four years, from December 2017 to November 2021, and they’re\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ecollected from the duo’s ongoing improvisatory meetings at Sandra Selig’s studio, Woodburn Laboratory, in Ferny Hills. It’s all first-take material, mostly captured on one mic.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003eLost Frequencies moves at its own pace – taken in its full breadth, it’s like one long exhale. While Primitive Motion have hinted at this kind of openness and playfulness before, they’ve never really stretched out quite to this extent on record. But within this, there’s also a curious intimacy, a feeling that as listeners, we’re eavesdropping on a process unfolding. It’s a reminder that blueprints for buildings are often more evocative than the constructions themselves, that sketches offer hints that finished works don’t realise; Lost Frequencies works by inference and through intimation. Someone left a gift on the table, you don’t know who, and you’re not sure it’s for you; this only makes you more curious.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThrough Lost Frequencies, Primitive Motion uncover something that’s simultaneously deeply archaic and vitally modern, and while there aren’t too many reference points for what they’re doing, there are maybe a few lines to draw between this music and singular voices like Pascal Comelade, Nico circa Desertshore, Biota, Księżyc, Arthur Russell, Kemialliset Ystävät. There are similarities in sound, sure - the hum of reed organ on “Curiosities of the Sky” or melodica on “Dimensional Fans”, in conjunction with Selig’s levitating voice, are audio madeleines – but Primitive Motion share with these artists, most of all, both devotion to craft, and surety of focus. Over time, a luxury afforded by Lost Frequencies, Primitive Motion take the music elsewhere – which is the only place it really should go.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- Jon Dale\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEdition of 500 copies. 6-panel digipack with 12-page booklet. Mastered by Lawrence English.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 472px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1769335979\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/discreetmusicgbg.bandcamp.com\/album\/lost-frequencies\"\u003eLost Frequencies by Primitive Motion\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Direct","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44097543209142,"sku":null,"price":24.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a3128692485_10.jpg?v=1752024123"},{"product_id":"wet-kiss-thus-spoke-the-broken-chanteuse-lp","title":"Wet Kiss - Thus Spoke the Broken Chanteuse LP","description":"\u003cp\u003eUnique cover adorned with lipstick kiss from Brenna O herself!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNaarm\/Melbourne antic glam rock group Wet Kiss are back, sharing their first new music since 2022’s She’s So Cool with ‘Isn’t Music Wonderful’. The new release comes alongside the announcement of their highly-awaited sophomore album – and their first for Dinosaur City – Thus Spoke the Broken Chanteuse, out Friday, June 28. Listen to ‘Isn’t Music Wonderful’ HERE. Pre-order Thus Spoke the Broken Chanteuse HERE. Thus Spoke the Broken Chanteuse is exactly what the title suggests. Our chanteuse here is the sensational jezebel Brenna O: Part Factory Girl, part Fassbinder heroine, all peroxide locks and shiny, skin-tight '$2 dresses', sneering and growling across the stage, mixing greasy punk with cabaret excess. Or as she likes to put it: 'the punk Bette Midler is here.' What is she saying? Well, a few things. Produced by Andrew Huhtanen McEwan, Thus Spoke the Broken Chanteuse is about the grubby pleasures of hopping on the Melbourneto- Berlin artist pipeline. It’s about 'daddy at the abattoir,' slaughtering piggies. It’s about gloomy waits at the gender clinic so you can get your estrogen. It’s about dingy, crap clubs, desolate glamour, strutting down the street with your dignity in tatters, upskirting, indulgence and the glory of turning fantasy into reality. The album name is also something of a joke, melding a music journalist’s snide comment about the band ('broken chanteuse') with a nod to Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra ...\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e- Dinosaur City Records\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 472px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=3330901439\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/w3tkiss.bandcamp.com\/album\/thus-spoke-the-broken-chanteuse\"\u003eThus Spoke the Broken Chanteuse by Wet Kiss\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rocket","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44097586725046,"sku":null,"price":52.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a1347246540_10.jpg?v=1752028966"},{"product_id":"karl-frog-yes-music-lp","title":"Karl Frog - Yes, Music LP","description":"\u003cp\u003eI am writing about ‘Yes, Music’, the first vinyl release for Canberra \/ Estonia \/ Sweden(?) \/ hope-he’s-not-actually-from-Brunswick songsmith Karl Frog, very prematurely. I’m on listen #2, and the enthusiasm I feel for this album will not let me focus today’s writing on anything else.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe mysterious Karl Frog has previously released two cassettes on the home of low-key important contemporary Australian music, Hideotic Tapes. Hideotic tapes is run by Al Montfort (Russell Street Bombings, Dick Diver, Total Control) and in our store the label has a long history of delivering music by unknowns, which gather a very intimate and curious response from our audience, eventually becoming cult favourites with huge sales in the double digits.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery Hideotic and\/or Karl Frog sale has felt like a win for music.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile their identity is hidden, their warm personality and modest but sophisticated songwriting sensibilities shine bright like a diamond. The lore KF spins is that of a hobbyist with normal person jobs, which in this day and age is where good music lives. Maybe an assortment of menial \/ public sector jobs, mingling with the masses, is why there’s such a richness and lived depth within these tunes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFar from dolewave strumalongs, I am hearing the ambitions of Prefab Sprout, John Cale and The Human League’s Dare minus the hair-doos. I think my enthusiasm is only going to grow with this one! - Nic\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 472px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=943642623\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/karlfrog.bandcamp.com\/album\/yes-music\"\u003eYes, Music by Karl Frog\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e","brand":"Direct","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44132724015286,"sku":null,"price":39.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a2240034046_10.jpg?v=1752801555"},{"product_id":"preorder-ryan-davis-the-roadhouse-band-new-threats-from-the-soul-lp","title":"Ryan Davis \u0026 The Roadhouse Band - New Threats From The Soul 2LP","description":"\u003cp\u003e2LP set in tip-on gatefold sleeve with insert.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIf there’s one name that sums up our 2025, it’s gotta be Ryan Davis. Amid a slew of excellent releases on his label, his first Australian tour, and a much-anticipated second solo LP, was there an issue of Presser where he didn’t get a mention? What can I say, we enjoy flogging quality goods!!! Anyway, time to go on about what we’re always going on about with a proper review of the latest…\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThere are three ways to go about a review of Ryan Davis \u0026amp; The Roadhouse Band’s latest collection, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNew Threats From The Soul\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. The first would be to mention the much-deserved rise of Davis on the back of this LP, with glowing reviews in the music press, chunky feature articles in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eUncut\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRolling Stone\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eStereogum\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, and the like, sold out tours, and already a repress of the album only a few months on from release. Surely a review of this type would end with a “we told you so” from us after we’ve spent the last 5 or so years effusively bleating about a myriad of projects executed by Davis \u0026amp; co (See: State Champion, Equipment Pointed Ankh, Roadhouse, everything on Davis’ killer Sophomore Lounge label, the local CD release of their first album \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDancing On The Edge\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e on the Repressed Records shop label).\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe second approach would be to remark at how great the lyrics are on this record and do as so many other reviewers have done before and reel off some favourite lines. Davis writes with a humour and wit replete with cartoonish imagery that would make you think David Berman was ghost-writing lyrics for Three 6 Mafia records (Berman famously called him “the best songwriter who isn’t a rapper going”). I could fill a couple of pages quoting lines and by that point you may as well just ready the lyric sheet. Anway, for the record and to prove a point here are some of my favourites this week:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e-\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e          \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Apple-tab-span\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Jesus Christ is trying out new material on you and me tonight \/ he has not nailed the crowd work but vice versa \/ yet stirred the Blood Marys right”\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e-\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e          \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Apple-tab-span\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“OJDIDIT on a license plate \/ lightning strikes and ignites the day \/ I’m pushing this lawnmower down Broadway in a windstorm \/ twirlin’ like a sex tape in a microwave.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e-\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e          \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Apple-tab-span\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“a dream is a mirror held by a phantom hand”\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e-\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e          \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Apple-tab-span\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“I learned that time was not my friend or my foe \/ more like one of the guys from work”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe third way to write about this record is as we normally do – providing a bit of context and continuing our evangelising about it!\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFor the as yet unfamiliar, Davis is a stalwart of Lousiville’s DIY music scene, as the co-booker behind the Cropped Out festival (look em up on Wikipedia for a FOMO trip) and as the honcho behind the Sophomore Lounge record label. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNew Threats From the Soul \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eis a continuation of these (as well as his musical) projects. Reading the liner notes you can’t help but notice the swathe of familiar names lending a hand to the record, drawing upon his long history in these worlds: Will Oldham, Ned Collette, Myrian Gendron, Emily Robb, Grace Rogers, Jenny Rose, Elisabeth Fuschia, Catherine Irwin, Shutaro Noguchi, Lou Turner and more.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMusically, it takes up exactly where \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDancing On The Edge \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eleft off: long songs that seem to breeze by and reward repeat listens with intricately interwoven lyrics and musical variations. Similar characters crop up again, kicking around on the edges of society in a kind of tragic-comedic despair. The humour in the lyrics is obvious, but it continues through the music as well, a kind of no-bad-ideas collaborative effort that seemed like it was a helluva lot of fun to write and record (and just as much fun to listen). Even after countless plays in the car I’m still finding strange patterns and recurring musical chime-ins from various players, and I’m yet to take a copy home to play yet. Everything from a jovial clarinet line to open the album, to a violin riff over a drum break, to a cacophonous storm of guitar feedback that seems to come from out of nowhere to some wonky drum machines that almost mimic that movement of the album cover.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThat’s not to say that \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNTFTS \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eis just another \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDotE\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. The latest settles into a more drum machine forward second disc and perhaps a more confident layering of characters, jokes, and voices. That being said, if you ask me which is the better record I don’t know if I could split the difference! Like a ton of feathers up against a ton of bricks, it all weighs the same! Both perfect companions to the other, both essential listens!\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn the spirit of this month’s gift guide, this would make the perfect gift for fans of music and lyrics (yep, that broad). Or more specifically, for the Boomers into Cohen and Dylan, the Gen X’ers and Millenials into the Drag City songwriters (Bill Callahan\/Smog, Silver Jews\/Purple Mountains, Palace Music\/Bonnie “Prince” Billy), the Gen Z’ers into the trendy new country-leaning wordsmiths (MJ Lenderman or Wednesday), hell, there’s even enough tunes on this album that the Gen Alpha babies could bop along too.\u003cbr\u003e–Mitch\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 373px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=4278081744\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sophomorelounge.bandcamp.com\/album\/ryan-davis-the-roadhouse-band-new-threats-from-the-soul\"\u003eRYAN DAVIS \u0026amp; the Roadhouse Band \"New Threats from the Soul\" by Ryan Davis \u0026amp; the Roadhouse Band\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sophomore Lounge","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44208364519606,"sku":null,"price":69.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/RYANDAVIS_d9246e43-7f82-41ee-9d64-fefc0de676ea.png?v=1756693600"},{"product_id":"mystic-100s-double-live-2lp","title":"Mystic 100s - Double Live 2LP","description":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eMystic 100s are the kind of band that makes me wanna make an entirely flippant and unfounded claim like “Mystic 100s are the last rock band standing.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eThey exist in a weird space between paying faithful and what feels like earnest homage to the greats of Neil \u0026amp; Crazy Horse, the Dead, the VU, and the Stooges, while also feeling contemporary but not dipping into this distanced, ironic, dress-up take on rock music that seems so prevalent.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eThat’s not even to mention that with the release of their fourth full length (if you count the two under previous moniker Milk Music), they fulfil the prophecy laid out by the rock school teacher in Yo La Tengo’s ‘Sugarcane’ videoclip - “Your fourth album should be DOUBLE LIVE!” (Kudos to Jen for the pickup on this one) – a sign of the real deal!!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eCollecting two audience tapes from Philly and Oakland during their 2024 tour (how very Deadhead!), the set collects a bunch of their finest tracks (Crying Wand, Message From Lonnie, and yes, Drug Man), alongside winding reprisals of Have You Ever Chased A Light Beam that tie both shows together and killer covers of The Byrds and Neil Young (a roaring take on Cinnamon Girl, as well as a cover of Alberquerque, which Tom from BeatDisc (I think?) pointed out to me as inspiration for the Lonnie riff).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eIf anyone deserves to make the bombastic rock move of a double live LP, it’s gotta be Mystic 100s! One for fans of Europe ’72, The Matrix Tapes, Live at Max’s Kansas City, and any number of other Dead and NY boot. Long may they run! –Mitch\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Midheaven","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44227477078198,"sku":null,"price":74.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/mystic.png?v=1756693793"},{"product_id":"lippard-arkbro-lindwall-how-do-i-know-if-my-cat-likes-me-lp","title":"Lippard Arkbro Lindwall - How do I know if my cat likes me? LP","description":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eA record that opens with a rendition of a Phil Harmonic track popularised by Blue “Gene” Tyranny and closes with a cover of “At Last I Am Free” (in the vein of Wyatt’s cover) sounds right up our alley!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eWhat lies between these two bookends on the debut LP from Lippard Arkbro Lindwall (yep, Arkbro is the organist Ellen Arkbro, and no, Hanne Lippard is not related to Lucy for those of you looking for art world nepo-baby connections) is an album that skewers the banality and blandness of the digital.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eLippard’s voice and words evoke a the detached presence of an AI chatbot but with slightly more humanity. Words and phrases are repeated with slightly different inflection points, as though there’s a search for the correct inflection to respond to any situation. Throughout she veers from the inane call centre voices (“Your estimated wasted time is…”) to annoying help centre bots to the slop of clickbait articles (“Did you know that a nap could save you life? Did you know that black apples exist?”).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eAll this is underpinned by Arkbro and Lindwall’s minimal organ backing that at times evokes the digital spaces these voices occupy (one track with a constant notification bing) and at other times offering up meditative slabs of droning organs that lull you further in.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eSomewhere between a conceptual poetry work and an art piece in the way that you could spend considerable time parsing these tracks and how densely packed with ideas this LP is (a task for somewhere other than this blurb) - but still incredibly listenable! –Mitch\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 373px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=2609857562\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/ellenarkbro.bandcamp.com\/album\/how-do-i-know-if-my-cat-likes-me\"\u003eHow do I know if my cat likes me? by Lippard Arkbro Lindwall\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Forms Editions","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44318174249142,"sku":null,"price":44.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a3852788186_10.jpg?v=1759796461"},{"product_id":"possible-humans-standing-around-alive-lp","title":"Possible Humans - Standing Around Alive LP","description":"\u003cp\u003eI have given myself the impossible task of explaining why Possible Human’s ‘Standing Around Alive’ is some of the best and most vital music of the here and now. I really don’t think I can capture it, but also maybe the inexplicable quality this fairly straightforward, melodic rock ‘n’ roll group possesses is a big part of their charm.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn my initial handful of listens ‘Standing Around Alive’ had an energy that’ll be immediately satisfying to fans of their previous LP, ‘Everybody Split’ (2019), like Neil Young attempting to gel with The Cleans’ most propulsive, Neu-like motorik rhythms. I don’t use these references lightly.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith more listens incredible bits jump out of this immediately satisfying sound, distinctive guitar lines, countermelodies and snippets of lyrics lodging themselves to the red and pink area underneath my skull and ribcage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLike their contemporaries Dumbells and Rosali (with Mowed Sound), it rescues classic rock from the costumed dorks, as did the ‘Our Band Could Be Your Life’ bands of the post-USHC, pre-”Grunge” era.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI’m very unaware of Possible Human’s collective aims or influences, but will add Anonymous ‘Inside The Shadow’, Sneaky Feelings, Guided by Voices ‘Under the Bushes Under the Stars’, and The Stevens to the list of references I don’t dish out unless I mean it –Nic\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!----\u003e","brand":"Direct","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44321623343286,"sku":null,"price":39.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a1536733589_10_79b4e277-3269-44d2-96de-693f0b6384f5.jpg?v=1759891390"},{"product_id":"canine-apathy-non-mi-piace-cd","title":"Canine Apathy - Non Mi Piace CD","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCanine Apathy returns for a second release of instrumental electronic explorations. The solo project of Tom Hardisty (of Constant Mongrel, Woollen Kits, Nun, etc. fame), this project occupies a contemplative space akin to his solo LP, Peace In Plaza (Nice Music, 2019). To my ears, this is an album that does not sit easily within the conventions of trendy electronic music at the moment: not suitably minimal enough to be ‘ambient,’ not moody (or boring enough) to be ‘dark-‘ or ‘coldwave,’ nor does it sound like self-indulgent modular synth dabbling. These tracks at times sound like they follow verse-chorus pop song structures, others that have a skittering almost toy-motorik drive to them, all with the warmth and friendliness that we’ve come to know and love from Tom.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFFO: Eno’s Another Green World, the rickety edges of Dark Entries reissues, Throbbing Gristle’s homages to Kraftwerk on 20 Jazz Funk Greats, or sounds that would’ve come out of Mark Mothersbaugh’s studios (maybe the muzak versions of Devo and bits of the Rugrats soundtrack?).\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 406px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=3077755643\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/thomashardisty.bandcamp.com\/album\/non-mi-piace\"\u003eNon Mi Piace by Canine Apathy\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Repressed Records","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44324867801270,"sku":"REP009","price":19.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a3572775787_10.jpg?v=1760062869"},{"product_id":"shutaro-noguchi-the-roadhouse-band-on-the-run-lp","title":"Shutaro Noguchi \u0026 the Roadhouse Band - On The Run LP","description":"\u003cp\u003eOh joy, more music from The Roadhouse Band (of Ryan Davis \u0026amp;.... fame)! This time with Shutaro Noguchi in the driver’s seat delivering a phenomenal set of songs comparable to Kenji Kariu, Francis Plagne, Maher Shalal Hash Baz, prog-pop from Hobbies Galore alumni, or Jim O’rouke in Avant-Adult Orientated Rock mode.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis record delightfully reeks of a cast of players that have a history of stretching out, experimenting and pushing forms, but here they’ve changed gears and have come together in the service of beautiful, slightly wonky songs. And if you’re aware of the Faust-meets-This Heat avant rock\/jazz fusion (paraphrasing Max from Watery Love here) project Equipment Pointed Ankh, which Shutaro and many other players on this record are members of, you’d know that it’s more than an odour, it’s a fact.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDefinitely best of 2025 material and if you’re not yet onboard with Sophomore Lounge Records, time to get with tha program bitch! — Nic\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 406px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=2207619426\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sophomorelounge.bandcamp.com\/album\/shutaro-noguchi-the-roadhouse-band-on-the-run\"\u003eSHUTARO NOGUCHI \u0026amp; the Roadhouse Band \"On The Run\" by Shutaro Noguchi\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"Shutaro Noguchi didn’t set out to make a farewell album, but On the Run captures a moment of profound change. Recorded just weeks before moving back to Japan after 20 formative years in America (spent primarily Louisville, Kentucky), the album reflects a life in motion – rooted in memories, yet reaching toward the unknown.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn Louisville, Noguchi had built a creative home with a tight-knit crew, crafting beloved records that ranged from the country-rock swagger of Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band to the mutant grooves of Equipment Pointed Ankh. Meanwhile, he released compelling solo work, including the full-band psych rock gem Love Super Terranean on Feeding Tube Records. With On the Run, Noguchi joins The Roadhouse Band once more for a searching, expressive collaboration – an album made at a threshold between past and future.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe opening track “Olympic 3.5” begins with Noguchi in solitary introspection: \"Now the wind is blowing \/ It’s passing me by … I’m getting a little too used to watching this sunset.\" He’s soon joined by the syncopated rhythms and lilting synths of The Roadhouse camp, constructing a warped odyssey that intertwines the cosmic spirit of Gong with the melodic, pop-driven abstraction of Ryuichi Sakamoto. Noguchi returns with Wyatt-esque wordless vocalizations\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ebefore the song spirals into a dark, abstract descent.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJazz-tinged numbers like “Apocalypse\/Calendar” and “River Dagger” highlight Noguchi’s singular compositional voice. His relaxed vocals float over otherworldly arrangements, while “Drive My Cape Cod” – a voice memo captured during a long car ride and completed in the studio – offers a candid glimpse into his melodic daydreaming, in a move reminiscent of Maher Shalal Hash Baz, where casual, unpolished moments reveal deeper emotion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSome tracks lean into groovier, more danceable territory, with production touches that echo Japanese contemporaries like Shintaro Sakamoto, Fishmans, Cornelius, etc.. “Melody” pairs a nostalgic City Pop feel with the band’s forward-thinking sound. The bubbly rhythm of “Time With You” feels almost weightless beneath the album’s perhaps only guitar solo, played, oddly enough, not by guitar wiz Noguchi himself but by bandmate Ryan Davis -- (NOTE: Keiji Haino told Shutaro several years back that he should focus less on the guitar elements of his music and more on his singing – a conversation that significantly influenced the shift in sonic approach exhibited here compared to his frantic, pedal-powered 2018 debut). Amid the breezy lightness, he accepts the chaos of an uncertain future: \"It’s beginning to change \/ The time of the world \/ Eventually we’ll see it.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNoguchi’s reflections on uncertainty are deeply relatable and bittersweet – especially in this moment. With On the Run, Shutaro Noguchi and The Roadhouse Band show us how they face the unknown – together, embracing uncertainty with both resilience and camaraderie.\" - Kryssi Battalene, 2025\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sophomore Lounge","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44327420166326,"sku":null,"price":48.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a2264138982_10.jpg?v=1760161085"},{"product_id":"hydroplane-a-place-in-my-memory-is-all-i-have-to-claim-lp","title":"Hydroplane - A Place In My Memory Is All I Have To Claim LP","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA Place In My Memory Is All I Have To Claim is the new album by Australian atmospheric pop trio Hydroplane, the storied ‘offshoot’ formed by three quarters of independent pop group, The Cat’s Miaow. On this, their first music after two decades plus of radio silence, Andrew Withycombe, Kerrie Bolton and Bart Cummings return to the gentle, close-quarters musical world they shared around the turn of the century.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRecorded during 2024 in Melbourne and Ballarat, A Place In My Memory… picks up the thread Hydroplane set down with its precursor, 2001’s The Sound Of Changing Places, though you can hear echoes of their other releases, too, with Withycombe noting a through-line from the group’s 1998 “Failed Adventure” single. There’s little quite like A Place In My Memory…, then or now, though. Maybe you can draw some connections between Hydroplane and their sister group, The Cat’s Miaow, while fellow travellers might include Empress, The Ah Club, and further back, Young Marble Giants, Veronique Vincent (the muffled, ticking drum machine also makes me think of Robin Gibb’s Robin’s Reign).\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThere’s also an umbilical to the bedroom-crafted electronica doing the rounds in the late nineties and early noughties. Hydroplane\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ehint at this through their approach to songwriting, which often builds creatively around loops as structural devices. Through all this, the trio achieve an effortless, organic weightlessness across these nine lovely songs. Many feature Bolton’s clear singing voice, drifting along, while guitars, keyboards, drum machines and loops tickertape away. The constituent parts fit together, but they also have a curiously detached quality – think of abstract cloud formations sharing the same sky.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHydroplane and The Cat’s Miaow often dealt in emotional ambiguity and uncertainty, and the uncertainty of the nostalgic. This was always one of the most appealing facets of their music, and A Place In My Memory… is thus named perfectly. I couldn’t dream up a better title for the album and its reflections on history, lived experience, and the inevitable tangle between these two phenomena. These reflections variously address such concerns as human cruelty, flight, space travel, adventurism and spiritualism. There’s also “To the Lighthouse”, not a direct reference to the Virginia Woolf book, but a great title, nonetheless. (They’ve always had excellent titles, often borrowed, for songs and albums.)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA beautiful collection of drowsy, sleepy pop, humble and quiet, but resolute in its craft, A Place In My Memory Is All I Have To Claim is dream work in practice; a lovely reintroduction. Welcome back, then.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- Jon Dale, 2025\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 439px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=4050195172\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/hydroplaneband.bandcamp.com\/album\/a-place-in-my-memory-is-all-i-have-to-claim\"\u003eA Place In My Memory Is All I Have To Claim by Hydroplane\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Efficient Space","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44361138471094,"sku":null,"price":42.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a0465168060_10.jpg?v=1761613435"},{"product_id":"voidceremony-abditum-lp","title":"VoidCeremony -  Abditum LP","description":"\u003cp\u003eSelling progressive metal, or even more specifically jazz fusion inflected death metal to our readership who haven’t made the leap into this territory already may be a hard task. VoidCeremony are not Steve Vai in pork pie hats. No knowledge of music theory, membership to Billy Cobham fanclub, or time spent on guitar forums is necessary to enjoy ‘Abditum’, a top album of 2025. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLike Blood Incantation and Faceless Burial, acts that I’m specifically mentioning as gateway groups into contemporary metal for our particular record store, VoidCeremony’s progressive tendencies serve the sound narrative, not the instrumentalists ego. I look forward to every bamboozling, disorientating, thrilling twist and turn.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCompared to their previous album ‘Threads of Unknowing’ (2023) the fretless bass boiOioing sits a little lower in the mix on ‘Abditum’, allowing space for a guitar interplay that uniquely weaves between shrill discordance and soaring majestically. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSorry to be personally sentimental but this album has got me reminiscing about the Metal and Jazz mix CDs my friend Daryl gave me at uni 20 years ago, and how the xtremity of Gorguts and Ornette Coleman actually acted as my best entry points for two of the truest genres. — Nic \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 439px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=630622926\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/listen.20buckspin.com\/album\/abditum\"\u003eAbditum by VoidCeremony\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e","brand":"Midheaven","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44389018697910,"sku":null,"price":49.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a2471908727_10.jpg?v=1762829969"},{"product_id":"vile-apparition-malignity-lp","title":"Vile Apparition - Malignity LP","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMamma mia!!!! — Nic\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAustralian death metal fiends Vile Apparition are back with their second album. Proudly released by Me Saco Un Ojo Records and Dark Descent Records.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMechanically precise drumming violence and crazed riffs fire you into an onslaught of malevolent extremity with intense, guttural vocals spewing through the mix. The ruthless aggression shown from the very beginning will transport you back to the brutality of the 90s with a modern twist showcasing only the most gruesomely barbaric ideas from the band. Warped ideas contort into truly abysmal visions of gore and depravity with only the most malignant of sounds making the cut. Along with the groove-laden riffing, technical solos fit the unwavering madness to give some impressive shred flair to the monstrous hammering assault.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf pounding madness and malicious technical flourishes is your thing then Vile Apparition have you covered. This is totally cranked brutality and unwavering musicianship taken to its logical and perverse conclusion. A torturous blend of brutal death metal that takes no prisoners and gives no quarter. Find yourself holding your breath from the unending ruthless musical mayhem (or perhaps the stench of offal in the air). “Malignity” delivers what the title promises and your brain matter will be splattered by the end of a single listen of this record. — Me Saco Un Ojo \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 472px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=465092694\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com\/album\/malignity\"\u003eMalignity by Vile Apparition\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Me Saco Un Ojo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44392638316726,"sku":null,"price":44.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a3597953910_10.jpg?v=1762997026"},{"product_id":"den-post-pink-lp","title":"Den - Post Pink LP","description":"\u003cp\u003eLatest from Den!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 439px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1695287622\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/lsdclub.bandcamp.com\/album\/post-pink\"\u003ePost Pink by DEN\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tweak","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44407510728886,"sku":null,"price":38.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a0603992208_10.jpg?v=1763594041"},{"product_id":"c-a-d-the-peacetime-consumers-play-atlantis-lp","title":"C.A.D \u0026 The Peacetime Consumers - Play Atlantis LP","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Play Atlantis’ brings to my mind a bunch of dots that were joined between Michigan and Australian undergrounds 10 to 15 years ago via the All Gone label. Key words for this connection: Roachclip, The Bibs, Siobhan (who also had a cassette, on Altered States Tapes, one of my favs in their discography), Mad Nanna, The Intended, Sick Llama, The Cannanes, Quilt Boy etc.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI mention this backdrop of no-fidelity basement rock and junk shop tape wonk as I feel this context sets the scene for the latest from All Gone label head and member of many of the aforementioned groups, Christopher Alan Durham, even though it’s an ambitious, slightly overground foray into chooglin’, rustic, psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll with real-deal working band The Peacetime Consumer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdd them to the list of current American bands that evoke the history of 60w US psych (signatures of both coastal sounds have been mangled here) in a way that sounds of stained teeth, frayed edges and lives lived. — Nic\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 472px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=647751622\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/christopheralandurham.bandcamp.com\/album\/play-atlantis\"\u003ePlay Atlantis by C.A.D \u0026amp; The Peacetime Consumers\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"With a pre-Asylum Laurel Canyon vibe by way of those busted Wayne County roads, Play Atlantis deftly splits the difference between the Straight and the Bizarre. Though the committed students of a variety of moldy freaks from the bygone days, Christopher Alan Durham and his Peacetime Consumers have crafted new mutant strains of lysergic choogle to guide righteous outsiders through the dawn's early light.\" -Nate K. host of Burn It Down! on WFMU\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"C.hris A.lan D.urham emerges with the Peacetimers Straight Outta Del Ray, Michigan. C.A.D. \u0026amp; The Peacetimers enter a studio and come out with jams akin to early Pink Floyd singles and Easy Action-era Alice Cooper moves. Straight-up NZ jammers like “Into the Void” or Soft Boys-styled “Blue Toy.”. Some of the best codas I’ve heard in recent years. Chris and the Consumers make the stench of Del Ray, MI become hazy and psychedelic like it’s 1966 Texas.\" - Damon Sturdivant: Puffy Areolas,Tyvek,Revigorant etc\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"New music by Christopher Alan Durham is always welcome in my small part of the world. It customarily comes with a certain amount of his trademark tape hiss, but being that “Play Atlantis” is an actual ROCK AND ROLL* record by a band with a thunderous yet dextrous rhythm section, the increased fidelity of this release is\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003enot only welcome, but utterly necessary. The record starts with the classic sound of a reverberating drum roll, and proceeds to warp idiosyncratically from there.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMuscular Rust Belt dystopianism in the tradition of everyone from Tin Huey to fellow Detroit compatriot Nicodemus merges here with the early wilde flowering of UK Prog. C.A.D and the Peacetime Consumers operate in a preferable alternate reality where the 1966 Who relocated to Canterbury and took on some of the more pastoral and esoteric twists of the clever carrots. Intricate and unexpected lines are delivered by Essential Logic meets Nik Turner saxophones, rendered in aural technicolor. That makes us happy. On a song like “Into The Void,” you may think you're getting a standard GARAGE ROCK type jam, but then the grand off-kilter chorus kicks in. By the time the bewildering coda fades you realize you are in new territory altogether.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eC.A.D has toiled long and hard in the subterranean catacombs of obsessive music output. He's crafted enough outstanding material to earn a place at the big table, but this record is still something of a revelation. He tells us that 'Life's a vast empty playground' and we are extremely inclined to agree.\" - Dan Melchior\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e(*This is the professional version of Garage Rock.)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Direct","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44408044978358,"sku":null,"price":42.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a3796899720_10.jpg?v=1763606667"},{"product_id":"glass-glass-cd","title":"Glass - Glass CD","description":"\u003cp\u003eGlass are a Melbourne trio whose origins lie, I think, in Andrew Cowie (Angel Eyes, Match Fixer) picking up the acoustic guitar and writing some songs on the more refined side o’ jangle. The result is what I’d imagine Prefab Sprout (you could say Go-Betweens, or Felt, to be cooler I guess) would sound like if they were to have been an up ‘n’ coming band in the era where Dean Blunt and Hyperdub were gaining traction. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAccompanying Andrew’s drum machine and acoustic is a big boingy and slinky fretless bass, and lushes electric lead guitar from Fin and George. Like Angel Eyes, there’s a distinct uncanny valley synth pop feel. A unique smudged and strange sound world. The songs are very well crafted and warm. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMusic that might be placed near Glass by algorithmic groupings\/genres (insert dark\/cold\/wave), I generally find to be some of the most empty, style-over-creativity\/substance realms of D-I-Y adjacent music. But Glass is grand! File next to Property, Orion and The Lewers.  — Nic \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Direct","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44421183275190,"sku":null,"price":14.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a0751351419_10.jpg?v=1764129248"},{"product_id":"thine-retail-simps-strike-gold-strike-back-strike-out-lp-copy","title":"Retail Simps - Tantric Decapitation: 69 minutes of trichotomy and liquefaction 2LP","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn trying to think of similar precedents to make Canada’s Retail Simps jump to the double album less daunting to an imagined audience that’s a little afraid of so-called artistic growth, I came up with Axemen - Three Virgins, Three Versions, Three Visions (Flying Nun, 1986) and Neil Michael Hagerty \u0026amp; The Howling Hex – The Howling Hex (Drag City, 2003). But that reads like a sales pitch to myself….. and I’ve already bought a copy! \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMitch mentioned ‘Exile On Main Street’ (Rolling Stones Records, 1972), which I think is just as applicable, as we’ve unlocked a more sprawling and spontaneous Simps. In this slight adjustment to their dynamic that’s a little more CCR\/’Like Flies On Sherbert’, a little less Woolly Bully, the Retail Simps have created their best album yet and solidified themselves as a definitive band of THIS era in the longstanding tradition of feel-good, artful, amateur rock ‘n’ roll.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI think you’ll enjoy ‘Tantric Decapitation: 69 minutes of trichotomy and liquefaction’ if you’re also a fan of Mordecai, VU, Half Japanese, Home Blitz, Tyvek, The Modern Lovers, Electric Eels, The Mirrors (Cleveland), Great Plains, Long Hots etc. It’ll be on my Top of 2025 list for sure! — Nic \u003c\/p\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 472px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=429816466\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/totalpunkrecords.bandcamp.com\/album\/tantric-decapitation-69-minutes-of-trichotomy-and-liquefaction\"\u003eTantric Decapitation: 69 minutes of trichotomy and liquefaction by RETAIL SIMPS\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Total Punk","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44439393927350,"sku":null,"price":49.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/0041759775_10_92916335-dbe1-4d1f-96ab-cdee4505e3ec.jpg?v=1764816647"},{"product_id":"sharp-pins-balloon-balloon-balloon-lp","title":"Sharp Pins - Balloon Balloon Balloon LP","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"Sharp Pins tingle and jingle and spangle - acupuncture for the soul, threading a much-needed shot of 1965 into the tired hide of today. Or you could just say they’re a crack in the sky where the sun shines through. Or you could just say they’re fab!” - Robyn Hitchcock\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"Youth-full popkids of the world, unite!\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhat other rallying cry may reverberate thru the cavernous anti-scene of today’s Music\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIndustry?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhat other yelp for pains and pleasures may slice thru the barking televisions and\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003epercolating algorithms?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe cold, metallic sting of artifice?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe refusal to trust in one’s heart and voice and twelve lonely strings?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLet the radio flash the answer.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFor KAI SLATER (a.k.a. “SHARP PINS”) has tuned to the radio-freak-uency of the YOUTH UNDERGROUND (the sleeptalking pirateradio of dreams). With paisley sleeves dragged heavy by his\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eheart, SHARP PINS reintroduces us to a memory buried deep in our veins. Reinventing a past that never existed. Carving POP Arty-facts into teenage bedrooms that remind us our BODIES ARE MEANT TO DANCE. Why must it all “TAKE SO LONG”?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat marks “BALLOON BALLOON BALLOON” as thee “Next Thing,” is the willingness — Nay, obligation — to show today’s teenboppers that Love is not something to hide from. Rather, there is no truer art than boldly selling one’s heart to the slaughterhaus. Let the radiowaves carry our secret messages and prayers and swollen tears. For a song is a mirror — if only we could see clearly!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf there is some higher directive for the music of SHARP PINS, it is thus:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOpen yor heart\u003cbr\u003eprovide home and hearth for the youth-phonetics\u003cbr\u003eof neu L-U-V and dreams three sizes too big\u003cbr\u003ewipe away yor tears\u003cbr\u003eremember to dance is to revolt\u003cbr\u003eand within each chest is a voice\u003cbr\u003eTODAY is the time\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYOUTH REVOLUTION NOW!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- Johnson Rockstar (a.k.a Otis Johnson)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 472px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1373457822\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sharppins.bandcamp.com\/album\/balloon-balloon-balloon-2\"\u003eBalloon Balloon Balloon by Sharp Pins\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e","brand":"Total Punk","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44439407100086,"sku":null,"price":44.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a0050481145_10.jpg?v=1764817174"},{"product_id":"unidad-ideologica-choque-asimetrico-lp","title":"Unidad Ideológica - Choque Asimétrico LP","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eListening to UNIDAD IDEOLÓGICA’s Choque Asimétrico hot on the heels of MURO’s rampage on our shores, I can’t help but think that the punk scene in Bogotá might just be best in the world. MURO—of whom UNIDAD IDEOLÓGICA share two members—are a homage to the creativity and diversity of what was loosely defined as ‘hardcore’ in the early 80s, their tracks wouldn’t sound out of place on the International P.E.A.C.E., Sub, or the Great Punk Hits compilations.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eContrasting with this approach UNIDAD IDEOLÓGICA are darker, heavier, and surprisingly modern. There’s still plenty of nods to 80s classics; faster tracks such as opener Absoluta Falsedad bring to mind Japan’s LIP CREAM and GAUZE, the slightly slower stomp of Huir similarly sounds akin to THE CLAY, whereas the manic hardcore of Posthumanista brings to mind early RATOS DE PORÃO (perhaps via FORÇA MACABRA). However, the modern production and approach to song writing adds a sheen of precision to this blend of hardcore and thrash, that could sit comfortably in your collection alongside GELD and locals HISTAMINE. The result is dark, uncompromising yet accessible enough that it might just provide the ‘asymmetrical shock’ (see what I did there) needed to divert the current wave of hardcore fans towards the underground. -Oli\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 472px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=608944549\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/lavidaesunmus.bandcamp.com\/album\/choque-asim-trico\"\u003eChoque Asimétrico by Unidad Ideológica\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"La Vida Es Un Mus","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44466991038646,"sku":null,"price":39.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a0602195325_10.jpg?v=1766027662"},{"product_id":"body-maintenance-far-from-here-lp","title":"Body Maintenance - Far From Here LP","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBody Maintenance return with their second full length 'Far From Here. Following on from 2023's 'Beside You', 8 new songs of Dark Post Punk. Hailing from Melbourne via 1980 Manchester, Body Maintenance write songs that are isolating yet inspiring, aggressive yet intricate, their music is the perfect soundtrack to the dark world that we exist in.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhile taking inspiration from the likes of Sisters of Mercy, The Sound and Echo and the Bunnymen, their sound is unique and unlike any other bands in the realm.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSwirling beautiful guitars, soaring vocals and the most hypnotising songs. This record will keep coming back to you. With nods to The Chameleons and Second Empire Justice era Blitz, these songs are evocative of the anxiously bleak yet anthemic sounds of early 80’s Manchester, delivered in a contemporary Australian context. Essential. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e- Drunken Sailor\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 406px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1376496003\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/drunkensailorrecords.bandcamp.com\/album\/far-from-here-lp\"\u003eFar From Here LP by Body Maintenance\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e","brand":"La Vida Es Un Mus","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44470682091702,"sku":null,"price":42.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a1298605082_10_1.jpg?v=1766366949"},{"product_id":"shrapnel-sedan-crater-cd","title":"Shrapnel - Sedan Crater CD","description":"\u003cp\u003eShrapnel, a band with 5 or so releases under their belt, have just made another one called ‘Sedan Crater’ for the esteemed Tenth Court record label. Starting off as the solo home recording project of Sam Wilkinson, Shrapnel has blossomed to become a real-deal guitar band where all members (Matthew Neville, Ben Schattner, Nick Johnson, Toby Baldwin) contribute songs and personality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou could probably allocate a boy band member archetype to each member: the mysterious one, the bad boy, the sensitive one, the small business owner etc… Just kidding, each fellas’ musical personalities aren’t so cut n’ dry, and create a group voice where a dense pool of ideas and loud noises fight for space, but end up in harmony.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShrapnel straddle writing songs that are pretty, but also irritable. Constructive, with a hint of destruction. Work shed psychedelia? I don’t know. When I listen to ‘Sedan Crater” I can’t help but think about how groups like The Moles and 3Ds incorporated The Pretty Things and The Pink Floyd into their jangle-pop without going all paisley dress up about it. - Nic\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMade it onto our ‘Best of 2025 (So Far!)’ list. View collection \u003ca title=\"“Best of 2025 (So Far!)”\" href=\"https:\/\/repressedrecords.com\/collections\/best-of-2025-so-far?pb=0\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 472px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=4035811961\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/shrapnelpog.bandcamp.com\/album\/sedan-crater\"\u003eSedan Crater by Shrapnel\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e","brand":"Tenth Court","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44507681718454,"sku":null,"price":14.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9119\/8390\/files\/a0915436618_10_1.jpg?v=1737945615"}],"url":"https:\/\/repressedrecords.com\/collections\/staff-picks-best-of-2025.oembed","provider":"Repressed Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}