I just discovered this band from Tokyo, who unfortunately seem to have broken up in 2024.

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This track is from a tape whose 6 tracks are split between letniy and LA’s Career Woman.

Nice live version. Official MV

The whole set is worth a listen, as they play all the songs from Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? [2003]

Youtube link, because Invidious is a bit flaky right now.

The album came out a year ago, but even though they are from the city I live in (Melbourne), I just discovered them today. I like the sound of this track and have queued the rest of the album to have a listen to.

Here's what a review I read said about them:

Frankston's The Belair Lip Bombs deliver their genuinely unique brand of left-field indie rock with complete poise.

At one moment you'll hear shades of Interpol and The Smiths, at others they hint at PJ Harvey and Best Coast. Ultimately, the band's infectious take on a well-traversed genre is their own.

They will have truly cross-generational appeal, giving their younger peers the kind of guitar-driven indie rock many of them crave, and offering older fans something fresh that still taps into so

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Mega Fäuna members are also involved with some of Sydney’s most compelling contemporary guitar bands. Guitarist Lily Keenan and bass player Lucy Warriner are both members of Sweetie. Drummer Tess Wilkin plays in The Buoys. Keyboardist Ellen Fitzgibbon is part of the Skeleten live band and Wilkin. Vocalist Freyja Fox previously performed in Rochelle Rochelles. I like their jangle.

Not to be confused with Megafauna from Austin, TX.

This is a 2021 live version of a song that got a release in 2023 on a this EP.

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Megafauna are described as an “Austin, Texas-based math rock/garage rock outfit”

from Dogsbody album

A beautiful performance from Melbourne based artist, Gena Rose Bruce. I enjoy both of her albums that were released via Dot Dash Recordings. The most recent album has this interesting collaboration with Bill Callahan.

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Another relatively new band from Melbourne. They carry on a long (Melbourne) tradition of decent bands with names that could do with some improvement.

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One more Australian band for you before I knock off for the weekend. This is opener of Body Type's album, Expired Candy. So fun!

Body Type are from Sydney but this video was shot on suburban streets in Melbourne. I can't quite pick where but I suspect the inner North.

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Melbourne's Cash Savage and the Last Drinks have released 5 studio albums since 2008. They are led by Cash Savage, who has a kind of laconic intensity. This track is from the album So This is Love.

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Just released. For a track that's a little more hardcore, see the b-side, "Fuck Off Cunt Features 2"

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One for people who might like Sleater-Kinney etc. Australian band, Cable Tiesis fronted by Jennie McKechnie. The 3-piece is rounded out by Nick Brown on bass and drummer Shauna Boyle. They formed around 2015 in Melbourne and have been playing on the local scene in Australia.

They released a debut album and then a second that is compelling, urgent punk rock. The second album got picked up by Merge Records outside Australia. With the release of their third album in 2023, they seem to be building a good profile, as evidenced by this recent KEXP session, for example.

Good stuff from William Bloke on the latest episode of Later… Such good lyrics.

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STROBE WARNING.

Charm Of Finches, are Mabel and Ivy Windred-Wornes, a sisterly duo based in Melbourne, Australia. On this gothically tinged song, the video is like a Pre-Raphaelite painting come to life.

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If I was allowed 10 desert Island discs, about 8 of them would be by Stornoway. This just dropped and is a version of the last track on their album Dig The Mountain, from earlier this year.

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The recording features the wonderful Cor Meibion Gwalia/Gwalia Male Voice Choir, a brass band, and we couldn’t resist adding a few sleigh bells too! The wonderful artist Alicia Hayden has created an absolutely stunning video for the song.

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The original song was based on a sketch written by Jon called ‘Silence Lost’ before being developed by Brian into a song inspired by the loss of a giant Ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior) near Brian’s home to Ash Dieback. It is about losing something powerful that we thought was a constant in our lives, and a reminder that we need to stay connected to nature and to each other at Christmas, because to lose that connection is to stop caring.

New band to me. Released an album in 2022 and another this year. This track is on the latest album. They played at Glastonbury and are based in Sheffield. Enjoyed this track.

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I was recently listening to a local music radio show and got turned onto Naarm/Melbourne band, Blanco Tranco. This is from their new-ish EP. The first EP came out in 2021 on Honeyglider Records.

In the couple of things I have read about them, they have been variously described as "melancholic surf" or "rhythm punk"…neither description really fits what they sound like, to my ears. The best description was, "coming-of-age movie soundtrack", but even that is a bit vague.

What do you think?

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Bandcamp

Also known as Brave Words (2023 Expanded and Remastered) on streaming platforms…Songwhip link.

This re-issue of the 1987 debut album was due on Oct 15, but a delay meant that I only got the vinyl in my hands today. Even though I own an original pressing of this album (top left in the collage, above), I couldn't resist pre-ordering it, despite new vinyl being eye-wateringly expensive these days.

In my opinion, Side One of this album is absolute genius.

King Stingray are from the Miwatj region of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory with an auspicious lineage; two of the the founding members' close relatives were themselves founders of the seminal, Yothu YIndi.

This is King Stingray's latest single. Great song and video! A good band to listen to before going for a surf, so I am told!

Incidentally, their debut single was released on The Chats' record label. You may remember The Chats as the band that gave the world Smoko.

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