<p><span><span>- It has been a hot minute since I’d given much from Seasick Steve<strong> </strong>a burl so when <em>Love &amp; Peace </em>rolled around, the feeling was much the same as catching up with an old friend. 2008’s <em>Started Out With Nothing </em>was the modern entry point for me to retroactively dive into blues and when reports surfaced in 2016 about Seasick Steve’s narrative being a fabrication, it seems like a kayfabe breaking would put a pin in the train-hopping tale. Well, it didn’t.

- On last year’s breakthrough, self-titled album, Brisbane synth-pop four-piece Cub Sport redefined their status as a band, moving from being indie-pop darlings to a group with the potential to reconsider genre and gain an international cult following. Now they’re back with their fifth studio album LIKE NIRVANA, which not only looks past the visions of their previous records but transcends them entirely.

<p><span><span>- It’s hard to find Katie Dey in the physical world. It’s also the case that a lot of what you can say about her and her music is tied up in that. The bizarre, pitch-shifted and massively distorted pop that began appearing half-a-decade ago was almost like a transmission from another dimension: a voice trying to break through invisible barriers and just be here. I’ve found it intriguing to follow the evolution of Katie Dey’s voice -and I mean her voice, literally- as it has fleshed out, become more human and real.

<p><span><span>- When sleepmakeswaves announced they were releasing new music, it wasn’t a celebratory declaration, but a sombre one of determination. “A lot’s happened since our last release. It’s a crazier, darker world…” they began, adding “It’s damn hard keeping the artist ship afloat, when being an artist doesn’t mean what it used to.” This was in January, <em>before</em> the pandemic came in and more or less obliterated whatever plans any artist had for the future. </span></span></p>

<p><span><span>- I’m a little late getting to the <em>party</em> here, to shower praise on the boutique pop project of <strong>Mel Tickle </strong>and <strong>Luke McDonald</strong>, that is, Holiday Party. The veteran Brisbane musos have been doing quite a bit of business with the songs of their latter-day project (did they win Bigsound? Is that a thing, can you win Bigsound?) and now those songs are all together, forming quite a record.</span></span></p>

<p><span><span>- Combining the bizarre bubblegum pop, trap, dubstep, metal, and electronica of last year’s debut, with an expanded universe of collaborators, the new record by American experimental duo 100 gecs<em> </em>is as thrilling as their last. Initially formed in 2016 for a relatively straightforward EP, 100 gecs’ <strong>Dylan Brady</strong> and <strong>Laura Les</strong> came to public attention with their debut, <em>1000 gecs</em>, a record that went viral on the internet for its distinctively millennial sound.