Brash Sydney glam-pop-rockers Starcrazy are releasing their self-titled debut album on October 18 and have unveiled a teaser film clip. “I Ain’t That Crazy” was written by bassist Jack Barratt and produced by Mo Mayhem (Mucho Sonar, ex-Hell City Glamours). The video was shot by Connor Barratt. You can stream it here.

Announcing the album, the band says: “This release successfully transports the fire and glitter of our live performances into the recording studio with no loss of heat or dynamics. We’ve been a band for over four years now and feel that with this full length release, we’ve finally honed in on our own sound.

_{Photo by Emma Wand Photography.}

Sydney prodigies Pocketwatch will release their latest EP, “Break Out”, this Friday with a high-profile show at Marrickville Bowlo with supports Liquid Zoo and Overboard. Tickets are selling here.

“Break Out” is a four-track EP produced by multiple ARIA winner Wayne Connolly that continues to showcase the band’s established power pop sound while exploring new creative directions.

_{Photo by Emma Wand Photography.}

Sydney prodigies Pocketwatch will release their latest EP, “Break Out”, this Friday with a high-profile show at Marrickville Bowlo with supports Liquid Zoo and Overboard. Tickets are selling here.

“Break Out” is a four-track EP produced by multiple ARIA winner Wayne Connolly that continues to showcase the band’s established power pop sound while exploring new creative directions.

Japan’s Iconic blues punk band King Brothers are returning to Australia in September and local label Cheersquad has announced a limited edition 12-song tour LP to coincide.

Known as Japan's most dangerous live act and their unique blend of barbed-wire blues and toxic punk rock, King Brothers promise a tour that will leave crowds breathless. This will be the band's first Australian tour since 2016.

The tour LP, “Hell Oh! Oz”, will be limited to 300 copies - 150 in fluro-green and 150 in green/white marble - with a download card and will be released on August 23. It’s available for pre-order here.

Peter Simpson, former member of The Dubrovniks and The Spectre’s Revenge, has stepped back into the spotlight with a new single, “Letter to London”.

Described as “a piece of ragged rock/pop”, “Letter to London” ruminates on a long-distance relationship that has run its course.  Simpson plays guitar and sings, bass is by Marco Gal and Dom Simpson plays drums.

It’s been a long, stop-and-start journey for Simpson, who was a keyboardist in Perth pop band Teeny Weenys when he relocated to Sydney in 1980. The band broke up despite Double Jay airplay and Simpson performed in various groups before switching to guitar and fronting The Spectre’s Revenge.

Playing an eclectic style of rock that drew on everything from surf instrumentals to acoustic ballads to a kind of punk jazz. The band’s only official release, 1985’s “No Moon at Midnight “b/w “(I wanna be like) Maynard G Krebbs”, reached number one on the alternative charts in Sydney and Melbourne.

In the meantime, various other Perth expatriates had gathered in Sydney in bands such as The Scientists and Hoodoo Gurus. In 1987, Simpson got together with some ex-members of these bands to form The Dubrovniks.

A couple of hit indie singles and an ARIA-award-nominated debut album made The Dubrovniks bigger than anyone had anticipated, and they were soon touring Europe, recording a second album, and even breaking into the mainstream Top 40.

_{That's Gentle Ben on stage at Binic last month or The Bubble Boy from Seinfeld. You be the judge. Photo by @dujouraulendemain}

It’s a line in the media release that we just have to use: “Like the one-night stand you hoped to never see again, Gentle Ben & His Shimmering Hands are back to ruin your life, break your heart and make your loins quiver”.

The Brisbane “haute couture swamp rockers” (their words again, not ours)  left France a few days ago in a smouldering, postcoital ruin, after smashing out 13 shows over 15 days, playing at a former tobacco factory under a big-top, in a 14th century pub, and in front of 10,000 fanatical French fans at Binic.

Gentle Ben turn their sights to the East Coast of Australia this month to unleash their new album, “Brut” on French label Beast Records. It's available in Australia through Spooky Records and it's procurable here.