Amyl and the Sniffers lead a list of incredible bands
Sam West
12:47 22nd October 2018

After catching Amyl and the Sniffers' scintillating signing gig at The Windmill in Brixton, which saw Rough Trade boss Geoff Travis, Beggars owner Martin Mill, former Palma Violet Chilli Jesson, and members of Shame among revellers at the early evening set, we were left reeling. The band's hangover from Moth Club the night before, where Pulp's Jarvis Cocker turned up to see them, didn't get in the way of the four-piece giving an incredible show. It's led us to wonder what the current crop of Aussie punk bands are like. 

Allow Aussie music journalist Sam West's to guide you through a scene which he tells us "is fiercer and more alive than ever." Given its awesome history of producing bands such as The Saints that's some claim. Here are seven you should check out immediately.

Amyl and the Sniffers

Amyl is drug that gives you a headache and leaves you feeling wobbly. But it’s a real good time for a short time. Which makes it the perfect name for this band. Which are the sonic equivalent of shoey. And if you don’t know what that is then you’ll get no respect at the Sniffers show.

Lazertits

Lazertits aren’t bossy they’re your fucking boss. So show up, stand up and pay attention to the pop punk fun-nuggets.

Divide and Dissolve

Brutal and rib-shakingly loud, this band is technically more of an experimental doom noise thing. But they recently made headlines by filling water-guns with piss and spraying them at Captain Cook’s cottage. Which is punk as all heck, really.

No Sister

Detuned scraping, screwdriver-damaged fret-work and winding noise-driven jams. Sounds a bit like early Sonic Youth. But it doesn’t take long before opening up into it’s own thing.

Tropical Fuck Storm

Featuring members of The Drones, High Tension and Palm Springs (all bands worth checking out in their own right), TFS are what it sounds like when you hit it til it hurts with misanthropic jerks.

Terrible Truths

These guys haven’t released an album for a while. But they can’t be beat for a chanty post-punk jams that make you wanna dance.

Suss Cunts

Timeless basslines, cheap thrills and shit friends. The sussest cunts in the scene create instantly hummable music that sounds effortlessly great.

Hexdebt

University debt in Australia is called HECS debt. Which is a great pun that’s probably wasted on international audience. No matter the scuzzy madness of the music translates just fine.


Photo: Press