Trances, doppelgängers, impending doom, surveillance, romantic longing. The third and final album from Hobart 5-piece All Fires the Fire, Songs of the Silent Age, has its roots in the brief halcyon days of German cinema, which began shortly after the end of WWI, ended with the coming of sound, and was preoccupied with evil, the terrors of war, greed, alienation and the rise of totalitarianism.
 
The album features the shambolic sparkling madness and pop of Postcard-era Glasgow bands, the crooning moodiness of Bowie’s Berlin records, while speaking about bloodlust, the crumbling of a familiar world and the emergence of something horrible and unhomely.

All Fires the Fire is:
Adam Ouston – vocals, synthesisers, guitar
Peter Ferguson – bass, guitar
Nina Bok – vocals, synthesisers
Adam-Carl D’Andrea – drums
Chris Wessing – guitar

Release: March 30th, 2018, Independent
​Words: AFTF

The trains of thought that MOD CON — Erica Dunn (guitar, vocals), Sara Retallick (bass), and Raquel Solier (drums) — take us down on Modern Convenience follow a series of themes that question the modern world; is it a joke? A burden? A clean slate?

These lyrical cornerstones, along with the undeniable ferocity of the three-piece, make a compelling debut release. Gareth Liddiard aptly describes the band as occupying musical territory “between the Bangles and Black Flag.”

Recorded over the Easter weekend in 2017 with Liddiard at his home in the Goulburn Valley, Modern Convenience documents the band's creative alchemy and unique approach to song writing. “The isolated rural backdrop provided a perfect combination of clear-cut focus and cabin fever to get the job done,” explains Dunn.

Noisy, subversively catchy and rhythmically sophisticated, girl group/60s surf is thrown on its head in an aggressive turn of tables which leaves the listener contemplating capitalism, consumerism and the black market price of a human kidney.

Release: April 6th, Poison City Records
Words: Future Popes

The Saxons hail from Launceston, Tasmania, and are proud of their Tassie roots.

Since first coming to attention in 2014 by winning the Tasmanian College Rock Challenge, the band, determined to make their mark at home and abroad, have been fortunate enough to have played alongside British India, The Smith Street Band, Luca Brasi, The Vanns, Ceres, The Bennies, Slowly Slowly, The Hotelier, Kingswood, The Getaway Plan and Mental As Anything. No strangers to the festival scene, The Saxons have also appeared on the main stage at Falls Festival and played at Party In The Paddock and 'Til The Wheels Fall Off.

Keen to follow up their 2015 debut EP 'Be Rad Not Sad', the band spent most of 2017 in the studio working on this record, their first LP.

The Saxons are Nick Bennet, Bradley Martin, Tom Youd and Josh McDonald-Davies.

​Release: February 27th 2018, Independent

There’s something very special about the enigmatic electronic duo Sumner, consisting of Jack McLaine and Chloe Wilson.  The underground newcomers have already played alongside Vera Blue, The Smith Street Band, Montaigne, graced the Falls Festival stage as well as playing Party In The Paddock…but in 2018, it’s about to get a whole lot bigger. Sumner’s debut EP, All That I Am, is a release that explores illness, diagnosis, personal struggle and catharsis, all within Sumner’s own very cool little world.
  
This collection of songs is perfectly unique and completely self-assured, and not only is that very rare for such a young project – it’s precisely what makes them special.  All That I Am is effortlessly cool and refreshing, with open vulnerability within the lyrics that overflow atop consistant beds of glowing, pulsating, dexterous production.  Jack and Chloe share a little more about the process and the team behind it all, “The EP was entirely self-produced and recorded.  We worked with some mates for particular parts such as Shanice Osita Chuku on additional vocals in 45 Roses and Pictures, and Billy Bennett (Save The Clock Tower) on additional guitar for Lover.  We also worked with Ross Irwin (The Cat Empire, The Bamboos) for the horn parts on 45 Roses.  The EP was mixed by Kevin ‘KD’ Davis (Rihanna, TLC, Destiny’s Child, Tupac) and mastered by Grammy Award winner William Bowden (Gotye, Hermitude).”
 
Music is the constant thread shared between Jack and Chloe, as they reflect on the theme of the EP and what it was that brought them together, “We used music as a catharsis, with the EP following a story from illness to a cleaner, healthier mind with a change of perspective through the process… We met living in the small town of Launceston and finding each other’s music through mutual friends.  We decided to link up to play a one off gig as ‘Sumner’ and we haven’t stopped making music since.”

Release: Independent, February 16th, 2018
Words: On The Map PR