Rumours of Shady Nasty’s debut full-length have circulated since the group first gained cult notoriety in 2017. The classically trained musicians, ditching the orthodoxy, arrive now with a vision clear. With production from The Presets’ Kim Moyes, TREK captures the band at their most creatively forthright. While earlier releases painted heavily stylised portraits of contemporary Sydney life, this album offers a candid retelling of their trials, tribulations, and obsessions.
The sum of all parts Shady Nasty have endured in its making, TREK is a stark reckoning with the reality of what it takes to reach any goal or destination. Enhancing the impressive world-building of their seminal EPs, TREK is a lean and potent eight-track debut – unashamedly honest about the less-than-glamorous grind of keeping afloat while chasing ambition.
Speaking on the record’s production, Kim Moyes shares, “Hard to draw comparisons with a band like Shady Nasty. They hold a unique place in Sydney and have built something they can truly claim as their own. It’s a universe that is inspired, oftentimes challenging, and yet somehow always fulfilling. Their commitment to developing their own sonic skid-mark combined with such a brilliant visual identity—an uncompromising pursuit of individuality—is undeniable. I’m proud to have played a small part in this chapter of their story. Love those guys.”
Shrouded in metaphor and symbolism, TREK reconciles with rites of passage to birth a group confident in bleeding authenticity. Their signature oddity and intrigue maintains the utmost respect of the underground as affectionately as it courts interest from the industry. A departure from the impatient optimism of their younger selves, TREK chronicles the evolution of Shady Nasty’s individual lives – an uncompromising journey toward breaking free from the shackles of expectation.
Inspired by the likes of King Krule, Low Life and Show Me The Body and informed by backgrounds in jazz and classical music, Shady Nasty subvert expectations. A world bound by modding cars, immigrant heritage and digital obsessions, Kevin Stathis, Haydn Green and Luca Watson craft a left-field breed of punk that recalibrates their formal training to its most uncustomary extremes. No matter where they play and no matter the size of the venue, devout adherents clammer to propel a heaving mosh.
Release: February 21st, 2025, Independent