Well, hi there! We're back with another serve of independent goodness with which to treat your ears.
It's actually our first column in 2017 for This One Time, On Bandcamp, so a belated Happy New Year is probably in order.
So: "Happy New Year!"
Cool. Right. We're happy. We're new. We're good. Let's get stuck in.
We're taking it way out west for this week's edition, because I promised I'd try to pay more attention to things that aren't the east coast. See? Keeping New Year's Resolutions is easy.
Last Quokka — Perth, WA
Billing themselves as "anti-fascist, pro-feminist, queer-positive proto-punk from the most isolated city on the planet", Perth's Last Quokka are not a fancy or polished band. They make no bones about no apologies for who they are or what they're about, nor should they.
The rawness and honesty on display on recent self-titled debut EP is cobbled together out of snarly riffs, aggro, heartfelt vocals and observational, conversational lyrics, delivered with just enough disaffection to be believable. It's a little bit Fugazi, a little Eddy Current Suppression Ring, a little something else entirely. "I just can't wait to get out of the fucking northern suburbs," goes the atonal refrain of opening track Northern Suburbs, while Nazi Scum, with its tumbling bass line and driven percussion, is a scathing takedown of the racist-white-Aussie stereotype right down to the mention of the Southern Cross tatts.
Last Quokka are even wont to reveal a more thoughtful side, as in EP standout Girt By Fear, an emotive effort that starts with unusual restraint and introspection before loosing itself fully. But, even then, the track is underpinned by a technicality and musicality that reassures the listener that there is much more to this band than first meets the ears, both in terms of what they're putting out already and their as-yet unrealised potential.
If you're wondering what they're up to on the live circuit, now's a good time to get on board: Last Quokka just played at RTRFM's local fest Distant Murmurs, at the Rosemount Hotel, yesterday, and they're off to Tasmania and Melbourne over the next couple of weeks as part of their 'Decolonisation' tour. Full details are available at their Facebook page.
This is a band that has built a swiftly growing foundation in the earliest stages of their career together, and with a deeply ingrained political bent, a heavily DIY aesthetic and a give-no-fucks attitude, it wouldn't be surprising to see Last Quokka break out of the physical isolation of the west coast to make a sustained impact in alternative circles around the country. They're already well on the way.
Releases
Northern Suburbs/Econovan — Dual-track release, Jul 2016
Got an independent band? Got a Bandcamp page (y'know, because the title really doesn't work without it)?
Let us know if you want us to listen to your tunes, and you might get featured in a future edition of This One Time, On Bandcamp!
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