Weekly Roundup: September 23rd
Featuring Hot Mulligan, Bleeding Through, L.S. Dunes, and more.
ERRONEOUS BOTCH:
For Tom Lanyon, singer-songwriter, guitarist, vocalist, and narrative journeyman for Naarm/Melbourne indie rockers Ceres, the quest for hope ultimately became the guiding principle behind the group's fourth studio album, the sprawling MAGIC MOUNTAIN (1996—2022).
Presented as a 25-track double LP, the record chronicles five years of emotional turmoil for Lanyon, spanning his nostalgic return to his roots atop Mt. Dandenong (a summit both literal and figurative), the life-affirming joy of pregnancy, the bitter loss of miscarriage, and the eventual triumph of fatherhood. Check out my chat with Tom below:
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Now, on with the words…
SIDE A:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Poppy – “They’re All Around Us”
While I’m primarily familiar with shapeshifting artist Poppy’s back catalogue being mostly, *ahem*, poppy, her second standalone single for 2024 solidifies her recent embrace of all things heavy. After crushing her diabolical guest feature on Knocked Loose’s insane “Suffocate,” her latest single is a metalcore rager that finds Poppy “keeping a keen eye on the untrusty ones in our midst.”
The track also has Poppy collaborating with former Bring Me the Horizon member Jordan Fish (who co-produced this song and her “New Way Out” single) and former Fever 333/current House of Protection guitarist Stephen Harrison, who has a co-writing credit. Watch the video for “They’re All Around Us” below:
Secret World – Living Less
Aussie post-hardcore outfit Secret World (who feature members of Trophy Eyes, Downside, SPEED and Phantoms) have solidified their full lineup just in time for a new partnership between local label Last Ride Records (with CEO Tom Maddocks already in the band, so an absolute no-brainer there) and the good folks over at Sunday Drive Records in the US.
File this one under “cool people doing cool things” as the group gears up to hit the road with Koyo for their debut Australian tour run next month. Stream their latest single here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
L.S. Dunes – “Fatal Deluxe”
We last heard from post-hardcore supergroup L.S. Dunes back in February for the Valentine’s Day release of the standalone single “How Dare You.” Well, the quintet are back with a playful new cut titled “Fatal Deluxe,” which is out now via Fantasy Records. According to guitarist Frank Iero:
“It’s a song that bridges the gap musically between where we were as a band and individually and catches the listener up to where we are headed. It breaks quite a few conventional rules along the way and wipes clean the preconceptions of what the band is and might be capable of. It is a song I didn't want to stop listening to after we recorded it, and a song I cannot wait to play for a live audience. Those feelings are quite often the signs of something truly special.”
Listen to “Fatal Deluxe” here.
Hot Mulligan – Warmer Weather
Hot Mulligan frontman Tades Sanville seems to be having a tough time lately. The noodly emo/pop punk sad boys have been flat out since the release of 2023’s well-received Why Would I Watch LP, and they’ve recently followed that up with a three-track EP titled Warmer Weather (out now through Wax Bodega). As Sanville puts it:
“I’ve been toeing the line between antisocial and agoraphobia. I’ve spent the better part of a year being as insulated and still as possible. When I’m home alone, and all I have to do is not die, that’s more or less all I do. Not die.”
Stream the EP in full here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Leatherman – “Big Shoes”
Naarm/Melbourne punkers Leatherman had a solid debut last year, and they’re finally back with more triumphant power-pop goodness. Born from members of Clowns and Cable Ties, the five-piece’s newest tune is out now through local label Legless Records and is billed as a:
“Hard rockin’ power poppin, guitarmony stacked love song to partying. With Thin Lizzy-esque riffs, swingin’ rhythms and belting vocals, this song is like cracking your first tinny of the weekend.”
Here’s hoping we get that debut full-length in 2025. Listen to the rollicking “Big Shoes” here.
SIDE B:
More tracks for you. Deep cuts for the real heads. Still cool.
The Armed – Everlasting Gaze
Mysterious rock collective The Armed are notoriously hard to pin down. The group dropped their fifth LP, Perfect Saviors, last year, and it was yet another stage in their chameleonic evolution. Their new EP, Everlasting Gaze, is described as a companion piece to that record and is due out on October 18th through Sargent House. In case there was any doubt, their latest single finds The Armed doing what they do best: overt maximalism. On “NEW! Christianity,” Dan Greene states:
“In regards to its name, it’s less about specific, actual religion as it is about the culture thirsting for an avatar for it. The moralization of the amoral. A more overt repudiation of the concept of the Perfect Saviors than a mere reflection on it.”
Stream the EP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Bleeding Through – “Dead But So Alive”
Feeding the ongoing mid-2000s metalcore revival, Southern California veterans Bleeding Through just wrapped up their first Australian tour in several years (one I was very bummed to miss out on). The sextet recently debuted a brand new single, “Dead But So Alive,” available now via SharpTone Records. For vocalist Brandan Schieppati, the new track is a deeply personal one:
“I battle with being bipolar, and it is something that I am very upfront about in my life. This song is about the daily life and sometimes ugliness of mental illness. It takes a strong support system around me to walk this life and I have my family and amazing band around me to make me feel so alive when I sometimes feel so dead.”
Watch the clip for “Dead But So Alive” below:
Threats – Backward Alchemy
Shout out to Aeron Clark for sending this one over email. Nipaluna/Hobart hardcore outfit Threats will release their forthcoming second LP, Backward Alchemy, on November 15th through independent release. The group recently supported Australian heavy music royalty Mindsnare on their first voyage across the Bass Strait in 20 years, and the LP’s recent single, “Hurricane,” is a visceral blast of hardcore punk played with gusto and an oppressive noise-rock attitude. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
FEATURE ALBUM:
A closer, more in-depth look at a new record that ticks all my boxes.
Void Of Vision – What I’ll Leave Behind
One of the greatest joys of alternative music is seeing a young band grow and evolve into a creative force almost unrecognisable from its early beginnings. On their newest full-length, What I’ll Leave Behind (out now through UNFD), Naarm/Melbourne heavy outfit Void Of Vision presents a bold, fully realised, and achingly authentic sonic vision.
Chronicling a harrowing journey for frontman Jack Bergin—which includes years of seizures, hospital visits, tests, scans, and ongoing health issues related to an arteriovenous malformation (AVM)—the album is an existential reflection on life, love, soul-searching and coming to grips with the fleeting and ephemeral nature of one’s mortality.
Yet despite these weighty themes, the result is empowering in its thematic and sonic heaviness, cut through with moments of melodic respite and EDM/rave euphoria: an arduous journey from disaster to acceptance via trauma, uncertainty, loss and learning.
Stream here: Bandcamp | Spotify