Modern Australian Underground •

Radio show: From Proto-Garage to Death Metal

Episode Transcript

Hey, you’re listening to another radio show episode of the Modern Australian Underground. I am your host, Christina Pap, and on the show today I am bringing in some music genres I haven’t played for you yet, including some country, drill and death metal happening right now in the Modern Australian Underground, as well as my usual favourites.

First up on the show today, mid last year Bananagun released the LP, “The True Story of Bananagun”. They just played a show as a part of Melbourne Music Week, supported by their friends Parsnip and Vintage Crop. I wasn’t able to make it but from the videos circulating it looked like an exciting show to be at…this is “Out Of Reach”

Hillbilly country music, a sound born in the states but adapted over the years for outback country Australia. That was William Alexander, with the song, They took the stars out of heaven, off his “Garlic Picking Time” CD released Sept 2019. I had some friends supporting William when he played a show at The Retreat at the end of 2020. It was the first show I’d been to in over 10 months and it was a lovely gig to ease back into being in close proximity with strangers again.

A Joke, is the name of the song before that by Mystery Guest, done as a commission for Melbourne Music Week, a government project. It was written, recorded, mixed and mastered during COVID-19 lockdown 2020, to be released last month.

Then Partner Look did the song “Geelong”, which was released by I Heard a Whisper presents Club Seven. Jason Moore is behind that label, who also does “Local and/or General” on RRRfm as well as just being a general legend and positive force working in the Melbourne live music scene for years.

And at the top, Melbourne’s Bananagun with “Out Of Reach”.


“Mastered by Mikey Young”, four works that frequent the credits of bandcamp pages and record inserts. But post Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Mikey has done other well known projects, like Total Control and The Green Child, as well as less known ones hidden behind pseudonyms. But the “Curtains” cassette that came out off Altered States in October is just him. This is Mikey Young, with the song “Blues”, on Modern Australian Underground.

Mikey Young opened up the set with Blues, followed by Chook Race. The Chook Race LP “Around The House” was their last release as far as I can tell. It came out a few years back now, September 2016, but they played a 10 year show at The Tote just last week. Maybe that means they have something new in the works but either way, it is cool this band played a show and gave their fans some good time nostalgia.

Then I played “Two Meals a day” by Brickhead. Brickhead is a punk music project, mostly done by Sarah Hardiman who has been in bands like Deaf Wish, Moon Rituals and Nightclub. It initially came out as an online only release mid last year, then finally being put to cassette as a split release by Melbourne labels Cease and Desist and Weirdo Mazic. Sarah got together a full band to finally play a launch show, which happened at Nighthawks last week, supported by Sleeper and Snake.

And then at the bottom there was Smooch with the song “Pucker Up”. It was released on a promo cassette in 2019, but I wanted to give it a spin because they’re a shredding glam rock band who go all out at their shows and I’m hoping there’s they have plans for more shows and releases in the future.

Vintage Crop were at the top with the song “Gridlock” that came out off their “Serve to Serve Again” LP. They just played a show as mentioned earlier in this episode, with Bananagun and Parsnip, and have just announced an early and late show at The Curtain on Saturday 27 February. They’re being supported by The Stoppies on the late show, which has already sold out, but their early show with OUZO! still has tickets available so get on that ASAP.

After that was Speed Week with the song “Phishing” off their recently released “Hey Hey It’s Speed Week” LP.

Then Total Defeat with “Void”, their “Dreg” 7” coming out off Perth’s Televised Suicide Records.

And at the end, Private Function with “Static Electricity”, their “Whose Line is it Anyway?” LP coming out of “Damaged Records Co”, which is the people from the band Clowns doing a label.

I hope you’re ready to revisit your youth on the street - or mine at least - and get into some Oi Punk, made up mostly of New Zealanders living in Melbourne’s western Suburb, this is No Class with “Boot Boys” off their “Boot Boys” 7”. Their first demo and this 7” is being released on a 12” titled “The early years”, coming out sometime this year.

You’re listening to the Modern Australian Underground.


After No Class at the top, and made up of people from the same punk community, was Punter with “Safe In The Bubble”. They released a demo CS last year, and the launch for it was one of the last gigs I went to last year before COVID kicked in.

Look up the footage on Youtube. Everyone was crammed into someone’s garage, falling over and crowd surfing while the bands played. It was a lot of fun.

Punter is made up of members of Scab Eater, Enzyme and a bunch of other cool bands.

Amyl and the Sniffers followed Punter, with “GFY” off their self titled LP that came out in 2019, they’ve had a lot of success with their music since they started in 2016, but still support the underground scene in different ways, which is really cool.

The set finished with “Decolonise” by Lai, off their “Pontiac” LP which came out last year off Ruin Nation Records from Germany and D-Takt & Råpunk Records out of Sweden.

Gutless continues the heavy music as we enter the last set here on the Modern Australian Underground Radio

Death Metal band Gutless at the start of the set played a gig this past weekend at The Old Bar with Whitehorse and Vile Apparition. The song “Manufactured God” was taken off a split release with Mortal Wound that came out as a 12” and also on cassette.

TOL was up next with “Collapsing” off their “Last Grief” CD from a few months back. Justin Fuller and Sean Bailey play in this post punk band together, and have been in a few other bands prior to this such as Lakes and Tax.

The song “Matchday” is out of Sydney and by 3ndles5 and Crazymike who released their debut smash-up “Sydney Bass” CD, an album that comes with an A5 zine, in Aug 2020.  3NDLES5 is Mitch from Low Life, and Crazymike is Michael from DEN.

And ending the set and the show was Nasa Nova making Drill with the song “Us”. Drill is a style of trap music that came out of Chicago in 2010, so a baby genre that is currently blowing up big in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands but also Australia with artists like OneFour in Sydney and Nasa Nova here in Melbourne.

And here we are, at the end of another show. Next week I’ll be back with another interview. Shows are coming back to Melbourne so pack your mask and some hand sanitiser and get yourself out there.

Contact me at Litmus.Media if you want to get in contact, otherwise you’ll hear from me next week, on the Modern Australian Underground.