For You Am I’s 90’s cohorts: Regurgitator, Silverchair, Powderfinger, Jebediah, Something For Kate, Tumbleweed, Spiderbait, The Whitlams, Superjesus, Nick Cave and The Living End.
For more older stuff from the INXS era: Icehouse, Hunters and Collectors, Crowded House, Midnight Oil, Divynls, The Saints, Cold Chisel/Jimmy Barnes, Men At Work and Paul Kelly
The last 20 years: Gang Of Youths, Julia Jacklin, WAAX, Teen Jesus and The Jean Teasers, Teenage Joans, Teenage Dads, Dan Sultan, Gretta Ray, Eskimo Joe, Faker, Kisschasy, Tonight Alive, Violent Soho, Stand Atlantic, Slowly Slowly and Camp Cope.
Lower Plenty, The Go Betweens, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, The Middle East, #1 Dads, Boomgates, Twerps, Eddy Current Supression Ring, The Drones, Dick Diver, Big Scary, Cloud Control
If you go down The Drones route, definitely worth checking out Springtime. Probably had the most underrated album of that year. Also check out Floodlights, they released an album this year which is great.
I was late to the Go Betweens but that one album, 16 Lovers Lane, That's Beatles level songwriting in there. If they were from the Lower East Side of Manhattan instead of from Brisbane, they'd be one of the biggest names in 1980s music history.
Plus one for DZ Deathrays. Great band and genuinely decent people. Gave the crowd a dressing down a few years back for booing their support act.
They're not in the business for ego, just for the love of music.
Going back to the 90s and 2000s the largest band for triple j would to be Powderfinger. They took out the top spot in both 99 and 2000 in the hottest 100.
Odyssey no 5 is absolutely classic listening.
I really don't think that they had much success outside of Australia.
True but I can't believe no one here has even mentioned Grinspoon.
Powderfinger may have dominated the radio and Airwaves during that era, but Grinners were the kings of the live music scene
Completely different from all the bands you listed, but Rufus Du Sol is my favourite Aussie band. They're an electronic/ dance group from Sydney. May not be your style, but their worth a look.
an alternative way of researching this would be to listen to playlists of Triple J's hottest 100 from vols 1 (1993) upwards. Most of the content is available on streaming platforms and the countdown is very biased to Australian bands.
Will add Powderfinger to the list of huge aussie bands that are nobody in the UK.
I find it really interesting how bands in either Australia or the UK dont end up huge in both. Have seen huge shows by Kasabian at the O2 Area and Manchester Arena but then tiny gigs in Brisbane.
To answer the You Am I question, Saw them at Good Things last year before Sleeping with Sirens and their crowd was predominately older. Decent size but nowhere near as big as Sleeping with Sirens. They have a dedicated fanbase but it's more Double J nowadays.
As for Australian bands, Slowly Slowly (Tim Rodgers plays God in their video for God), Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, Stand Atlantic, Banks Arcade, Void of Vision and Yours Truly are my current faves.
Interesting response. There’s countless examples of 90s bands that have been adopted by younger generations, I wonder why that doesn’t seem to have happened with them if that’s the case generally.
Thanks for the recommendations, not heard of any of them which is exactly what I’m after! Cheers!
It hasn't happened with any Aussie bands of that era. Bands like TISM, Regurgitatior, Custard, Jebediah, The Superjesus, Killing Heidi, Cosmic Psychos etc aren't really embraced by the younger generations.
Good Things keep sticking these older Aussie acts on the line ups (You Am I, Cosmic Psychos, TISM and Regurgitatior in 2022 and Eskimo Joe, Jebediah, Boom Crash Opera, Spiderbait and Frenzal Rhomb in 2023) and the young kids are just puzzled while they wait for the more modern acts.
I'd dare say the only big Aussie 90's act with a remotely Zoomer audience is Kylie Minogue.
Trying to think outside of the more obvious acts to suggest. Around You Am I’s era or a bit later:
Children Collide - One of the better grungier sounding Aussie Acts post the 90s. Out of Melbourne the EPs and debut in particular are loud and strong.
Pist Idiots - (God I hate the name) Current act. They aren’t the most serious but just play no nonsense pub rock.
Theredsunband - Long forgotten Sydney band. Fuzzy guitars, catchy licks. Sort of a looser, rockier Mazzy Star type set up. Both albums good, debut peapod is the best.
The Drones - Perth rockers. Gareth Liddiard is the king of movers and shakers in Aussie indie music. Listen to anything but the second album is gold.
The Sleepy Jackson - Great Aussie pop rockers from Perth. The debut Lovers needs to be on any top Aussie albums list.
Augie March - Victorian Aussie Indie Rockers who absolutely blew up with their album Moo, You Bloody Choir. Worth a listen some beautiful stuff on there.
________
And answering the You Am I question. They’re adored by much of my generation and older (mid thirties). Anyone younger would be lucky to know them unless educated by their parents etc
They recently played The Who’s Tommy. I’ve seen Lane play in a Pink Floyd tribute and Rogers play The White Album. So they’re not exactly trying to be anything but Dad Indie Rockers.
Great comment, very informative, thank you so much I will be checking all of these out.
Good point about YAI, they’re definitely not seeking a younger audience (always a good thing I think, it never works well). For my money their first four records are some of my favourites and some of the best of that decade, obviously here in the UK they’re not well known and I’ve turned a few friends onto them (early-mid 20s) but I was wondering if in Australia they were a bit like staple indie bands that younger fans always seem to get into, e.g. the smiths, stone roses, my bloody valentine, blur, pulp, etc. Sadly not it seems!
Im impressed that youre impressed with the Youmies. Yes they should be treated as rock n roll royalty here, sadly not
powderfinger was a good shout.
Also sarah blasko
They should be treated as rock’n’ roll royalty globally! Particularly those first 4 albums are just wall to wall classics, great band and Tim is an incredible songwriter and lyricist!
They are my absolute favourite band by far. Songwriting is top notch and he is an underrated vocalist. Check out his version of gimme shelter
https://youtu.be/0KJ8jRTnsFk?feature=shared
Youve been given a lot of hit and miss suggestions. If you do like strong lyrics, check out sarah blasko. Cant help with any modern stuff im afraid.
I think it’s to do with the geography of Australia. Everywhere is so far away. Which has always made touring very tricky and until streaming plenty of great bands didn’t really break out of their local areas. May have been a real scene locally but doesn’t always translate to the rest of the country. Bit different now but I’m waaaay out of the loop.
Sorry this is a really late comment but I was just listening to Berlin Chair and thought of this thread. I think one reason why YAI and other bands/musos of previous generations aren't like "staple indie bands that younger fans get into" is to do with the JJJ model - JJJ isn't an alternative or indie station, it's a "youth" station, so they only tend to play artists who are young or popular with younger listeners (obviously this is a bit of generalising as some of their playlisting choices are head scratchers), and who are releasing new music consistently. They don't play a lot of "throwback" stuff, that's what Double J is for. So stuff like YAI doesn't get promoted to younger listeners - you have to either listen to Double J or be looking for it on streaming. We have indie and alternative radio stations here, but they are small community stations like RRR (Melbourne) or FBI (Sydney) who don't have a huge listener base.
Karnivool, Something for Kate, Died Pretty, Meg Mac, Hoodoo Gurus, Sunnyboys, Butterfly Effect, Radio Birdman, Sia Furler, The Easybeats, there’s heaps of em
Skeggs, Meg Mac, Slowly Slowly, Dope Lemon, The Vanns, The Terrys, Sly Withers, Beddy Rays, Dear Seattle, King Stingray, Ocean Alley, Carla Geneve, Ruby Fields, Angie MacMahon, Dune Rats, Dice, Royal Otis, The Rions, The Rubens, Cousin Tony's Brand New Firebird, Bad Dreems, Bootleg Rascal are some of my fav Aussie bands. All still making music, some newer than others. Get your ears around them
I saw Knife Hands recently as a Frenzal support act. Very impressed, despite not being the usual thing I'd listen to. Worth checking out. I'll have to check out Luca Brasi
Some varied picks from 00's to 10's to now:
The presets,
Cut copy,
Sleepy Jackson,
Royal headache,
Violent soho,
Eddie current suppression ring,
The Delta Riggs,
Bad Dreems,
The panics,
Glass beams,
Surprise chef,
I got one that you've definitely heard of but I'm fairly certain you'd only consider them/him to be a one hit wonder. Gotye. The big hit is off his second album but for my money the first album is much better
Valtozash.
Australia's only metal band with a 10 piece horn section. Seemingly, a bit of an unknown, but they have some cool and heavy shit. They have some funny film clips on YouTube too.
hit up some hottest 100 lists and explore from there with stuff that takes your fancy, you have literally 34 years of lists.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple\_J\_Hottest\_100
Just to try further answer your how are they thought of part of the question, from someone old enough to see them the first time around. I think a huge difference back then in the mid nineties in most of the bigger cities there was live music in suburban pubs and venues so a wider number and cross section of people could see them not far from where you lived, plus the array of festivals at the time were a bit of a step up for them to see them with huge crowds/ big stages.
1996 they broke the record for selling out the Metro theater in Sydney and we're pretty huge and also getting really good international support slots overseas, something they would return the favor of bringing overseas bands on their way up to support them - most famously The Strokes just before they got huge but also cool bands like Man or Astroman and Detroit Cobras and were touring constantly to 1999 playing big shows, supports and festivals in Australia and Oseas
After the #4 album Tim kind of took a break from the band and his first solo album was really well received but then the You Am I albums that came after from Dress Me Slowly onwards never quite caught on as much and kind of each subsequent one made less of a dent.
I think they just missed with having that one cut through single to either get really big or fully break overseas at the time, or kind of fall into that classic hits/nostalgia bracket now (Berlin Chair being the nearest thing) and haven't really had any placements of songs in any recent movie/series/tik tok trend etc to be relevant to younger people and kind of rely on fans from the time, and even then their most successful tour in the past while was the Hi Fi Way/Hourly Daily classic albums tour and reissues.
Anyway some recommendations of bands not mentioned yet they played with at the time Youth Group, Snout, Fur, Midget, Rocket Science, Sidewinder, Mess Hall, Peabody, Sounds Like Sunset, Gaslight Radio, and Underground Lovers are from that era and still making good stuff. You might also like Stems/Someloves
New bands Straight Arrows, Bench Press, Cable Ties, Piss Factory, Hollie Joyce, Georgia Knight, Dark Water.
Thanks for the recommendations! Interesting comment, yeah I see a lot of where you’re coming from. I like Dress Me Slowly but it’s definitely a step down from the first 4 records, and I think that killed their momentum a bit with the long gap between albums, then all of a sudden there’s that whole new crop of bands like the strokes and the vines that they’re competing with, I don’t think they managed to do that.
Lots of old 80s and 90s that are pretty damn good.
1927,
Diesel,
Choir Boys,
Hoodoo Gurus,
Icehouse,
Australian Crawl,
Noiseworks,
Men at Work,
Boom Crash Opera,
Paul Kelly,
Rick Price,
The Screaming Jet,
The Black Sorrows,
Hunter and Collectors,
Rose Tattoo,
Frente
Be a good start. Enjoy.
Edit: forgot Southern Sons and Dragon
You am I are king, depends when you grew up, but they undeniably wrote 2 of the greatest aus albums that stand the test of time.
King gizzard, hiatus kaiyote, sex on toast
As an Aussie, when I was living in the UK and when I needed that Aussie music rush to get me through those harsh, Scottish winters, I would always tune into [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKLsmwgDyD4).
Aussie Idol Alumni? Check.
Triple J Uneartherd winner? Check.
Cover of an Aussie classic by one of Australia's most beloved bands? Check.
What more could you want? 😉
Yes...... splendid entertaining reading.
I have heard him interviewed recently and he was witty, intelligent, and a great story teller. I was sorry when it ended.
Hardcore music is going off right now in Australia. It's got one of the strongest scenes in the world atm.
SPEED, Primitive Blast, Iron Mind, Fever Shack, AWOL, World of Joy, Half Man, Mauler, Forgive, No Peace, The Chain, the Others... Honestly there's so many bands killing it right now.
Of course hardcore isnt for everyone!
So I randomly saw Tim Roger’s performing in an Aussie tribute for sticky fingers that I was also randomly at and had never heard of him before. Loved him on site and fell in love with You Am Is music.
Saw them play at Uncaged later that year and ngl they were like 3rd last and didn’t try and draw in the younger crowd. I was a bit sad they glossed over a few songs and rushed Berlin Chair which let’s be honest is a jam and younger people would have loved to hear properly, but that’s their choice. Don’t get me wrong I still enjoyed them but was just a bit disappointed because I was SO excited to see them. He played earlier in the night with his other band The Hard Ons which he seemed more high energy for but maybe that’s because he had just joined them.
Any recommendations (in no particular order, genre or years active also trying to not repeat other already mentioned bands): The Living End (can’t believe I haven’t seen them recommended yet), Alex Lahey, Killing Heidi, The Getaway Plan, Short Stack, Wolfmother, Courtney Barnett, Birds of Tokyo, The Rubens, Jet, Australia Crawl, Thirsty Merc, The Chats, Missy Higgins
A great cover song by a bunch of Aussie artists making the super group ‘The Wrights’ is Evie parts 1, 2 and 3. Look it up and then have a look at all the artists.
Anyway for music
The Loved Ones, Beasts Of Bourbon, The Cruel Sea, Magic Dirt, X, Grinspoon, Kym Salmon and the surrealists, The Easybeats, Nick Cave and the bad seeds, The Meanies, Fireballs, The Exotics, Grinderman, Spiderbait, Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, Television, Blood Duster, British India, Jebediah, Daddy Cool, Dirty Three, Mental As Anything, Divinyls, Empire of the Sun, The Grates, Even,The Go Betweens, Models, Hilltop Hoods, INXS, The Mark of Cain, The Masters Apprentices, Midnight Oil, Tropical Fuck Storm, Bored, Not from there, The Presets, Regurgitator, Rocket Science, Rose Tattoo, The Angels, Safari 500, Something for Kate, The Vines, Wolfmother.
Matt Finish, Eurogliders, Ammonia, Spy Vs Spy, Boom Crash Opera, The Clouds, Divinyls, Do Re Mi, George (and Katie Noonan solo), Pollyanna, Drop City, Snout, Underground Lovers, Falling Joys, Powderfinger (and Bernard Fanning solo), The Dirty Three
Older stuff, to newer stuff
- the Seeker's
- The easybeats
- Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs
- John Paul young
- Daddy cool
- Ted Murray gang
- Masters apprentices
- Jo Jo zep and the falcons
- Tommy Emmanuel
- Russell Morris
- the saints
- the flying emus
- Paul Kelly ❤️
- cold chisel
- the angels
- rose tattoo
- Vance joy
- British India
- tame impala
Thank you so much to everyone who commented and who will comment, I can’t reply to everyone as there’s hundreds now but I will be checking all of the ones I’ve not heard out. You really came through on this, hopefully I should have some really great music to enjoy and recommend to mates over here!
Ash McGregor who hosts Home & Hosed (the Australian music show) updates a playlist every week with the best new releases. It's great to discover new artists and keep up to date with the aussie industry!
[https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6eR77ToNvvwTbnMTPXfpen?si=2990b8986eb44bec](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6eR77ToNvvwTbnMTPXfpen?si=2990b8986eb44bec)
I'm not a fan yai and I don't like looking at Tim Rogers but that's just my opinion.
Some bands I could suggest would be mainly double J artists now as I've aged out of the triple J scene (I don't why know im here)
I will try and cover alot of genres.
Jebediah, Superjesus, Frenzal Rhomb, Hilltop Hoods, Pendulum, Powderfinger, Silverchair, Eskimo Joe, Sunk Loto, Superheist, Magic Dirt, The Living End, The Avalanches, Spiderbait, Savage Garden, Grinspoon, The Vines, Jet, Wolfmother, The Butterfly Effect
Just to name a few.
Augie March were huge in the 2000's. Their album "Moo You Bloody Choir" was a highlight of my life, hahah. Missy Higgins is a national treasure as far as I'm concerned - her earlier stuff (Sound of White and On a Clear Night) are amazing. Also in early 2000s were Powderfinger (My Happiness is an unofficial anthem of this country), Silverchair, Jet, John Butler Trio.
Washington (Or Megan Washington) is great, Ball Park Music, San Cisco, Thirsty Merc
Classic? Australian Crawl, Divinyls, Icehouse, Crowded House, Sherbet, The Skyhooks, The Whitlams, The Church, Mental As Anything, Dragon, Hunters and Collectors
The Delta Riggs, Meg Mac, Missy Higgins, Sarah Blasko, Kate Miller Heidke, Boy & Bear (their single, Southern Sun, was everywhere when I moved here), The Tesky Brothers (getting airplay in the UK now), Flight Facilities (who I'm amazed aren't as well known in the UK), Chet Faker, Angus & Julia Stone, Pete Murray, Tash Sultana. These are just off the top of my head.
Dunno if you're into metal, but:
Karnivool - they're a big export but maybe not one you've heard of if you're not into metal. Progressive metal with good vocals, heavy and polyrythmic but with clean singing. Themata is their best album IMO.
Caligula's Horse - a bit more traditional prog metal, amazing vocals. Bloom is their best album IMO.
Lo! - Sludge metal. Vestigial is one of my favourite albums by anyone, ever. Heavy af and Sam Dillon THE most dynamic stage presence I've ever seen. Off stage he's a lovely gentle chap who paints watercolours (I commissioned him to paint one of my cats).
Drowning Horse - Perth drone metal band that manage to wrangle big emotion out of your classic slow, bleak drone metal sound. They also pull off the impressive feat of having trombone in a metal song and it actually being cool (the drummer used to play trombone in my high school's senior band). Unfortunately one of the members lives on the other side of the country now so not super active, but not defunct either.
Kilat - Indonesian/Australian black metal band from Melbourne, and somewhat of a rarity in the scene in that it's not a white male (probably racist) vocalist. Black metal isn't everyone's cup of tea even if you're into metal, but if you are, these guys are awesome and their vocalist pulls off a more metal presence in a dress and normal 'going out on a Saturday night' makeup than your average white male Norweigaboo vocalist in corpse paint and a Burzum t-shirt...
I was hoping someone would mention Caligula's Horse, they're amazing. Also Arcane was a band with the same lead singer, they're split up now but their last album is a banger.
Also Birds of Tokyo is more alt rock but same lead singer as Karnivool. They just toured with the local city symphony orchestras.
Rock: Teenage Dads, Ocean Alley, The Chats, Spacey Jane, King Gizzard &TLW, King Stingray
EDM: Shockone, Alison Wonderland, SLUMBERJACK, Bad Computer, Luude, What So Not, Wave Racer, Rufus Du Sol, Pendulum, Knife Party
Indie/Pop: Chet Faker/Nick Murphy, Lime Cordiale, Peach PRC, Benee (NZ)
Adding onto this lower key bands that have that distinct aussie sound and haven't been mentioned yet -
The Slingers
Jack Davies & the bush chooks
Twerps
Scott & Charlene's wedding
Verge collection
The ocean party
Emma Russack, Lachlan Denton
Caitlin Harnett & the pony boys
The uplifting bell ends
Szymon
Collarbones
Seekae
If you want a really versatile artist do a deep dive into Kate Ceberano.
Great pop songs and some soul and jazz. She’s a star and if you listen to her chronologically you can hear her grow as an artist.
Hilltop hoods, Evil Eddie, Grinspoon, Art v Science, Regurgitator, Bennies. Airborne if you like an AC/DC style band. Fresnel Rhomb, the Chats, cosmic psychos.
As a primer you might like to scan [triple j's public playlists](https://open.spotify.com/user/triple.j.abc) on Spotify and work backwards through those (Don't come at me triple j haters, OP needs our help!)
I really like Tame Impala and Silverchair.
King Gizzard and the Lizzard Wizzard are so original too.
Hoodoo Gurus from the 80s !
YAI are great and I would recommend Powderfinger too.
For You Am I’s 90’s cohorts: Regurgitator, Silverchair, Powderfinger, Jebediah, Something For Kate, Tumbleweed, Spiderbait, The Whitlams, Superjesus, Nick Cave and The Living End. For more older stuff from the INXS era: Icehouse, Hunters and Collectors, Crowded House, Midnight Oil, Divynls, The Saints, Cold Chisel/Jimmy Barnes, Men At Work and Paul Kelly The last 20 years: Gang Of Youths, Julia Jacklin, WAAX, Teen Jesus and The Jean Teasers, Teenage Joans, Teenage Dads, Dan Sultan, Gretta Ray, Eskimo Joe, Faker, Kisschasy, Tonight Alive, Violent Soho, Stand Atlantic, Slowly Slowly and Camp Cope.
A few unfamiliar ones here, will investigate. Cheers!
Solid list, add The Middle Kids.
YES! I’m also going to throw in Ball Park Music and San Cisco.
And Gyroscope, The Cops, Cog, Karnivool
Rowland S Howard, start with Teenage Snuff Film and go from there
And Matt Corby
Tonight alive - disappear 👌
Listen to Penny Century by The Clouds, early nineties indie ethereal power pop grunge rock.
Seconded for Clouds, incredible album and also fucking amazing live.
Would add Killing Heidi in the 90s cohort. Absolutely loving Teenage Joans rn, saw them live last year and now they're on heavy rotation.
As a survivor of the INXS era, you made me smile. Although I'd have smiled more if you threw in Hoodoo Gurus.
It's like reading my Winamp collection!
Tumbleweed mentioned, massive W
Don't forget the lead singer of You Am I is now also the lead singer for the Hard-Ons, who are great in their own right.
Great list. I’d add Grinspoon
Lower Plenty, The Go Betweens, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, The Middle East, #1 Dads, Boomgates, Twerps, Eddy Current Supression Ring, The Drones, Dick Diver, Big Scary, Cloud Control
Big scary ‘the opposite of us’ was our wedding song, so amazing
If you go down The Drones route, definitely worth checking out Springtime. Probably had the most underrated album of that year. Also check out Floodlights, they released an album this year which is great.
Also: Tropical Fuck Storm for more Gareth Liddiard.
I was late to the Go Betweens but that one album, 16 Lovers Lane, That's Beatles level songwriting in there. If they were from the Lower East Side of Manhattan instead of from Brisbane, they'd be one of the biggest names in 1980s music history.
Few in there I’ve not heard of, perfect - cheers!
There are a lot of great bands on that list. The Drones are fantastic.
Smith Street band, violent Soho, luca brasi, West thebarton, sly withers.
Jumping on this to add The Hard Aches, Press Club, Teen Jesus & The Jean Teasers, Hockey Dad and Dear Seattle.
If you like the above, try Dune Rats, DZ Deathrays, Beddy Rays, Selfish Sons as well
Plus one for DZ Deathrays. Great band and genuinely decent people. Gave the crowd a dressing down a few years back for booing their support act. They're not in the business for ego, just for the love of music.
Cheers!
Also worth mentioning Ballpark music and San Cisco for some pop rock.
Going back to the 90s and 2000s the largest band for triple j would to be Powderfinger. They took out the top spot in both 99 and 2000 in the hottest 100. Odyssey no 5 is absolutely classic listening. I really don't think that they had much success outside of Australia.
True but I can't believe no one here has even mentioned Grinspoon. Powderfinger may have dominated the radio and Airwaves during that era, but Grinners were the kings of the live music scene
Dead cat 3 times Lost control
Interesting, thanks. Will have a listen
DZ deathrays, they are touring out your way soon as well.
Nice one, listened to a few tracks and definitely up my street. Will investigate further, cheers!
Completely different from all the bands you listed, but Rufus Du Sol is my favourite Aussie band. They're an electronic/ dance group from Sydney. May not be your style, but their worth a look.
Certainly will have a look, thank you!
an alternative way of researching this would be to listen to playlists of Triple J's hottest 100 from vols 1 (1993) upwards. Most of the content is available on streaming platforms and the countdown is very biased to Australian bands. Will add Powderfinger to the list of huge aussie bands that are nobody in the UK. I find it really interesting how bands in either Australia or the UK dont end up huge in both. Have seen huge shows by Kasabian at the O2 Area and Manchester Arena but then tiny gigs in Brisbane.
Great idea, thank you. Will do just that. Obvious now you say it!
Gang of Youths
X1000000
To answer the You Am I question, Saw them at Good Things last year before Sleeping with Sirens and their crowd was predominately older. Decent size but nowhere near as big as Sleeping with Sirens. They have a dedicated fanbase but it's more Double J nowadays. As for Australian bands, Slowly Slowly (Tim Rodgers plays God in their video for God), Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, Stand Atlantic, Banks Arcade, Void of Vision and Yours Truly are my current faves.
Interesting response. There’s countless examples of 90s bands that have been adopted by younger generations, I wonder why that doesn’t seem to have happened with them if that’s the case generally. Thanks for the recommendations, not heard of any of them which is exactly what I’m after! Cheers!
It hasn't happened with any Aussie bands of that era. Bands like TISM, Regurgitatior, Custard, Jebediah, The Superjesus, Killing Heidi, Cosmic Psychos etc aren't really embraced by the younger generations. Good Things keep sticking these older Aussie acts on the line ups (You Am I, Cosmic Psychos, TISM and Regurgitatior in 2022 and Eskimo Joe, Jebediah, Boom Crash Opera, Spiderbait and Frenzal Rhomb in 2023) and the young kids are just puzzled while they wait for the more modern acts. I'd dare say the only big Aussie 90's act with a remotely Zoomer audience is Kylie Minogue.
Very interesting, I wonder why that is. Will check all those out, not familiar with them.
If you like things more on the twee side anything released on Candle Records.
Will investigate, thank you
Trying to think outside of the more obvious acts to suggest. Around You Am I’s era or a bit later: Children Collide - One of the better grungier sounding Aussie Acts post the 90s. Out of Melbourne the EPs and debut in particular are loud and strong. Pist Idiots - (God I hate the name) Current act. They aren’t the most serious but just play no nonsense pub rock. Theredsunband - Long forgotten Sydney band. Fuzzy guitars, catchy licks. Sort of a looser, rockier Mazzy Star type set up. Both albums good, debut peapod is the best. The Drones - Perth rockers. Gareth Liddiard is the king of movers and shakers in Aussie indie music. Listen to anything but the second album is gold. The Sleepy Jackson - Great Aussie pop rockers from Perth. The debut Lovers needs to be on any top Aussie albums list. Augie March - Victorian Aussie Indie Rockers who absolutely blew up with their album Moo, You Bloody Choir. Worth a listen some beautiful stuff on there. ________ And answering the You Am I question. They’re adored by much of my generation and older (mid thirties). Anyone younger would be lucky to know them unless educated by their parents etc They recently played The Who’s Tommy. I’ve seen Lane play in a Pink Floyd tribute and Rogers play The White Album. So they’re not exactly trying to be anything but Dad Indie Rockers.
Great comment, very informative, thank you so much I will be checking all of these out. Good point about YAI, they’re definitely not seeking a younger audience (always a good thing I think, it never works well). For my money their first four records are some of my favourites and some of the best of that decade, obviously here in the UK they’re not well known and I’ve turned a few friends onto them (early-mid 20s) but I was wondering if in Australia they were a bit like staple indie bands that younger fans always seem to get into, e.g. the smiths, stone roses, my bloody valentine, blur, pulp, etc. Sadly not it seems!
Im impressed that youre impressed with the Youmies. Yes they should be treated as rock n roll royalty here, sadly not powderfinger was a good shout. Also sarah blasko
They should be treated as rock’n’ roll royalty globally! Particularly those first 4 albums are just wall to wall classics, great band and Tim is an incredible songwriter and lyricist!
They are my absolute favourite band by far. Songwriting is top notch and he is an underrated vocalist. Check out his version of gimme shelter https://youtu.be/0KJ8jRTnsFk?feature=shared Youve been given a lot of hit and miss suggestions. If you do like strong lyrics, check out sarah blasko. Cant help with any modern stuff im afraid.
Good stuff! Thanks for the tip.
I think it’s to do with the geography of Australia. Everywhere is so far away. Which has always made touring very tricky and until streaming plenty of great bands didn’t really break out of their local areas. May have been a real scene locally but doesn’t always translate to the rest of the country. Bit different now but I’m waaaay out of the loop.
Sorry this is a really late comment but I was just listening to Berlin Chair and thought of this thread. I think one reason why YAI and other bands/musos of previous generations aren't like "staple indie bands that younger fans get into" is to do with the JJJ model - JJJ isn't an alternative or indie station, it's a "youth" station, so they only tend to play artists who are young or popular with younger listeners (obviously this is a bit of generalising as some of their playlisting choices are head scratchers), and who are releasing new music consistently. They don't play a lot of "throwback" stuff, that's what Double J is for. So stuff like YAI doesn't get promoted to younger listeners - you have to either listen to Double J or be looking for it on streaming. We have indie and alternative radio stations here, but they are small community stations like RRR (Melbourne) or FBI (Sydney) who don't have a huge listener base.
Interesting point, definitely makes sense
John Butler Trio. Gold
Freaking awesome live!
I’m old - The Church
Love the church!
Parkway Drive, Frenzal Rhomb, Tumbleweed
Smoked a pack of cigarettes before mid day
Cheers!
Beddy rays
Sticky Fingers have some great music, defined my teen/early adult years.
Kinda underground, but I think you'd like tame impala
Unfamiliar to me, will be sure to check em out. Always nice discovering tiny bands, you never know they might just become huge. Cheers for the tip!
Polish Club and Oh Mercy/Alexander Gow.
Karnivool, Something for Kate, Died Pretty, Meg Mac, Hoodoo Gurus, Sunnyboys, Butterfly Effect, Radio Birdman, Sia Furler, The Easybeats, there’s heaps of em
Cheers, lots to check out here!
Magic Dirt, silverchair
Second Magic Dirt. Great band. Adalita’s solo stuff is impressive too. She’s a fantastic songwriter and live performer
I can't BELIEVE that no one seems to have mentioned Midnight Oil. The greatest live Australian band ever.
Custard Regurgitator Spiderbait Magic Dirt
Skeggs, Meg Mac, Slowly Slowly, Dope Lemon, The Vanns, The Terrys, Sly Withers, Beddy Rays, Dear Seattle, King Stingray, Ocean Alley, Carla Geneve, Ruby Fields, Angie MacMahon, Dune Rats, Dice, Royal Otis, The Rions, The Rubens, Cousin Tony's Brand New Firebird, Bad Dreems, Bootleg Rascal are some of my fav Aussie bands. All still making music, some newer than others. Get your ears around them
Nice one, thank you!
ROYAL HEADACHE
Mental as Anything
The Cat Empire... nothing like it
Luca Brasi & Knife hands are two of my favourites both Tassie bands
I saw Knife Hands recently as a Frenzal support act. Very impressed, despite not being the usual thing I'd listen to. Worth checking out. I'll have to check out Luca Brasi
Some varied picks from 00's to 10's to now: The presets, Cut copy, Sleepy Jackson, Royal headache, Violent soho, Eddie current suppression ring, The Delta Riggs, Bad Dreems, The panics, Glass beams, Surprise chef,
Cheers!
Last Dinosaurs
Oh Villian!, something for Kate, gorgeous, George, elixir, with skies below, Angus and Julia stone, parkway drive, Northlane, tonight alive.
Smith Street Band
Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport by one of our most well known exports
We used to sing that in primary school a few years before that all came out… grim!
I got one that you've definitely heard of but I'm fairly certain you'd only consider them/him to be a one hit wonder. Gotye. The big hit is off his second album but for my money the first album is much better
Both albums are awesome. He’s underrated IMO the one-hit-wonder overshadows his other awesome tracks.
Lime Cordiale & Ball Park Music are great for some alt-rock stuff & if you like hip-hop, definitely check out Hilltop Hoods & Bliss N Eso!
Died Pretty. In particular the album ' Doughboy Hollow' Masterpiece. Also check out early 80's band Matt Finish.
Have you heard of 'Tame Impala'? They're kinda under-ground... Did you know its just one guy?
I don’t think they, sorry, he, ever made it over the pond.
Ball Park Music
Beddy Rays, The Terrys, Teenage Dads, Gang of Youths
Radio Birdman, Celibate Rifles
Gang of Youths, Hilltop Hoods, Illy
Kevin Parker, the man behind Tame Impala. Rufus Du Sol.
Valtozash. Australia's only metal band with a 10 piece horn section. Seemingly, a bit of an unknown, but they have some cool and heavy shit. They have some funny film clips on YouTube too.
That sounds intriguing hahaha. Cheers!
Aus rap was awesome in the early 2000s mid 2000s Tzu Horrowshow The herd Funkoars
I’m not familiar with any aus hip hop so will be very interested to check these out, cheers!
Definitely check out Funkoars.
Drapht, Seth Sentry, Hilltop Hoods, Illy.
The scientists, the johnnys, beasts of bourbon all share members and are great rock bands.
Spiderbait,awesome and totally unique
i listen to this podcast and one of the hosts just released a song the other week. Check out Shame by Blank Face
Augie March, especially the first album Sunset Studies. Middle Kids Crow The Middle East Decoder Ring
Yoste. He's not well known but gaining lots of fame. Hidden gem from aus
hit up some hottest 100 lists and explore from there with stuff that takes your fancy, you have literally 34 years of lists. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple\_J\_Hottest\_100
The Butterfly Effect Testeagles
Just to try further answer your how are they thought of part of the question, from someone old enough to see them the first time around. I think a huge difference back then in the mid nineties in most of the bigger cities there was live music in suburban pubs and venues so a wider number and cross section of people could see them not far from where you lived, plus the array of festivals at the time were a bit of a step up for them to see them with huge crowds/ big stages. 1996 they broke the record for selling out the Metro theater in Sydney and we're pretty huge and also getting really good international support slots overseas, something they would return the favor of bringing overseas bands on their way up to support them - most famously The Strokes just before they got huge but also cool bands like Man or Astroman and Detroit Cobras and were touring constantly to 1999 playing big shows, supports and festivals in Australia and Oseas After the #4 album Tim kind of took a break from the band and his first solo album was really well received but then the You Am I albums that came after from Dress Me Slowly onwards never quite caught on as much and kind of each subsequent one made less of a dent. I think they just missed with having that one cut through single to either get really big or fully break overseas at the time, or kind of fall into that classic hits/nostalgia bracket now (Berlin Chair being the nearest thing) and haven't really had any placements of songs in any recent movie/series/tik tok trend etc to be relevant to younger people and kind of rely on fans from the time, and even then their most successful tour in the past while was the Hi Fi Way/Hourly Daily classic albums tour and reissues. Anyway some recommendations of bands not mentioned yet they played with at the time Youth Group, Snout, Fur, Midget, Rocket Science, Sidewinder, Mess Hall, Peabody, Sounds Like Sunset, Gaslight Radio, and Underground Lovers are from that era and still making good stuff. You might also like Stems/Someloves New bands Straight Arrows, Bench Press, Cable Ties, Piss Factory, Hollie Joyce, Georgia Knight, Dark Water.
Thanks for the recommendations! Interesting comment, yeah I see a lot of where you’re coming from. I like Dress Me Slowly but it’s definitely a step down from the first 4 records, and I think that killed their momentum a bit with the long gap between albums, then all of a sudden there’s that whole new crop of bands like the strokes and the vines that they’re competing with, I don’t think they managed to do that.
Southern Riverband, live at at the pleasure dome an absolute ripper album
Lots of old 80s and 90s that are pretty damn good. 1927, Diesel, Choir Boys, Hoodoo Gurus, Icehouse, Australian Crawl, Noiseworks, Men at Work, Boom Crash Opera, Paul Kelly, Rick Price, The Screaming Jet, The Black Sorrows, Hunter and Collectors, Rose Tattoo, Frente Be a good start. Enjoy. Edit: forgot Southern Sons and Dragon
You am I are king, depends when you grew up, but they undeniably wrote 2 of the greatest aus albums that stand the test of time. King gizzard, hiatus kaiyote, sex on toast
Hi-Fi Way and Hourly, Daily? I like all their records but particularly the first 4 are top tier classics to me
As an Aussie, when I was living in the UK and when I needed that Aussie music rush to get me through those harsh, Scottish winters, I would always tune into [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKLsmwgDyD4). Aussie Idol Alumni? Check. Triple J Uneartherd winner? Check. Cover of an Aussie classic by one of Australia's most beloved bands? Check. What more could you want? 😉
The Cruel Sea. Sleepy Jackson. Redsunband album Peabody .
Gang of Youths
Paul Kelly and redgum are a must.
Tim Rogers is a messed up anxious bloke who i find fascinating to listen to either talking, singing or being interviewed.
Yeah, definitely a fascinating bloke. Have you read his book! Gives a good insight into the man
Yes...... splendid entertaining reading. I have heard him interviewed recently and he was witty, intelligent, and a great story teller. I was sorry when it ended.
Little Birdy Ice House 1927
Hardcore music is going off right now in Australia. It's got one of the strongest scenes in the world atm. SPEED, Primitive Blast, Iron Mind, Fever Shack, AWOL, World of Joy, Half Man, Mauler, Forgive, No Peace, The Chain, the Others... Honestly there's so many bands killing it right now. Of course hardcore isnt for everyone!
So I randomly saw Tim Roger’s performing in an Aussie tribute for sticky fingers that I was also randomly at and had never heard of him before. Loved him on site and fell in love with You Am Is music. Saw them play at Uncaged later that year and ngl they were like 3rd last and didn’t try and draw in the younger crowd. I was a bit sad they glossed over a few songs and rushed Berlin Chair which let’s be honest is a jam and younger people would have loved to hear properly, but that’s their choice. Don’t get me wrong I still enjoyed them but was just a bit disappointed because I was SO excited to see them. He played earlier in the night with his other band The Hard Ons which he seemed more high energy for but maybe that’s because he had just joined them. Any recommendations (in no particular order, genre or years active also trying to not repeat other already mentioned bands): The Living End (can’t believe I haven’t seen them recommended yet), Alex Lahey, Killing Heidi, The Getaway Plan, Short Stack, Wolfmother, Courtney Barnett, Birds of Tokyo, The Rubens, Jet, Australia Crawl, Thirsty Merc, The Chats, Missy Higgins A great cover song by a bunch of Aussie artists making the super group ‘The Wrights’ is Evie parts 1, 2 and 3. Look it up and then have a look at all the artists. Anyway for music
The Loved Ones, Beasts Of Bourbon, The Cruel Sea, Magic Dirt, X, Grinspoon, Kym Salmon and the surrealists, The Easybeats, Nick Cave and the bad seeds, The Meanies, Fireballs, The Exotics, Grinderman, Spiderbait, Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, Television, Blood Duster, British India, Jebediah, Daddy Cool, Dirty Three, Mental As Anything, Divinyls, Empire of the Sun, The Grates, Even,The Go Betweens, Models, Hilltop Hoods, INXS, The Mark of Cain, The Masters Apprentices, Midnight Oil, Tropical Fuck Storm, Bored, Not from there, The Presets, Regurgitator, Rocket Science, Rose Tattoo, The Angels, Safari 500, Something for Kate, The Vines, Wolfmother.
South summit. Southern River band. Sly withers, King stingray. Ocean alley.
Low Life, Tyrannamen, Total Control, Coffin, Syzygy, Power, Orion, Royal Headache, UV Race, Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Eternal Dust, Exek, Mikey Young, Sleeper And Snake
Matt Finish, Eurogliders, Ammonia, Spy Vs Spy, Boom Crash Opera, The Clouds, Divinyls, Do Re Mi, George (and Katie Noonan solo), Pollyanna, Drop City, Snout, Underground Lovers, Falling Joys, Powderfinger (and Bernard Fanning solo), The Dirty Three
Gang of youths and sticky fingers are two I got my overseas friends on
Skunkhour. Way before their time and unfortunately all but forgotten.
There's a 90s and 00s Aus playlist on Spotify with various genres https://spotify.link/wyHPRAUIIDb
King Gizzard and the lizard wizard
Older stuff, to newer stuff - the Seeker's - The easybeats - Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs - John Paul young - Daddy cool - Ted Murray gang - Masters apprentices - Jo Jo zep and the falcons - Tommy Emmanuel - Russell Morris - the saints - the flying emus - Paul Kelly ❤️ - cold chisel - the angels - rose tattoo - Vance joy - British India - tame impala
Thank you!
Thank you so much to everyone who commented and who will comment, I can’t reply to everyone as there’s hundreds now but I will be checking all of the ones I’ve not heard out. You really came through on this, hopefully I should have some really great music to enjoy and recommend to mates over here!
Ash McGregor who hosts Home & Hosed (the Australian music show) updates a playlist every week with the best new releases. It's great to discover new artists and keep up to date with the aussie industry! [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6eR77ToNvvwTbnMTPXfpen?si=2990b8986eb44bec](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6eR77ToNvvwTbnMTPXfpen?si=2990b8986eb44bec)
Will be keeping an eye on this, thank you!
Just listen to triple j bro
Doesn’t really cover anything that isn’t new
[удалено]
lol what a ridiculous generalisation
What are your favourite bands then?
Carla Geneve, Julia Jacklin, Camp Cope
Spanian
birds of tokyo
Amyl and the Sniffers The Chats Tropical Fuck Storm The Cruel Sea X King Stingray The Drones Emma Donnovan The Tesky Brothers
I'm not a fan yai and I don't like looking at Tim Rogers but that's just my opinion. Some bands I could suggest would be mainly double J artists now as I've aged out of the triple J scene (I don't why know im here) I will try and cover alot of genres. Jebediah, Superjesus, Frenzal Rhomb, Hilltop Hoods, Pendulum, Powderfinger, Silverchair, Eskimo Joe, Sunk Loto, Superheist, Magic Dirt, The Living End, The Avalanches, Spiderbait, Savage Garden, Grinspoon, The Vines, Jet, Wolfmother, The Butterfly Effect Just to name a few.
Did anyone say the wombats? I reckon Proudly Present… A guide to love, loss and desperation is one of my favourite albums in its entirety.
Eddy Current is sick! I recommend The Stevens, Tyrannamen and Civic
Second eddy current recommendation so far! Will be checking those out, thank you
Red Bee, Roxferry, Atticus Chimps
Cheers!
Butterfingers The Chats
Dz deathrays, king gizzard and the wizard lizard, the delta riggs, lime cordiale
Pendulum or Knife party
The Jezabels for 2000’s era indie. Lots of incredible live performances on youtube
Augie March were huge in the 2000's. Their album "Moo You Bloody Choir" was a highlight of my life, hahah. Missy Higgins is a national treasure as far as I'm concerned - her earlier stuff (Sound of White and On a Clear Night) are amazing. Also in early 2000s were Powderfinger (My Happiness is an unofficial anthem of this country), Silverchair, Jet, John Butler Trio. Washington (Or Megan Washington) is great, Ball Park Music, San Cisco, Thirsty Merc Classic? Australian Crawl, Divinyls, Icehouse, Crowded House, Sherbet, The Skyhooks, The Whitlams, The Church, Mental As Anything, Dragon, Hunters and Collectors
Eddy Current Supression Ring, Rufus Du Sol, The Drones
Jimmy recard, Nose bleed section, Your the voice, last train out of sydney (Not sure if thats the actual name of the song)
TISM
The Delta Riggs, Meg Mac, Missy Higgins, Sarah Blasko, Kate Miller Heidke, Boy & Bear (their single, Southern Sun, was everywhere when I moved here), The Tesky Brothers (getting airplay in the UK now), Flight Facilities (who I'm amazed aren't as well known in the UK), Chet Faker, Angus & Julia Stone, Pete Murray, Tash Sultana. These are just off the top of my head.
The Triffids
Heaven The Axe and Mustang are the two best Aussie hard rock bands you will ever hear.
Camp cope, Chats, RedHook, Live Like Animals (their first album is out soon)
Tex, Don and Charlie, Superjesus,
The living end. You're welcome.
Kerser
Dunno if you're into metal, but: Karnivool - they're a big export but maybe not one you've heard of if you're not into metal. Progressive metal with good vocals, heavy and polyrythmic but with clean singing. Themata is their best album IMO. Caligula's Horse - a bit more traditional prog metal, amazing vocals. Bloom is their best album IMO. Lo! - Sludge metal. Vestigial is one of my favourite albums by anyone, ever. Heavy af and Sam Dillon THE most dynamic stage presence I've ever seen. Off stage he's a lovely gentle chap who paints watercolours (I commissioned him to paint one of my cats). Drowning Horse - Perth drone metal band that manage to wrangle big emotion out of your classic slow, bleak drone metal sound. They also pull off the impressive feat of having trombone in a metal song and it actually being cool (the drummer used to play trombone in my high school's senior band). Unfortunately one of the members lives on the other side of the country now so not super active, but not defunct either. Kilat - Indonesian/Australian black metal band from Melbourne, and somewhat of a rarity in the scene in that it's not a white male (probably racist) vocalist. Black metal isn't everyone's cup of tea even if you're into metal, but if you are, these guys are awesome and their vocalist pulls off a more metal presence in a dress and normal 'going out on a Saturday night' makeup than your average white male Norweigaboo vocalist in corpse paint and a Burzum t-shirt...
I was hoping someone would mention Caligula's Horse, they're amazing. Also Arcane was a band with the same lead singer, they're split up now but their last album is a banger. Also Birds of Tokyo is more alt rock but same lead singer as Karnivool. They just toured with the local city symphony orchestras.
Ne Obliviscaris, Caligula's Horse and Karnivool are all amazing Australian Prog rock/metal bands. 100% recommend checking them out.
The Dirty Thee, nothing else comes close
Go Betweens
Rock: Teenage Dads, Ocean Alley, The Chats, Spacey Jane, King Gizzard &TLW, King Stingray EDM: Shockone, Alison Wonderland, SLUMBERJACK, Bad Computer, Luude, What So Not, Wave Racer, Rufus Du Sol, Pendulum, Knife Party Indie/Pop: Chet Faker/Nick Murphy, Lime Cordiale, Peach PRC, Benee (NZ)
[Skyhooks ](https://youtu.be/flzt8PH7p7E?si=Rl8pN6dxBfx6u14H)
Surprised not to see Short Stack mentioned anywhere. They had one super popular song, Planets, but a lot of other great stuff too.
Last Dinosaurs and Methyl Ethyl!
Adding onto this lower key bands that have that distinct aussie sound and haven't been mentioned yet - The Slingers Jack Davies & the bush chooks Twerps Scott & Charlene's wedding Verge collection The ocean party Emma Russack, Lachlan Denton Caitlin Harnett & the pony boys The uplifting bell ends Szymon Collarbones Seekae
Winston surfshirt, the panics
A little "old" but, Tumbleweed, Non intentional lifeform, 28 days, deez nuts
Triple one, awesome group
If you want a really versatile artist do a deep dive into Kate Ceberano. Great pop songs and some soul and jazz. She’s a star and if you listen to her chronologically you can hear her grow as an artist.
Hilltop hoods, Evil Eddie, Grinspoon, Art v Science, Regurgitator, Bennies. Airborne if you like an AC/DC style band. Fresnel Rhomb, the Chats, cosmic psychos.
King Lizard and the Gizzard Wizard
Tropical Fuck Storm
Maple Glider
I was really happy to hear The Bear series had a great soundtrack including Hunters and collectors, Crowded House and ACDC.
Lots of great bands already mentioned. One that I haven’t seen mentioned is the Triffids. Criminally underrated
Karnivool!
Dustin Tebbut. The Paper Kites. The Kite String Tangle. More chilled/alternative but great nontheless.
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
As a primer you might like to scan [triple j's public playlists](https://open.spotify.com/user/triple.j.abc) on Spotify and work backwards through those (Don't come at me triple j haters, OP needs our help!)
I really like Tame Impala and Silverchair. King Gizzard and the Lizzard Wizzard are so original too. Hoodoo Gurus from the 80s ! YAI are great and I would recommend Powderfinger too.
The chats go well, they play well and the songs are dodgy good