Naarm/Melbourne hypermetal outfit CliqueBait are my guilty pleasure group, with this album their final record as a duo having recruited bassist Kiqo and Drummer Qrow for their next projects.

Compared to their previous album though, there are actually a few songs on here that actually kind of slap even outside of being a guilty pleasure. The mixing even for the extremely bonkers hypermetal sound that blows out everything in the mix (kind of losing the vocals in the process) can be kind of ... read more

I went into this album having enjoyed Beddy Rays in the past. I skipped their self-titled back in 2022 but Sobercoaster was a song that definitely felt like it had a strong identity, and their cover of Better in Blak is iconic in itself for Australia. However, sadly I feel like this album ends up blending into itself and the wider scene of Australian indie rock. There are some interesting moments from Fender to Vices, but I just don't remember anything as strongly as Sobercoaster.

Also, ... read more

I do not believe I can ethically review this EP as I have an engineering credit on it.
Go listen.

So, first of all, the album cover and title feels so mismatched to the album's contents. The passport photo-esque headshot with the album title like a stamp you'd get at customs and the title Promised Land feels like it's going to be something about Wafia living as an immigrant to Australia with Iraqi and Syrian heritage but most of this is about love and heartbreak and I don't really get the connection other than maybe this being more "raw and unfiltered" compared ... read more

"You got hundred man on your payroll, stood at the BRITs and none of 'em voted?"
-Aitch, 2025

A mostly boring, uninspiring collection of love songs that feel more at home on a small debut EP than a band's what, 5th studio album at this point. Notably, this album sometimes can feel like someone is throwing words or references at a wall and making that into a song.
The title track has a chorus that lists a bunch of things associated with bad luck/karma listed off before ending the chorus with "my face will be the last thing you see/one my forgiving spree" and it makes the ... read more

This album by Australian producer Young Franco is weird, it's a compilation of various singles from all the way back to 2020 with Juice and Fallin' Apart, save for the three tracks Lose Control (released a week before this released), Give Thanks, Give Praise and Sunrise all produced by Young Franco, with the most insane collaborations with rappers and drum and bass producers. Like, man got fuckin Denzel Curry and Earthgang as featured rappers and has collabs with UKG artists like piri ... read more

While there's really nothing *wrong* with this album per-say, the writing on it just pales in comparison to a lot of its contemporaries. While listening it just feels like artists like The Smith Street Band or Trophy Eyes who also occupy this space here in Australia would be writing these songs with so much more heart and emotion while the writing on this feels like a teenager still figuring out emotions despite this being Dear Seattle's third album. It's not like there ... read more

The first Australian album to drop this year with any level of buzz around it and it's just... kinda there unfortunately. I think most of the sounds on this album end up just blending into the general soft punk sound this album is going for that sits somewhere between power pop and post-punk. I think Put Your Back Into It was the most memorable moment on this album but I think it was a general feeling of "yeah this is fun but I'm never going to listen to it again or really ... read more

Man, I cannot listen to this album again, I feel like the entire time I was intruding on a dead man. Both the lyrical content and the way the production felt not quite here, everything felt off. Not even Mac's more insincere side is left untouched on this album as Transformations feels like this final attempt at saying something crass before it all slips away again but failing. Stoned is just a heart shattering track about getting high and wondering if that'll get you all the way to ... read more

While there are better punk albums out and about, this is just fucking hilarious for the majority of its runtime. Be it yelling about the corruption of cops, saying "no homo" to your crush till you realise that you are, in fact, homo, gentrification happen in real time, dealing with shitty men (including people who act like they care about women in music), nepo babies being boosted in the music industry and, most importantly of all, being a massive fucking whore. This group are just ... read more

Overall a solid drone album which I was not expecting to from Ethel Cain, however, there are definitely some moments where the textures are a bit bland or the progression is a bit boring. I think Pulldrone is my absolute highlught of this whole project, a 15 minute track that feels like something is slowly drilling harder and harder into my head, strong sense of progression, escalation and atmosphere. Weirdly enough, a lot of this album however feels strangely comforting outside of that, which ... read more

More like can't turn up to her own headliner set on time LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Shock horror, Techless hates another big mainstream Australian album.

Yall, I really don't hear what yall are hearing here. As someone who has followed Confidence Man from their first album and had Boyfriend (Repeat), Don't You Know I'm In A Band and Cool Party on repeat constantly when I had control over the work playlists, this album feels so painfully uncharismatic. This album overall feels like a painful attempt to jam the strange, unhinged and frankly kind of unmarketable ... read more

This is a really unfortunately disappointing debut record from Australian rapper MzUki. She clearly has some talent, tracks like Moshpit and Mon Petit Poney have something but it feels like she can't quite make a whole track feel like a proper rap banger. Otherwise, most of the sounds of this record just kinda blend into the noise of most of the fem rap scene as a while. The charisma isn't quite there to really make this a super captivating listen. It's just kinda okay.

Truly one of the songs ever made I feel like I felt my mind go numb from how little was happening here.

You know when you have one of those albums that fully recontextualises what an album can be? WARRANGU; River Story feels like one of those albums for me. Being part documentary, part protest album and part a reconnection with nature. While I can see DOBBY's more boyish voice than most traditional rap artists being a bit offputting, once you get used to it it really works for what's going on across this album.
Of the more traditional songs on here, the highlights are Dirrpi Yuin ... read more

IDK, just kinda there as an album I barely remember much of it at all.

I listened to this a while ago and my god, there are so many good songs on this thing but it's so bloated that despite only being about 50 minutes it feels double as long as it should be. There is a solid 8/9 out of 10 album in this that is just buried by a middle section that feels kind of underwhelming and lacks the same kind of in your fact attention as the rest of the album.

There are a few tracks on this thing that feel like they could easily land in my favourite songs of the year. Mouth Flash, The Blossom and the Thunder and Boy's Texture are all incredible pieces of glitchy sounds that just coalesce into something much more than itself and leave with this incredible feeling of satisfaction, with Mouth Flash especially feeling like the most fucked up jazz song I've ever listened to (affectionate). Boy's Texture felt like such a creative track and ... read more