DROOL BROTHERS – Psychology

Around the turn of the millennium, the oddly named Drool Brothers delivered a self-titled debut LP that shared a world of different rock and funk influences to create an interesting listen. ‘Fullerton’ somehow managed to fuse baggy-centric rhythms, garage rock guitars, psychedelic elements and semi-spoken vocals without sounding too messy; ‘Happiness Fair’ filled a couple of minutes with heavily treated voices and dance-y beats; ‘Can’t Lick It’ threw a world of fuzz guitar over an upbeat groove and peppered with it with a world of surf tinged melodies and a keyboard sound that felt as if it paid homage to ‘Schoolhouse Rocks’; ‘Blue Velvet Pig Mask’ sounded like a Funkadelic tribute, by way of a rock band deep into experimentation. Better yet, the album’s stand out, the effortlessly cool ‘Lay With It’, worked keys and horns into a soul groove that paid homage to Jr. Walker & The All Stars. There might be many words to sum up such a record, but “eclectic” fit the bill better than most, and while it didn’t always sound like the creative endeavours of the same band, somehow, the Brothers managed to make it all work.

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Listen: Shannon Smith shares new single ‘Feel Good’

Shannon Smith’s breakthrough single, 2023’s ‘Dance The Night Away’ introduced the Australian singer songwriter in fantastic style. The track’s upbeat nature, driven by stabbing keys, bright horns and a shamelessly infectious, wordless chorus presented a near perfect homage to the AM radio sounds of the past. It would have been easy for him to follow that with something equally uplifting, but instead, he chose to explore moody balladry and country influences on the tracks that followed.

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DECIMATOR – Downfallen EP

Since their formation in 2021, Aussie thrash metal band Decimator have gone through a variety of line-up changes, but this potential instability only seems to have made frontman (and only original member) Lance even more determined to make his band a success. Decimator’s 2025 release ‘Downfallen’ features material that, prior to its release, had been pitched as having “more fire and ferocity” but also “a more refined approach to songwriting”.

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PALE HORSE RITUAL – Diabolical Formation

In October 2024, Pale Horse Ritual released the ‘Enchantress’ EP, a brilliant four song slab of metal that blended doom, stoner and deep psych to create something that sounded like the missing link between ‘Volume 4’ era Sabbath, the heavier moments of Monster Magnet’s best jams and Goat Ritual. It may have only been short, but for lovers of a fuzzy stoner riff, it proved to be an essential listen, and one that stoked up excitement for a follow up.

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