Pop chanteuse Natasha Rose has delivered a very catchy 80's oriented new wave pop number produced by the legendary Stuart Stuart (The Veronicas, Sheppard). One of the hardest working musicians in the Brisbane pop music scene, she has had extensive airplay on Triple J radio. This track has nods to A-Ha, Sparks, The Go-Go's and even The Weekn'd. Starting off as a synth ballad, it gradually morphs into a dancey retro pop ballad with her soulful vocals offset by an endearing arrangement.
From her humble beginnings as a solo busker at markets around Brisbane to being a contestant on Australian Idol, and now breaking out as a self promoting artist, the future looks promising for Natasha.
All girl dance pop quartet Dizzy Days have produced a sizzling funky dancefloor pleaser with a song co-written with G Flip over in LA.
With the song titled screamed out with fuzzed vocals and punchy base and pulsating synths, this could very well be the song that will break them into becoming a mainstream band in the commercial pop world having spent the last year or so as a Triple J unearthed diet.
It'd be good if they could produce an equally good promo video to this song.
Jacqueline Boccacio (Cheeky Velvet) is a Brisbane born self-distributing pop chanteuse who started out in 2015 with her first eponymous EP. A couple of subsequent releases saw her defect to Melbourne for a few years until she decided to return to her hometown in 2024.
Baby's First EP is basically her eponymous EP repackaged with the omission of the tracks "Velvet World" and "Bittersweet" and some new tracks included, namely "Ignition", "Sugar Daddy", and "Slay Queen".
This is a fun filled EP in which Velvet wears her musical badges on her sequinned suit with pride. If you like Blondie, Toni Basil, Transvision Vamp, Queen B, and Shampoo then you'll love this EP.
Topic wise, she addresses the love of reckless youth with songs like "Hickey", obsessive boyfriends in "Crazy For You", lazy boyfriends in "Toy Boy", girls who fall for rich old men "Sugar Daddy" and arrogant lovers in "God's Gift".
Production wise it has the ability to appeal to both sexes equally with girls being able to endear to her hybrid riot grrrl coupled with pop princess, and the guys loving the fact that the EP is brimming over with buzzing rock guitars and powerful beats which is something that we don't hear much from modern pop princesses who are mostly into country, folk and R&B.
Whilst "Hickey" is a strong pop number very reminiscent of Toni Basil's "Mickey", my two favourite tracks are "Crazy For You" with the cooler-as-fuck Debbie Harryesque vocals and harmonies in the chorus and "Sugar Daddy" with it's 60's type rock riff cranked up into oblivion with lots of overdriven piles of guitars and pouty vocals that conjures up vibes of Wendy James and Belinda Leith from UK pop/punk acts Transivision Vamp and Queen B.
Velvet's more mature and serious side is saved for the last with the closing track "Placebo" with it's slinky cocktail bar jazz sound and some lovely moody sax playing in it.
This woman deserves to be Australia's next Veronicas, Katy Perry and Charlie XCX with her pop sensibilities and the exciting, entertaining high energy stage shows she puts on.
Definitely an artist to watch out for again in 2026.
Personnel: Jessica Origliasso (Vocals), Lisa Huffman (Vocals), Kerser (Guest Vocals on Savage), Travis Barker (Drums), Sierra Deaton (co-songwriter).
Running Order:
1) Perfect
2) Detox
3) Here To Dance
4) Savage (ft. Kerser)
5) Invisible
6) Ribcage
7) Jungle
8) Perfect (acoustic version)
Genre: Rock, Acoustic, Garage Rock, Hip-Hop, Pop, Punk
The Veronicas sixth studio album has been a mileston in their musical career so far. It is the first album for them as a newly independent band, signing to Travis Barker's Big Noise label. Now without the creative and commercial constraints of Sire Records and Sony Music, The Veronicas have had more of a chance to take their artistic faculties into full control and it shows on this album.
A refreshing change for many Vfans is the use of more guitars on this album, harking back to their early days of the first album "The Secret Life Of", whilst still digging some pop sounds on tracks like Savage and Ribcage.
According to Jess in a recent interview with Rolling Stone: "The whole theme of Gothic Summer is that it’s basically exploring social commentary on what we think is reality versus how we create our reality. It’s a very metaphorical album."
Lisa's comment was: "Gothic Summer is about the highs and lows of life. Finding beauty, empowerment and self-love in the shadows and darker parts of life’s experiences."
Gothic Summer contains just 7 new tracks, most of which are under three minutes long. There has been some debate in their Facebook fan group as to whether this can be classified as an album with such a short running time and amount of tracks. However, the band Sparks did something similar in 1979 with their album "Number One In Heaven" which had only six tracks on it and was considered a groundbreaking album for them for ushering in the electro pop and New Romantic movement to come out of the UK in the early to mid 80's.
The album opens up with the song "Perfect", which is a statement about being your own master and not conforming to the world's paradigm of what is perfect, and succeeding in life on your own terms rather than other people's expectations. A good solid rock track with a rousing chorus reminiscent of their early hits "4ever" and "Revolution", and the video is unforgettable with Jess singing whilst having a huge huntsman spider crawling all over her face.
"Detox" is about ridding themselves of toxic people in their lives and seeking quality people for their future. Lisa is now happily married to actor Logan Huffman, whilst Jess is engaged to an American jeweler called Alex Smith after a couple of toxic relationships with Ruby Rose and Kai Carlton between 2016 - 2020. The intro is reminiscent of the chorus of The Sonics "He's Waiting", and then explodes into a fast and furious punk number where they exorcise the ghosts of their past lyrically and vocally before suddenly going into a cod-reggae outro for the last 60 seconds.
"Here To Dance" is inspired by 70's disco as well as the likes of Sly & The Family Stone and Donna Summer as well as 70's Brisbane girl pop act Chicks Incorporated. Opening with a good funky bass riff, it's a light-hearted track about dancing wherever you are no matter how you might be feeling at the time. This was the third single to be taken from the album and cost nothing to make, being filmed on an iPhone at Lisa's place on her front deck.
"Savage" was written about a past relationship, containing Australian rapper Kerser whom Jess and Lisa have recently met. It starts out as a piano ballad with electronic claps and drumbeats before going into a shuffling dance track similar to the rhythms of the 90's Australian acts Caligula and Lavish.
"Invisible" is about wanting to withdraw from the world after being disappointed by a lover. Travis Barker plays drums on it, and it was co-written by Sierra. Another good rocker with a catchy chorus. This song speaks to me a lot after being abused by a couple of parasitic ex-housemates and not wanting to associate with people too much except for eating, drinking and doing laundry.
"Ribcage" demonstrates Jess' love for musical theatre which they grew up on from an early age. It was originally a love song, but has much darker overtones and talks about rebirth. A beautiful ballad with pianos and sonic sound effects over a gentle backdrop. The lyrics are very graphic in describing the downs of romance and the physical pain it causes to the other partner.
"Jungle" is inspired by The B-52s and The Cramps with a 60's garage surf rock sound, and the beat reminiscent of a track from their Godzilla album "In It To Win It" but with more authentic 60's sounds. A great fun track to do milk cow and shimmy dancing to - I'd love to hear them experiment with more 60's sounds for future albums. The message is that life is a jungle out there and is not always fair, and you need to be thick skinned and open minded to deal with the curveballs that sometimes get thrown at you.
The album closes with an acoustic rendition of "Perfect".
Gothic Summer looks set to be The Veronicas first chart topping album in Australia (it has already topped the iTunes charts at times of writing) thanks to innovative and aggressive marketing techniques that they have offered via their music store on their website as well as an official album launch at the Crowbar in Sydney on March 23rd.
Genre: Alt Rock, Glam Rock, Hair Metal, Rock'n'Roll
One of the most surprising comebacks of 2023 so far has been that of James Elliot. Originally formed in Brisbane in 1973 and fronted by lead singer/guitarist David DeWitt, they went on to win the Brisbane Battle Of The Bands in 1975 which got them a one-off deal with RCA Australia and resulted in the local hit "Space Demons", a piece of glam rock in the style of then labelmates David Bowie and The Sweet.
In 1977, they released a further single "Better Rock'n'Roll" before retiring in the face of punk, disco and new wave which had surpassed glam rock in the Top 40 pop charts.
Fast forward to 2020, after languishing in the rock'n'roll wilderness, DeWitt decided to revive his alter ego with a more harder and heavier rock sound but maintaining the camp theatrics which made the original band a success in the first instance.
Taking on a pickup band and producer, this album is one of the most fun and fresh that I've heard in a long time.
The album opens up with a re-recorded version of "Space Demons" still maintaining the glam boogie vibe of the original with harder guitar sounds. "Electric Man" blasts the band into 2023 with a catchy "Aye aye aye aye" chorus line which is up there with Violent Soho's "Hell fuck yeah!" from their main hit "Covered In Chrome". It tells the story about David being electrocuted on stage various times when he was doing gigs. Contains a good pumping guitar riff and some chinking riffs in the middle 8 part.
"I Am A Rock" is more towards the quirky arty side of glam rock like Roxy Music and Sparks, and like "Space Demons" has been given a C-21 remake (it was originally the B-side).
"Better Rock'n'Roll" is also a remake with the keyboards of the original scrapped for more frantic guitar playing and some tight power pop chords make this one of the most appealing songs on the album, an ode to youth hedonism of the 70's. "Somebody's Girl" is a more laid back rock ballad which wouldn't sound out of place in a beer garden, and a straightforward theme about unrequited love for a woman.
"Midnight Devil" is a bit more 60's rock in its delivery compared to the 70's vibe that this album is built around, but it's an enjoyable track nonetheless as well as "Not Welcome In My Head" (a contemporary social comment about mental illness which this modern world has become more aware of).
In all, it's an album that most rock'n'roll fans will take to instantly with plenty of hooks, distinctively camp vocals and solid beats. It's fun without being silly or overly tacky, but serious enough to be able to relate to what DeWitt's intentions of making this album was about.
The second CD release from Scarlett Gunner is a very catchy upbeat country boogie number with a solid beat and call and answer boy/girl vocals from Jesse and Wacey. Already receiving interest from overseas countries as well as from local radio, this very well might be the song that will break Scarlett Gunner to international fame. One of Brisbane's most prolific performing duos out there, they certainly deserve it.
Davey Page was an indigenous teen idol in Brisbane in the mid-70's, and he recorded this Neil Sedaka cover at the age of 13.
He was also the second Brisbane musician to sign with the Atlantic label in Australia, the first being Marcie Jones as a solo act after Marcie & The Cookies disbanded. Very sweet and pleasant cover, and he went on to release a glam rock single as the follow up "We Like Music Together".
Davey went on to become a well known and respected theatre star in Australia, before sadly passing away from cancer in 2016.
I was born in Manchester in the UK in 1970 to musician parents Alan and Rowenna Western and learned to play piano whilst at school. In 1982 I emigrated to Brisbane and got interested in photography as well as taking up playing guitar, violin and trombone in high school (Padua College). I have been doing songwriting since 1986, and in 1990 got involved in the naturist movement in which I have contributed articles and letters to Australian Sun & Health and The Australian Naturist magazine.
I work with the Brisbane bands The Busymen as manager, as well as playing guitar in d-Wizz 2.0 and working on my own solo band focused on 70's glam rock and a concept band called Laissez-Fayre.
