All is not well Down Under, it seems, but it's inspired some great punk rock!
Australia’s not all sunshine, surfing and kangaroos, y’know. Australians have their troubles just like we all do, and that’s where Byron Bay quartet Mini Skirt draw much of their inspiration from. As vocalist Jacob Boylan says of recent single ‘Squeeze Down’: “The lyrics are about the unshakeable sense I had of feeling isolated, misunderstood and defensive about my identity.” Well, if it’s any consolation, such doubts have helped birth a great record in ‘All That We Know’ (the band’s second).
The band’s sound lies somewhere between garage rock and pub rock, delivered in an adrenalised punk style; they sound like they might spontaneously explode if they didn’t have music as an outlet. Opening track ‘Pottsville River’ comes across as something of a punk rock love song, albeit one laden with raw, abrasive guitars and Jacob’s signature half-sung/half-spoken vocal style.
There are echoes of The Stooges and of fellow Aussies Radio Birdman, but they also bring to mind early missives from the likes of Nirvana and Mudhoney. When they really go all out, as they do on the ferocious likes of ‘White Range Club’ and ‘Chew The Cud’, they sound iike absolute world beaters.
Meanwhile, ‘Been A While’ features some stream of consciousness rambling over chugging power chords; a sort of punk rock Australian Sleaford Mods? Yeah, kinda. It leaves us wondering what the hell Jacob’s on about, and that was probably exactly his intention.
Mini Skirt sound like the kind of band whose gigs end in feedback-drenched tangles of cables, limbs and instruments – and ‘All That We Know’ is certainly more than good enough to justify such frenzied reactions from packed crowds. They’ve clearly got their feet very much on the ground, but with songs of this quality, they’re aiming high, and – like us – you should keep an eye on them.
‘All That We Know’ is out now – order it HERE.
- Pottsville River
- Roundabouts
- Smart Enough
- Chew The Cud
- Been A While
- White Range Club
- Mud
- Squeeze Down
- Stay Soft
- Ned Kelly Letter Box
- Series 3
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I spend my days teaching English to foreign students, and my evenings attending as many gigs as possible. Raised mainly on a diet of 90s third-wave punk, my tastes have grown to include just about anything from trad ska to thrash metal. The Ramones are my musical gods.
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