Return of The Silversound

Different Noises 123

For Christmas Eve an eclectic mix delivering the best in new Australian Music, tidbits from recent releases on Half Edge Records, tracks from some of the best releases of 2025 and a dip in the archive for some magic from The Cramps. We kick off with a new tune from the excellent Melbourne band The Silversound.

AUDIO

PLAYLIST

• The Silversound - Rose City ¹

• The Cramps - Call of the Wighat ²

• Adventures of Salvador - Where Have All The Cowboys Gone? ³

• Inca Babies - Daniella ⁴

• Beta Voids - MeatHead Look ⁵

• Paul Kidney Japanese Experience - Manual Of Error ⁶

• 2 Lost Souls - Cartoon Humans ⁷

• Breath After Coma - Lunatics ⁸

• Bleak Squad - Ghost of the Bad Humour Man ⁹

• Saapato - Ravens ¹⁰

• Géraldine Eguiluz & Michel F Côté - Les grands départs ¹¹

• Ember Rev - Subterranean ¹²

• Moff Skellington - ebrethnok oostyann gassop ¹³

• 2 Lost Souls - Collision Man¹⁴

• Lowsunday - Innocence (2025 Electromix) ¹⁵

• The Dream Syndicate - Armed With An Empty Gun ¹⁶

• Dave Graney ‘n’ The Coral Snakes - Scorched Earth Love Affair (Live) ¹⁷

• The Go-Betweens - Sign Of The Unicorn (Airlock Demo) ¹⁸

• The Apartments - That’s What the Music Is For (When the Fair’s Over) ¹⁹

• Mark Snarski - That Machine ²⁰

• Jodie Langford - Breastmilk Cheesecake ²¹

• 2 Lost Souls - Satan Chuckles ²²

• Tortoise - Layered Presence ²³

• Marcel Gidote’s Holy Crab - Sooner or Later ²⁴

• kandodo - Solstice ²⁵

• Agent Starling - Jokul Frosti ²⁶

• Mark Corrin - Christmas Grump by Ian Moss ²⁷

NOTES

1. A deep psychedelic trip in the melody-rich tradition of rock’s golden age of discovery. Phased and funky, fuzzed-up and freaked out, the road-hardened quartet of Australian fringe identities forged their first album (The Silversound, 2023) during one of the longest, hardest lockdowns on the planet, smuggling hope and tenderness from the gloom; soaring sitars and sky-bound propulsion from the depths of pandemic static. They followed up their debut album with the EP FuzzBoxGirl, at the end of 2023, which includes their lysergic take on the classic mid 60’s Donovan masterpiece, ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’. From beefy boogie to rainwater jangle, loopy acoustic echoes to woolly overdrive, The Silversound’s aquaplaning guitars and cyclical grooves will turn your dull grey matter inside out and your 21st-century blues to every damn colour under the sun. The first taste of the band’s forthcoming second album, ‘Rose City’, is a sonic love letter from The Silversound to Rose City Band from Portland. A swirling psychedelic paean, produced by the band’s Shane O’Mara, is a euphoric 10-minute devotional offering of Krautrock groove, blissful harmonies from sublime Loretta Miller, snaking guitar, and cosmic country flourishes. The Silversound line-up includes Andrew Tanner (vocals, guitar), Shane O’Mara (guitar, vocals), Stu Thomas (bass, vocals), and Leroy Cope (drums).

2. A chaotic psychobilly track originally released in 1983 on their live mini-album Smell of Female. The song is a surreal, high-energy performance piece, blending grotesque humour with rockabilly swagger. It features Lux Interior’s manic vocals and Poison Ivy’s twangy guitar, with lyrics that veer into the absurd—riding horses to Hollywood in snakeskin pants, family violence, and the mystical powers of a “wighat.”

3. Where Have All The Cowboys Gone? opens Adventures of Salvador’s 2025 album Happiness with a punchy, surf-tinged rhythm and sardonic vocal delivery. The track sets the tone for the album’s blend of punk, psych, and garage influences, pairing twangy guitar lines with a driving beat and a wry lyrical stance. It’s a compact, 3-minute burst of swagger and tension, showcasing the band’s knack for tight arrangements and off-kilter hooks.

4. The 2025 version of “Daniella” by Inca Babies appears on their album Reincarnation, released 28 November 2025 via Black Lagoon Records. It’s a re-recorded, reinterpreted version of the original track, part of a broader effort to revisit and reshape selections from their back catalogue.

5. “Meat Head Look” is the second track on Beta Voids’ 2025 EP Scrape It Off, released 10 September via Hovercraft Records. Clocking in at 2:38, it delivers a jagged, sax-infused blast of punk noise recorded at Sweatbox Northwest in Astoria, Oregon. The track features dual vocals from Carrie Beveridge and Mandy Grant, with Dan McClure on guitar, Mike Vasquez on bass and recording duties, Seth Howard on drums, and Alpha Rasmussen on saxophone—plus a guest drum appearance by Mickey Calavera. It’s part of a seven-track set issued on 10” vinyl and digital platforms.

6. “Manual of Error” is the fourth track on Paul Kidney Japanese Experience, recorded during two Japan tours and released initially as a limited CDr in May 2024, with a wider vinyl and digital release following on 14 November 2025 via WV Sorcerer Productions. The track features improvised psychedelic rock led by Paul Kidney’s vocals, with Mitsuru Tabata and Masami Kawaguchi on guitar and bass, Don Drum on drums, and production handled by Tabata and Pat Cross. It reflects the cross-continental collaboration between Australian and Japanese underground veterans.

7. Three more tracks on this show from the new EP Rise - part of the eight four letter words series. The band have already delivered 12 new releases for 2026 - all three track EPs - we are currently working out sequencing and frequency of release/

8. Breath After Coma is a four-piece alternative rock band from Athens, Greece, formed in 2013. Their sound blends heavy-driven, groovy rock with melodic outbursts and personal, emotionally charged lyrics. The band’s ethos centres on capturing the raw energy of live performance, which they preserve through organic, analogue-leaning production. The featured track was released in May 2025 and forms part of the new Weedian Compilation Trip To Greece.

9. “Ghost of the Bad Humour Man” is track 8 on Bleak Squad’s album Strange Love, released 22 August 2025 via Poison City Records. Written by Mick Harvey, the 4:53 track blends art rock textures with brooding lyrical tone and is available on CD, digital, and deep red vinyl editions. The album also features contributions from Adalita, Mick Turner, and Marty Brown. Another Australian supergroup as it were.

10. “Ravens” is a track from Saapato’s ambient album In Alaska, released 14 November 2025 via AKP Recordings. Written and produced by Brendan Principato, the piece blends hydrophone field recordings with synth textures to evoke ecological themes, and is available digitally and on limited edition cassette.

11. Les grands départs forms part of hORs TempS, the collaborative release by Géraldine Eguiluz and Michel F. Côté issued on 5 December 2025 via Ambiances Magnétiques, the long-running Montréal imprint central to the musique actuelle scene. The work draws on recordings Eguiluz made more than three decades ago, which the pair have processed and expanded into a collagist framework. Acoustic and electronic instrumentation intermingle with repurposed sounds and atmospheric treatments, while themes of spirituality, ancestry, and memory underpin the piece.

12. Another track from their fifth release That Night I Dreamt A Forest Grew

13. A further track from Glottal Stalk Cadets

14. The second of three tunes on the show from Ian and Paul

15. *Innocence (2025 Electromix)* by Lowsunday was released on 5 September 2025 via Projekt Records as part of the 30th anniversary remaster of their debut album Low Sunday Ghost Machine. Produced and mixed by Shane Sahene and Bobby Spell, the track reimagines the band’s original dreampop/post‑punk textures with a sharper electronic edge. It appears on Disc 2 of the expanded edition, which features remixes, reinterpretations, and unreleased material from the mid‑1990s sessions, situating the band’s return within Projekt’s catalogue of atmospheric and shoegaze‑leaning releases.

16. *Armed With An Empty Gun* is a song released in 1984 on their second album Medicine Show through A&M Records. Written by frontman Steve Wynn and produced by Sandy Pearlman, the track reflects the band’s shift from the raw immediacy of their debut toward a darker, more expansive sound. Its tense guitar interplay and brooding atmosphere underscore lyrics about futility and confrontation, encapsulated in the title refrain. On the anniversary edition of the album there are several versions of the track which demonstrate its’ development from a more punk oriented early version into Pearlman’s glossy studio version.

17. Released in 2025 as part of the anniversary version of The Soft ‘N’ Sexy Sound, following the studio album’s 1995 issue on Universal Music Australia. Capturing the band’s theatrical flair, the live version translates Graney’s arch delivery and literate songwriting into a rawer performance.

18. A previously unreleased Go‑Betweens track recorded at Airlock Studios in Brisbane in the early 1990s, later issued for the first time in December 2024 within Domino Records’ box set G Stands for Go‑Betweens Volume 3. Capturing Robert Forster and Grant McLennan during the band’s “lost years” after their 1989 split, the demo reflects their transitional songwriting before reforming in 2000. Its inclusion alongside remastered albums, radio sessions, and other demos provides a rare glimpse into the duo’s creative process and bridges the gap between their classic 1980s work and their 2000s revival.

19. **That’s What the Music Is For (When the Fair’s Over)** is the fifth track on the tenth album by The Apartments released on 17 October 2025 via Talitres. Produced in collaboration with Tim Kevin, the song reflects Peter Milton Walsh’s signature lyrical style, weaving themes of memory, passing time, and emotional return into autumnal imagery. Recorded as part of a cycle of eight interconnected songs, it embodies the album’s narrative of reflection and resilience, where music serves as a vessel for recalling lost moments and navigating the aftermath of endings.

20. A track by Australian singer‑songwriter Mark Snarski, released on 13 October 2025 as part of his double album I Like To Leave A Place As If I Never Stayed on Mr. Bones Records. Positioned as track six on the first disc, it forms part of Snarski’s trilogy of solo works, following his long career with bands such as Chad’s Tree and The Jackson Code. Co‑produced with Héctor Moriv and Matt Walker, the album blends literate rock and pop songwriting with reflective, narrative‑driven themes. That Machine exemplifies Snarski’s focus on memory, displacement, and emotional resonance, continuing his reputation for poetic storytelling within the Australian alternative tradition.

21. A track from Jodie Langford’s 2025 album Softly Spoken, released via Warren Records. Combining her confrontational spoken‑word delivery with electronic production by Tom Skelly, the piece uses provocative imagery and biting humour to critique everyday struggles, gender politics, and cultural absurdities. Positioned within a ten‑track set that blends social commentary with club‑ready beats, Breastmilk Cheesecake exemplifies Langford’s distinctive style of fusing sharp, socially charged poetry with dance‑floor energy, marking her emergence as a bold voice in the UK’s alternative and spoken‑word scenes.

22. The final track on the show from 2 Lost Souls

23. From Tortoise’s 2025 album Touch, released on 24 October via International Anthem and Nonesuch Records. Recorded across Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland with John McEntire producing, the instrumental track showcases the band’s hallmark interplay of rhythm, texture, and layered instrumentation. Accompanied by a film directed by Mikel Patrick Avery, it marked Tortoise’s first new music in nine years following The Catastrophist (2016), signalling their return with a collectivist approach that blends post‑rock experimentation with egalitarian composition.

24. A track by Marcel Gidote’s Holy Crab, released in 2025 on their double‑LP Sorcerers Laughing Out in the Heat and featured on the Weedian compilation A Trip To The Czech Republic. Written by Jan Bukovjan with contributions from Pavel Kielberger, Viktor Eberle, Marek Sobota, Matěj Šolc, and Ondřej Vávra, the song runs for just over five minutes and blends the band’s jazz‑fusion and progressive influences with layered instrumentation

25. From the psychedelic shack in Northumberland, Simon Price (kandodo) has spent two years coaxing new sounds into being, eighty minutes, four sides, released as Solstice/Dub and Dusk/Dawn . A slow unfurling of heady drift and cosmic fuzz these are long-form pieces which demand deep listening. Hugo Morgan, a fellow member of The Heads with Simon, joins on low-end duties, the basslines anchor the drift. Given the length of the pieces I have included just the first section of Solstice/Dub.

26. Agent Starling is Lou Duffy-Howard, Quentin Budworth and Dexter Duffy-Howard’s musical adventure. New single, Jokul Frosti is the preview track from Agent Starling’s forthcoming album due for release in spring 2026. It’s the story of Jokul Frosti, the Norse mythological character, who embodies the cold winter weather. Agent Starling combine real instruments, hurdy-gurdy, bass, violin, cello, hypnotic drones, vocal harmonies & spoken words, interwoven with found sounds and manipulated electronic synthesized tones. The fourth album due in spring 2025 follows previous releases ‘Clandestine’, ‘Constellation of Birds’, debut album ‘European Howl’ and winter EP ‘The Northern Lights’.

27. A message from Mr Corrin “This is the final release in my rather random but hopefully entertaining series of 12 EPs for 2025. Very pleased to have the mighty Ian Moss of The Hamsters and Four Candles doing a vocal on the closing track “Christmas Grump”. The lead track “December Mixtape” started out as a vague imagining of if New Order had done a Christmas single, then went off a 90s pop tangent, and features guest vocals from Siobhan Corrin and a guest rap from Owen Linsey. The middle track “Gothmas Groove” is a silly but bangin’ novelty rock festive goth instrumental, inspired by Whitby Goth fest. I hope you have enjoyed a track or two from the stuff I’ve put out this year and have a great December ! Big cheers to you and all the best, Mark.”