The Jukebox: the best new local tunes to add to your playlist this month
June may have been cold and unforgiving, but Brisbane’s greatest musical minds were nothing but generous. In the last month we found a bit of everything to keep our ears warm, from passionate windswept ballads and the haunting vocals of one of Brisbane’s biggest bands, to the return of a city favourite and the promising debut EPs of a couple newbies. Take a look at our favourites…
‘It’s Dead’ by Girl and Girl
Major news – Girl and Girl are officially back. Okay, I might be a bit biased here because GAG hold a special place in my heart as the first band I ever saw play the beloved Black Bear stage – but the band’s recent two-track release is probably the most exciting thing that’s happened to me in the last month (and I just came back from five weeks gallivanting around Europe so you know I mean it).
The titles of the two tracks – ‘Hell’ and ‘It’s Dead’ – may be indicative of what the band has been going through during its more than a yearlong hiatus, but the songs themselves are just as fresh and fun as their 2024 album Call A Doctor. Oh, and if you like watching a couple of guys beat each other to a pulp then I’d recommend giving the gory music video for ‘It’s Dead’ a watch, which delivers GAG’s charming theatricality in spades.
The band’s next nearby show will be at Double Negative, the Surf Film Premiere Party with acts from Girl and Girl, Selve, Purple Disturbance and a surprise headliner at Coolangatta Hotel on Friday July 17.
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‘Give it Back’ by Dirty Harry
There’s just something special about Dirty Harry. Relatively new on the Brisbane music scene (their first track only dropped in September last year), the four-piece have already established a solid sound on their debut EP Love and Piss, which makes for some easy listening (and grooving).
One of the pre-released tracks ‘Give it Back’ sounds like the kind of thing you might hear from a seasoned indie band with years of hard-earned experience behind them, not from the catalogue of these fresh-faced youngsters who just appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The best part is Dirty Harry is still relatively undiscovered with less than 2000 listeners on Spotify – but I seriously doubt it will stay that way for long.
‘Creature of the Night’ by Selve
Selve kicked off the release of their latest EP Breaking Outta Heaven in the most Brisbane way possible – by tearing it up at Against the Grain Festival, which, if you missed it, made a triumphant return to celebrate its tenth anniversary as part of Open Season on Saturday June 20.
Subscribe for updatesWith four tracks recorded at Midnight Special Records in France, and one recorded at Abbey Road Studios, this EP is the obvious answer to Selve’s 2025 album Breaking Into Heaven – but for me, one track immediately stood out from the rest.
‘Creature of the Night’ is a deliciously creepy dance track that has such a sickly addictive melody and low, haunting vocals that it feels like it’s been plucked straight from a horror movie soundtrack.
The band will also be joining Girl and Girl and a lineup of other talented bands at Double Negative next Friday night in the Gold Coast.
‘Kills Me Like You Do’ by Worm Girlz
In honour of Pride Month, Meanjin’s favourite worm-themed rock band Worm Girlz graced our airwaves with another sickly-sweet anthem infused with feminine rage, unchecked melodrama and queer liberation.
‘Kills Me Like You Do’ kicks off with a simmering beat that develops into a gorgeously satisfying explosion of harmonious instrument smashing and passionately screamed pleading in the chorus.
The worms will be playing a special show this weekend Worm Girlz; acoustic, upclose and intimate, with only a handful of tickets left.
‘Pull the Plug’ by SPACE&AGES
Who doesn’t love a brooding boy band? Brisbane’s floppy-haired high-energy rockers SPACE&AGES have been working on a little something that officially released today – debut EP Human Nature, full of sick guitars riffs, contemplative lyrics and the exact type of melancholic seething that this winter needs.
But it’s the second song off the EP that really caught my attention. ‘Pull the Plug’ is the track you play when you realise your relationship has become more toxic than truthful. When it’s time to stop sacrificing yourself for someone else. When it’s time to, well, pull the plug.
The band will be celebrating the release of ‘Pull the Plug’ and the rest of Human Nature with an east coast tour kicking off at the Gold Coast’s Miami Marketta on Thursday July 16 before heading to Brisbane’s The Brightside on Friday July 24.
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