5 Melbourne Rock Bands You Should Be Listening To

A melting pot of diverse musical movements, Melbourne harbours some of the most unique and innovative bands in the world. We’ve selected five rising Melbourne rock bands that ought to be on your playlist ASAP.

Tyrannamen

This garage rock quintet emerged onto the global radar with their debut LP in 2016, but Tyrannamen are by no means a newbie in the Melbourne music scene. Their eponymous LP is a five-year culmination of their signature refined chaos. The scuzzy guitar-infused odes to tricky exes and inexplicable melancholy burst with breezy melodies and wailing vocals befitting their vibrant and multifaceted hometown.
See Tyrannamen play at the Golden Plains Festival on 13th March.

The Pink Tiles

For a band that champions “throwaway pop,” The Pink Tiles seem to have a strong grasp of exactly what their sound needs. They balance sugary pop and fuzzy guitar riffs with ease, leaving no extraneous parts to be thrown out. This Melbourne garage rock group welds the members’ various musical and cultural backgrounds into sunny and uplifting indie pop anthems.
The Pink Tiles will be performing live at the Brunswick Library, Melbourne on 18th March.

Good Morning

Stefan Blair and Liam Parsons make music that sounds like 5 in the morning when the dim sky can be an end of a dizzyingly regretful night or a start of a hopeful day. Good Morning’s catchy, laid back sound is full of such contradictions. Their jangly, poppy tunes with a Slacker Rock drawl are dealt with surprising sensitivity and plenty of lo-fi charms.
Catch Good Morning opening for Homeshake at the Curtin, Melbourne on 27th February.

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard

The prolific seven-piece band—including multiple multi-instrumentalists and a harmonica player—started off as a side project with an outlandish “joke” name that eventually stuck as their music gained immense traction. King Gizzard churns out seemingly loose jams held together with an air-tight execution, spanning from 60s-inspired neo-psychedelic swirls to tripped out “spaghetti western audiobook.”

Power

This punk rock trio is everything that a rock band called “Power” should be: intense, loud, and well, powerful. All members have been involved in Melbourne’s harder-than-hardcore outfits like Soma Coma and Gutter Gods, and the synergy between the three brings out the very best of Aussie punk rock. Power shreds through their electric, off-kilter punk anthems with shrieks and growls that will make you feel like stomping at a wild, beer-soaked gig.

By Serina Lee