Five Bands Not to Miss at Yours and Owls Festival
Spring will soon be upon us, and for music lovers of Australia, that really only means one thing; festivals! It’s exactly a month until the Yours & Owls Festival being held on the beaches of wondrous Wollongong, an hour south of Sydney, so its high time we start making our playlists and keeping track of the talent on offer, making sure we don’t miss anything important or life changing.
- Black Mountain
A self ascribed space rock band from Vancouver, Black Mountain are slated to send crowds on an ephemeral outer body experience by way of groovy, funky bass lines and thick trippy riffs. Touring in support of their latest album IV, Black Mountain will melt your body into a puddle of acid which other crowd members can surely take to keep their trip going. The sheer spectacle of their instrumentality, which will undoubtedly be showcased, can be seen being implemented to its fullest extent on ’Mothers of the Sun’ and new single ‘Florian Saucer Attack’, both brilliant tracks, both perfect additions to your festival experience.
- COG
Moustaches ahoy! Remember COG? If you don’t, where’ve you been?! Founded almost twos decades ago in Sydney, this progressive rock band, next to Karnivool, shaped the Australian alternative rock scene beyond belief, exposing the world of progressive, melodious rock and roll for all to see. Coming off the back of a string of reunion shows after being on hiatus since 2010, COG are back and as brilliant as ever, ready reduce droves of festival goers into bellowing, shouting masses with their nostalgia laden songs and emotional stage presence. Any self respecting music fan will make this band a must see on their weekend.
- Pagan
I could go on and on about amazing bands hailing from Melbourne, but I’ll omit that and head straight to the part where I say “Pagan fucking rips!” A dark sludgy torrent of noise, sounding almost like if High Tension tried to play Kvelertak. Everything about Pagan is beautifully, horrendously brilliant. It isn’t often that a band can grab you by the throat, bring to your knees grovelling and head banging all at the same time, but they manage it. ‘VIII. Wine and Lace’ and ‘XIII. Good Grief’ are just two examples of their work, which I cannot wait to hear so I can headbang/mosh/writhe as if possessed to in the crowd.
Head to the band’s BANDCAMP link to hear new song, ‘Wine & Lace’
- Tired Lion
If, like me, you’re pining for the days when garage rock was cool and minimalist and grungy, get on over to Tired Lion who are bursting at the seams with coolness, minimalist instrumentality and grunginess! Returning home to Perth from a massive European tour and even playing Glastonbury Festival in the UK, Tired Lion are more than prepared to amaze and inspire crowds, as it is almost impossible to not be immediately sucked in by their sound and energy. If touring overseas isn’t quite good enough for you, they also nabbed the Triple J Unearthed Artist of the Year in 2015. So what more do you need? Get on them.
- Totally Unicorn
Do you like screaming? Nudity? Beer? Then you have come to the right place! Totally Unicorn’s latest album Dream Life released in July, saw faces screw themselves in disgust Australia wide, but that’s the wonder of it. Managing to cram insane mathcore riffs and throat shredding vocals into a song, while thrashing about and probably doing a beer bong while on stage and never missing a beat is this band’s forte, really needing to be witnessed to be believed. Totally Unicorn are a must see band for die hard fans and the morbidly curious alike; grab a drink, ‘Space Congratulations’ are in order.
Whatever your poison, Yours & Owls has something that you know will go down smooth, so make sure you don’t miss out on these gems of the Australian (and Canadian) music scene and head to Wollongong to catch them.
Head to Yours & Owls website for the full run down of when, where and how…
