“No one’s doing things quite like These New South Whales” The Line Of Best Fit (9/10)
“Absolutely irresistible blasts of insistent, art-punk brilliance” Kerrang! (4/5)
“TNSW also make a TV comedy about being pathetic punks.
Very meta, except the actual band are great:
tight, no-frills, plaintive vocals, caustic guitar and thumping rhythms” Mojo, 4/5
“The band is real, the TV show is a hilarious mockumentary” NME
“Very rowdy, enjoyable punk rock” theneedledrop
“Sydney’s most revered punk band” triple j
“The best mockumentary since Spinal Tap” Monster Children
“A punchy, infectious, and delicious piece of punk fun” Nick Findlay (triple j)
Thrilling punk outfit These New South Whales return with their first release of 2022, the caustic new single ‘Bending At The Knee‘, alongside the announcement of a headline performance at The Curtin this September. LISTEN + WATCH HERE.
An art-punk masterclass, ‘Bending At The Knee‘ is These New South Whales’ painting from the darker half of their palette – a calculating rage that dials the mood to Turnstile via The Garden, hitting with the same punk je ne sais quoi that drives their hit TV shows, records and podcast; the same stuff that’s made them a once-in-a-generation proposition.
“This song came together very quickly in the rehearsal room one night,” said frontman Jamie Timony of the songwriting process. “Frank started drumming along psychotically to Will’s honkin’ bassline and we were off! I immediately felt like kicking a wheelie bin over—that’s when ya know it’s a good one. It’s also probably the most fun song to play live in our set, I reckon.”
‘Bending At The Knee‘ is staunch-riffed bedlam undergirded by vintage Timony lyrics: a snarling call-to-arms that recalls the band’s politically-driven You Work For Usera. Jamie explains, “I was channeling the confusion and frustration I’d been feeling the last couple of years—I was kinda gobsmacked at the willingness of some to trust the government all of a sudden; albeit in a time of a crisis. What happened to rage against the machine?!”
A sharp new blueprint for the harder reaches of punk rock akin to their contemporaries Amyl and The Sniffers to Violent Soho, today’s new release is everything that’s made These New South Whales one of Australia’s most respected bands: punk royals and provocateurs for a decade and counting. Fitting, then, that the film clip, directed by Oscar O’Shea, might put the four-piece in a Victorian-era estate, a kilted Jamie Timony (vocals) cutting a brooding figure: hunched over a silver-cloched banquet; stalking grim halls; backlit in an iron-gated cellar.
‘Bending At The Knee‘ follows the group’s recent signing to Clowns‘ label, Damaged Records, and a string of sold-out appearances at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival earlier this year for their hit podcast, What A Great Punk, where the band made history once again, selling out all four dates within 24 hours. For all tour dates + info, see BELOW.
TOUR DATES
Sat 3 Sep – The Curtin – Naarm / Melbourne
These New South Whales — the band — are one of Australia’s most revered punk acts. But they also make groundbreaking comedy TV, and they star in it. Real band on stage, real band on record, deeply funny parody of a toiling band on screen. “The punk Flight of the Conchords,” said NME of their TV shows, “art-punk brilliance,” said Kerrang of their music. Their first two LPs, You Work For Us (‘Cholesterol Heart (God Bless Ya) and I Just Do What God Tells Me To Do, including hits ‘Nerve 2 Reverse‘ and ‘In The Light Of Day‘, were charged with the same frenetic energy that defines their live show, winning critical praise and legions of global fans who resonated with their physical, incisive brand of punk.
Their hit podcast What A Great Punk — an earnest, hilarious fly-on-the-wall interview series — has become a Monday-morning ritual for its devoted followers. And with the release of their new talk show-style comedy series TNSW Tonight! adding to an on-screen oeuvre that already boasts two seasons of their cult Comedy Central mockumentary, These New South Whales has matured into a project like no other. What began as a gag has evolved into something utterly unique: a multidisciplinary artistic universe teeming with lore and lols.
