Ones To Watch - June 4

TMN’s charts team predict the hottest new music breaking over the next quarter. From emerging acts to established artists, we’ll give you our industry tips, based on forthcoming album releases, past performance, inside info and a myriad of charts data.

FIDLAR

Too

(WMA) Out September 4

Californian Skate Punk outfit FIDLAR recently announced their second studio album Too for release on September 4 of this year. The band have become synonymous with garage, punk and skate and surf scenes in their brief existence and this forthcoming album is set to challenge the band's boundaries and expand their audience even more. At least, that’s what is going to be the case if their lead single 40oz. On Repeat is any indication.  

The single showcases the band in a new light, with a cleaner than usual overall sound and a much more matured approach to songwriting. “We could have made record number one again… but instead we decided to challenge ourselves and admit that we don’t know everything,” states vocalist Zac Carper.

Carper also commented on working with producer Jay Joyce who has a part to play in why the lead single, and album for that matter, sounds much more refined. “Up until this point we had recorded everything ourselves, so working with a producer taught us so much. I didn’t want to make a standard rock record. The goal for this album was to think outside the box and I think Jay really helped us do that.”

This is likely to be their most successful release to date, with no doubt plenty of sync opportunities for the band to look forward to. The band themselves are no strangers to having their music and brand associated with potential sync opportunities, that fact highlighted by the large amount of songs they’ve had in recent Triple A game titles such as Saints Row IV, Grand Theft Auto V and Sunset Overdrive. 

High Tension

Bully

(Double Cross Records/Cooking Vinyl) Out July 10th

Bully is the sophomore effort from Melbourne's High Tension, and the follow-up to 2013's Death Beat, which saw the band score both an ARIA nomination and an AIR nomination for Best Hard Rock Album last year. 

First single Killed By Life premiered last week on Richard Kingsmill's "2015" show on triple J, and if it's anything to go by, the album is going to be another solid slab of the punk-metal mish-mash that the band are renowned for. High Tension sit in a curious spot - not quite punk enough to be punks, not quite metal enough for metal, but somewhere firmly in between. Vocalist Karina Utomo screams and growls like a banshee, while bandmates Ash, Matt and Damian provide driving riffs, blistering basslines and high voltage drums, along with delivering face-melting performances that are quickly becoming the stuff of legend. 

The album features guest appearances from Matt Young of King Parrot, whom the band recently supported on a number of sold-out shows across the East Coast. Aussie grunge icon Adalita Srsen also makes an appearance on the album. Bully also marks the first Australian release on Stu Harvey and Lee Grupetta's Double Cross label imprint. High Tension will be setting out on tour in support of the track in the coming months.