Up the highway in Newcastle, the city's punk, hardcore scene is simmering away on all four burners, with Dead Mall adding their name to an exciting group of local talent with their first single since 2023.
Dormant on the new music front since mid 2023 when they dropped the excellent cut 'Chris Martian' – a manic maelstrom of melodic punk, screeching guitars and foreboding breakdowns – Dead Mall recently returned with latest single 'Gasoline', which was partly inspired by a 20-year-old 'Saturday Night Live' skit.Although the first new music in 18 months, Dead Mall have feverishly been writing and working on songs, which is evident by the release of 'Gasoline' that retains the band's raw, chaotic sound melded to a chugging rhythm that slaps hard.
"We spent the majority of the last 12 months working on new material, and this was the first song I wanted to work on vocally," frontman Ruairi Burns says.
"We generally divide up the lyrical duties in the band, but originally, this song had no vocals, just riffs; but every time I heard it, I could imagine the melodies really naturally, so I pushed for words.
"I'm a huge Rival Schools fan and I remember trying to dial in a similar flow to Walter Schriefels. As soon as I had his voice in my head, the song came together really quickly."
Lyrically, the track is mostly made up of one-liners Burns was able to conjure up in reference to the long-running Deep Thoughts skit that aired on 'Saturday Night Live' throughout the '90s.
"Lyrically, I was trying to write a Jack Handey joke. He had this segment on SNL called Deep Thoughts (intro by Phil Hartman). I don't think he ever stopped writing them either (since leaving the show 20 something years ago).
"The opening line of the song – 'it is comforting to know, the day that I snap I have a list of people ready with their last known address,' – is a good example of the stuff he used to write: observational one-liners that seem profound on first glance, but don't mean a whole lot once you read into it.
"I originally wanted to title it 'Common Sense', which I thought reflected the sensibilities of Deep Thoughts', but once the 'gasoline' section was added (which was improvised in the studio), there was no going back. It was 'Gasoline', the obvious answer to revenge."
Here, the band delve into their local knowledge of Newcastle's punk, hardcore scene with five bands you should be adding to your next playlist.
Tired Minds
Furious riffs, blast beats and yearning? Tired Minds survived the transition out of the MySpace music scene and show no signs of slowing down in 2025. Their latest release, 'The Body Is A Burden' (via Art as Catharsis) falls somewhere between skramz and Converge's 'Axe To Fall'.Behind the scenes, Tired Minds run a music recording and tuition business here in Newcastle. Right now, Woodriver Studios are playing a big part in delivering bands like Skorn, Feel The Pain and Succ to the rest of the world. (Engineered by Joe 'Lets Go' Andersons)
Feel The Pain
Feel The Pain released their demo back in 2023 and have been tearing up stages constantly since. Just about every show they play in Newy draws a huge crowd, and for good reason. Frontman Tehuringa has an imposing stage presence, and that matched with the band's collection of beatdown riffage demands your attention immediately.
Skorn
Skorn have been around for a little while now, but their recent EP 'A Quick Death' really cemented them as one of the hardest bands coming out of Newy at the moment.The whole SCT (Steel City Terror) movement that these guys are spearheading has brought new life into the local scene – just about every hardcore show in Newcastle has been packed over the last 12 months or so, and these guys (along with bands like Feel The Pain and Splinter) have a lot to do with that.
You can catch 'em as main support on the NSW leg for SPEED's Australia tour this year.
Exit Mould
This is Mould, THIS is Exit Mould. A Newcastle band YOU need to see live in '25. Exit Mould released their debut EP in late 2024. Although, if you saw them play the Croatian Club in Newy, you'd think they'd been building a dedicated fan base for years (and that's partially true).Some might call it 'egg punk' but to me, Exit Mould has more in common with hardcore bands like Negative Approach and Government Issue than eggs.
Resident.
These guys are definitely more on the post-hardcore/ shoegaze/ emo side of the punk-spectrum – think Basement, Title Fight, Superheaven. They are some of our closest mates and have TWO previous Dead Mall members.Jackson has the best voice in Newcastle (maybe Australia) and we have intel that they have plenty of juicy tunes on the horizon – watch out for these guys in 2025.
