I just missed them in Darwin and I'm still sulking about it.
They stormed through the festival and I blinked, and suddenly 400-odd people were grooving to a band I'd been waiting to catch; but that's Playlunch — slippery, silly, irresistible.
The Melbourne funk outfit are part cult, part carnival, part pariahs. Born out of lockdown's long shadow, Playlunch didn't arrive with any kind of grand plan.
Their origin was more 'what's the gig we'd want to go to once the war was over?' – the war, of course, being the pandemic. Before Playlunch, members had spent years in Parkville, a tender folk outfit with harmonies and violins. Sweet stuff, but when the world shut down, the sweet soured.
Stuck at home, songwriter and producer energy turned to funk, humour, and a desire to build the ultimate comeback party.
"I wanted something so much fun it would make up for all the lost time," band member Liam Bell tells me, and so Playlunch was packed, lunchbox-style: nostalgia, Australian slang, funk horns, brash humour, a wink to hip hop's braggadocious DNA, and the sort of chorus you belt after two pints.
What began as a "joke side project" overtook the folk band completely. The first album, 2023's 'Who's Ready For A Good Time', landed with the force of pent-up cabin fever. "We wrote about the world opening back up – getting back into pubs, taking masks off, dancing together. Those songs were about catharsis."
Melbourne crowds lapped it up, turning Playlunch into a fixture on the live circuit. Second album 'Sex Ed' (released last month) doubled down. Tracks like 'Boys' or 'Hornbag' (the latter from the first record) stomp and smirk in equal measure.
There's satire, sure, but never cynicism. Even when they're poking fun, there's warmth, like a mate nudging you at the pub. The humour comes threaded through grooves that aren't out of place anywhere – every street has a Keith.
Playlunch isn't a parody – it's funk with jokes. "We want to trick normies into liking a Stevie Wonder song. They come for the laugh, but they stay for the horns."
The humour is deliberate but not cynical. "Adults don't get many chances to be silly. When you're a kid at a sleepover, you can lose your mind and it's fine. As an adult, people think that's rebellion. We want our shows to be that space again – to let go and be silly."
Of course, not everything is jokes. Mid-interview we detoured into Adele fandom – a band happy to admit they've cried to 'Don't You Remember' more than once. They balance the silly with sincerity, like sleepovers where one minute you're prank-calling and the next you're baring your heart out.
That's the tightrope: gags about real estate one moment, earnest grooves the next, but at the core is silliness, unapologetically so. I guarantee, you play any one of their songs, your silly side will dance off the kerb and have everybody giving you a second glance.
What are you on, you may ask? Playlunch, who have the audacity to bring silly to the scene soundtracked by their braggadocious bogan funk. So next time they roll through your town, don't blink. Don't miss them like I did. Bring your appetite.
Better yet why don't you take yourself to see them play at The Long Sunset, one of Australia's most picturesque musical festivals (which has run the previous few years as part of QLD Music Trails and returns next month to the Scenic Rim region in SE QLD) that will make your neighbour Keith jealous.
There's no better backdrop for music than down over the Scenic Rim region. Picture this – you're with your friends amongst the rolling hills, and the three-day line-up itself is beyond swoonworthy. What can soundtrack the end of summer and beginning of autumn better than Boy & Bear, Vera Blue and Gretta Ray? Obviously, a bit of Playlunch.
The festival's new basecamp is set in the heart of Boonah, it's just an hour away from Brisbane or Gold Coast, so lose the map and find the music at this year's The Long Sunset. You wont regret packing that ticket in your basket for lunch. However you better act quick with second release tickets almost all gone.
The Long Sunset takes place at Boonah (Scenic Rim) from 31 October to 2 November.
The Long Sunset 2025 Line-up
Boy & BearVera Blue
Gretta Ray
The Buoys
Jem Cassar-Daley
Playlunch
The Vernons
Bunny Racket
Paper Lane
Silk 'N' Oak
I Heart Songwriting Club
Ben Barker
Billie Weston
Andrea Kirwin's Open Mic
Rhys Rich
Silent Disco
Gilly's Line Dancing
Plus
Artisan Alley: Art Workshop by Sip & Create Tamborine Mountain
Frog Hotel Workshop with Watergum
Miss Bubbles
Free Morning Yoga
