Byron Bay surf punk power trio Skegss are swiftly becoming one of our absolute favourite up and coming local acts. We sat down for a beer with the boys and a chat a few weeks back at BIGSOUND and they were absolute down-to-earth legends who seemed really on the cusp of breaking out.
We caught them live that same night and they blew Ric’s away with the kind of polished yet balls-out raucous live performance that separates the good live acts from the great ones. Nothing could have prepared us for last Saturday night at Brisbane’s The Foundry as part of their short but sweet headlining Fun tour though. The show was an absolute riot from start to finish, with a sizeable audience going absolutely bonkers and eventually storming the stage and crowdsurfing on it, something I hadn’t ever seen done before.
One of the highlights of that gig happens to be their latest single after Fun and L.S.D. earlier in the year. This one is called Eat It, and the Byron boys aren’t even close to letting up on the good times yet.
Ah, isn’t being so hungry you could eat the ass-end out of a low-flying bird (or, you know, travel around the world and eat food from every country you stop in) just a sentiment everyone on the planet can get immediately behind?
The song is an utter headbanger of a tune. It’s three chord Ramones style punk as all fuck with a tidal wave surfing guitar riff punctuating the song between verse and chorus. Frontman Ben putting some extra scuzz on his vocals as he ticks off the countries and dishes he’d care to try. If Fun and L.S.D. were feel good and jangly, Eat It is down and dirty punk and roll, the band abandoning cumbersome cutlery in favour of frantically shoving it in with their bare hands. It works a treat.
The accompanying video above is a nifty little lo-fi joint of the band rocking out in front of vintage 80s and 90s food commercials as well as eating some food themselves in between. It’s… it’s magical.
Once you distill Skegss down to their core, fun is the element you’d be left with (and also many, many beers). Rip-roaring fun and the kind of good-vibe rock and roll tunes to go with it. I’ve told anyone who will listen that these guys are Australia’s answer to FIDLAR, and Eat It only serves to reinforce my point.
If Eat It left you hungry for more (sorry, I had to) then you’ll be pleased to know that the boys have set a release date for their debut EP. It’s titled 50 Pushups For A Dollar and it will be out on October the 16th. You can catch that release on Ratbag Records, which is run by a little old band named you may be aware of named Dune Rats. Following the release of that you should be able to catch Skegss on tour, and I cannot stress how much I would highly recommend doing exactly that.
Skegss have confirmed the following tour dates with more TBA!
Sun, Oct 4th: Yours & Owls Festival, Wollongong
Fri-Sat, Dec 11th-12th, Festival Of The Sun, Port Macquarie
50 Pushups For A Dollar is out October 16th via Ratbag Records