Sydney pop-punk outfit Bellwether have shared an eruptive new single titled ‘Charade’, landing just in time for their first-ever live show.
Premiered earlier this week on the triple j Unearthed program TOPS, the new track bursts to life with ultra-bright, screaming riffs, blistering drums and an earwormish melody. It’s evocative of the Warped Tour greats of the early 2000s, bringing to mind names like Simple Plan, Good Charlotte and Paramore. The squeaky clean production, however, gives it a distinctly modern edge.
The track was produced by Stevie Knight (Stand Atlantic, The Dead Love) and mixed by James Paul Wisner (Dashboard Confessional, Underoath). Have a listen to it below:
In a press release, guitarist and songwriter Heath Joukadar explained that ‘Charade’ is heavily inspired by the Scott Pilgrim series – in particular one of its underdog characters, Knives Chau.
“The song is told from her perspective,” he said, “and is directed towards the titular Scott Pilgrim as she expresses her feelings towards him, having been dumped for Ramona Flowers.”
The track’s pop-culture slant is one that Bellwether wear proudly on their sleeves, with their latest presser making note that the band’s output as a whole is “inspired by works of fiction including comic books, films and animated shows”.
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‘Charade’ marks their second release for the year, having debuted back in August with the song ‘Shortsighted’. Upon its release, Joukhadar said the track drew influence from BoJack Horseman, as its titular character was one the band “could all empathise with”.
“BoJack personifies the feeling of never being good enough,” he said at the time, “and we tried channelling that energy into the song. Sometimes you feel like a piece of shit and that’s alright.”
Its follow-up comes ahead of Bellwether’s first ever live performance, set to go down on Saturday December 18 at The Burdekin in Sydney. There, they’ll open for local outfit Bloom as part of the AM//PM Emo Night. Tickets to that gig are on sale now from Eventbrite.
Despite Bellwether’s greenness to the scene, their respective members’ former projects have toured with local acts like Yours Truly and Between You And Me, as well as overseas titans like Four Year Strong, Knocked Loose, Trash Boat and WSTR.