Not content with producing some of the best punk rock music in the world right now, Australia has now seemingly set its sights on taking over the hard rock world once more. With Airbourne finally discovering what the top of the mountain really looks like by headlining the Saturday night of this year’s Steelhouse Festival and the Van Halen influenced Deraps (their drummer is Australian) taking up an early slot at Stonedead its now Starcrazy who get a major PR push here in Blighty, and it really is time to sit up and listen to what these guys have to offer, because when it comes to all things Starcrazy it’s something very interesting indeed.

Citing Janes Addiction, Hanoi Rocks and Van Halen as their influences the four piece band formed in late 2019 in Sydney’s Inner West music scene and to date have the self-released ‘Played For Suckers’ EP on vinyl and CD under their (studded) belts. The six track follow up ‘Another Day Another Squalor’ is set to be released on March 10^th (via the Bandcamp link below) taking the ““Retro glam with a hint of RUSH” influence that Alice Cooper (yup that Alice Cooper) identified in the band early doors and turning up the dial marked POWERPOP.

‘Galaxy O Luv’ complete with its Slade styled titling opens the EP in the style Da Coop had already picked up on with just the merest hint of ole black eyes himself creeping into the musical mid-section.  It’s when ‘The Big Time’ thunders in on a late ‘80s Rachel Bolan bassline and “devilish” (listen and you’ll get what I mean) backing vocals join in that I actually sit up and truly listen. It’s worth mentioning that the low budget promo video that accompanies this track is a creative joy to behold too. Although don’t watch it after a heavy night out.

Australia is of course renowned for its hard rock bands, but what happens when you merge the straight into the amps guitar sound of that scene with the spirit of the early 90s US alt-rock explosion? Well take a listen to ‘The Open Sea’ and all will soon be revealed. Oh, and go check out fellow Sydney band of yore The Screaming Tribesmen, whose t-shirt Starcrazy frontman Marcus Fraser is wearing in the song’s video. I think you may be pleasantly surprised.

It’s when we get to ‘Egging Me On’ and ‘Hysterical’ that the EP really excels though. The former a 1 minute 42 second barnstormer that actually has a lot of synergies with the UK’s Mother Vulture, and then there’s the latter, this is when the (bad) penny drops in my musical memory banks and I’m screaming “this sounds like Celebrity Skin (the cult US band not the song)” at the stereo. Anyone who’s ever heard their one and only album ‘Good Clean Fun’ will hopefully now be clicking on the video link below…because this tune really is good clean fun written very much in the spirit of 70s Bowie (albeit it’s not a shameless steal like Gyasi).

‘Monday Morning (Prayer For Tony)’ which brings the EP to a close doffs its cap to early Guns N’ Roses with some Slash-like six string action courtesy of the wonderfully monikered Odin Wolf, and let’s not forget the Jack action rhythm section of bassist Jack Barratt and drummer Jack Farmer who also put in a HUGE shift across the whole EP.

Starcrazy produce hard rock music of the highest quality and thankfully being from Australia they aren’t influenced in the slightest by the sterile arena rock that we’ve been spoon here in the UK this past 5 years or so.  Finally I can get excited about a new hard rock band, and (the aforementioned Mother Vulture aside) that’s something I haven’t been able to say in quite some time. Joyous stuff!

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Author: Johnny Hayward