NMR – Punk vibes from the starting gun !…
From the off this track has all the right elements of classic punk to rival The Clash, Ruts, Damned, to mention a few.
A combo of raging guitars, hectic Bass and solid rhythm track, this thing powers along in crazy BPM, hitting the listenere harder and harder with every verse.
Its melodic, great production, cool chorus and its worth checking out !
Snakeheads – The details.
James Roden and Pete Lusty share a 35-year friendship rooted in a deep love of punk, rock, mod—you name it.
Pete and James first met in Year 7 at Belconnen High in Canberra, bonding over their older siblings’ record collections and recognising each other through the band T-shirts worn under their school uniforms. They grew up obsessed with high-energy punk and rock: The Jam, The Clash, The Who, Sham 69, Buzzcocks, Stiff Little Fingers, alongside Australian greats like The Hoodoo Gurus, The Stems, Midnight Oil and The Easybeats.
Throughout high school, music was the only thing that mattered. It was a time when sneaking into university gigs was as easy as presenting a photocopied birth certificate with the date changed on a typewriter.
Inspired by what they saw and heard, they started their own bands: The Smart (playing The Who and Ramones covers in high school) and The Morticians, a university band that covered The Misfits before writing originals, supporting acts like The Hard-Ons, and releasing a 10” vinyl EP.
After university, they moved to Sydney and formed The John Reed Club, quickly earning a reputation for their high-energy live shows. It felt like their moment. They released their first single on Ivy League Records, signed with EMI, played hundreds of gigs and major festivals such as Big Day Out and Homebake, and supported Foo Fighters and You Am I—before burning out in acrimony just two years after their first gig.
Dusting himself off, James went on to form The City Lights (earning album-of-the-week spots on PBS, 4ZZZ and Triple J) while working at Modular Recordings (The Avalanches, Rocket Science). Pete turned his full attention to Ivy League Records, managing bands during a golden era of Australian music. Still, both missed making music together.
In 2016, Pete and James returned to their Belconnen High roots, jamming weekly with no pressure—just for the love of it. They resumed rehearsals at Pete’s house, each bringing half-finished ideas. The aim was simple: write and refine songs for enjoyment, look forward, and finally finish what they’d started as teenagers. It was also an excuse for Monday night drinks, banter and laughter. And the songs had to rock—hard.
“We only wanted to play what we loved at 15 years old, with no pressure,” says James.
“In a way, we were finishing what we started with The John Reed Club or earlier. The thinking was: ‘Let’s make the songs great, no matter how long they take.’ There’s huge pressure on bands to hurry up, but we didn’t have that. Every detail was discussed—bar by bar. We thought we’d cracked the code to making music fun again.”
Their writing sessions stretched over years. By 2019, as 30–40 songs recorded on Pete’s 8-track tightened up, they began working with friend and producer Wayne Connolly (Died Pretty, You Am I, Jim Moginie). Connolly joined the Monday nights, refining arrangements further and contributing to lyrics.
Finally ready to record, they rehearsed with Kit Warhurst (Rocket Science) on drums and Harry Roden (James’s brother; The City Lights, Hoolahan) on bass, tracking six bed recordings with Wayne at Hercules Studios. It couldn’t have been more fun.
Before the tracks could be mixed, Pete revealed he was seriously ill with high-grade non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in mid-2019. After unsuccessful treatment in Sydney, he travelled to Boston for a last-chance procedure, joined by family and friends including James and Andy Cassell. Pete Lusty died on March 15, 2020.
Pete passed away before he could see the album finished, but he had heard where it was heading and was as excited as a teenager. One year later, James began the slow, difficult process of completing it. He finished the Wayne Connolly sessions (six songs) and began recording another eleven with Jay Whalley (Frenzal Rhomb, Neptune Power Federation), this time with Graeme Trewin (Sick Fizz, Peabody) on drums.
The album was mixed by Mo Mayhem and Clem Bennett, and mastered by Robin Schmidt, longtime mastering engineer for The Hives.
Without Pete’s decisive input, the project became a drawn-out quest—but it is now finally complete.