We take a look at some of the big smoke’s best bands that lean more towards the weird and fuzzy than your everyday artists.

Though Perth may be considered the hometown of modern Australian psych, there’s undoubtedly a scene in Sydney that has been creating a buzz in venues around town with their penchant for delving into the more obscure side of rock and roll. From sludgy stoners to chorus saturated modern psych groups and everything in between, there’s plenty of rays of sunshine in the gloomy land of the lockout.

We thought we’d take a look at some of our favourites in the ever-expanding genre (even if they’re a little mysterious) and hopefully get you into the mood to get out and see some of these artists. Take a sip below:

Turtle Skull

Since releasing their long-time-coming debut EP, Turtle Skull, this self described ‘flower-doom’ five-piece have been blowing the minds of punters around Sydney and the East Coast with their harmony drenched stoner tunes. High energy performances backed up by endlessly groovy tunes has seen them quickly rise to the forefront of the local psych scene and we’re predicting some big things to come for the rest of 2018. They’ll be heading up to Brissy before they play The Lansdowne with stoner kings Zeahorse in July – info here.

The Dandelion

Probably Sydney’s most swinging psych group, The Dandelion take a dip from the 60’s psych-pop that we can imagine our parents (or grandparents) getting down to at dance halls around the country. Their new album Old Habits & New Ways Of The Dandelion is reportedly on its way with the band recently teasing a new track on Facebook, and if it’s anything near as moody and mysterious as their latest release ‘Incognito,’ we can expect to be seeing (and hearing) it everywhere. Can’t wait for the record? Catch them playing ‘Otto’s Spooktacular at World Bar next Friday – info here.

Space Carbonara

This Sydney/Central Coast five piece have just released a brand new single ‘Sticky Baby’ from their forthcoming debut album. Swapping the dream pop vibes of their mixtape Space Tapes, the group’s sound has swelled into a raucous mesh of effect-heavy guitars, driving rhythms and off the wall lyrics. The group is launching ‘Sticky Baby’ (why does that sound weird) this Thursday at the Lansdowne – info here.

Narla

Possibly the most highly regarded shredders within the Sydney scene, this three piece delve into prog and blues with a tightness that is rare. Having just recorded their debut album live and to tape at Sound Recordings in Victoria, you can expect an organic and warm experiment into how far two guitars and drums can be pushed, with seven tracks averaging around six minutes a pop. Catch these dudes playing at The Lansdowne in August and stay tuned for their record drop.

Switch Doctor

We don’t know much about this mysterious DIY four-piece, all we’ve heard is their track ‘Strange Insides’ and we are keen for more. The track is a chorus-soaked, chaotic jam that has flavours of 70’s psych but sounds like it was produced by Ariel Pink. No other information available about these guys, and we will let you know if we ever hear anything else from them…