The band have just released their debut single, 'Let Me Rust'
Making waves in the Australian melodic-punk scene, Perth’s new alt-rock band Onslow have recently dropped their titanic debut single ‘Let Me Rust’, produced and mixed by Matthew Templeman (Make Them Suffer, Voyager, Statues).
Consisting of hardcore-scene behemoths Sean Harmanis (Make Them Suffer), and Scott Kay (Voyager, Statues, Absent Heart), the track opens with poignant guitar chords, ‘Let Me Rust’ vigorously bursts with potent drums and driven distorted riffs, before the melancholic vocals of Sean Harmanis guide the track dynamically through quiet verses and compelling choruses. Emotionally charged hooks lead into an entrancing bridge, where colourful harmonies then pave the way for a monumental finale to bring the song to its abrupt ending.
“This tune was probably the main catalyst for starting the band in general,” says Harmanis.
“To me, the song is about feeling as if you’re going to waste. At the time, I was struggling to find purpose and felt as if I very had little direction in my life. Between Make Them Suffer tours I felt an increasing sense of isolation and separation from my friends and normal life at home. This led to some unhealthy habits. The lyrics ‘Let me rust. Drink me empty. Turn to dust, slow and steady’ are about the vicious and unhealthy cycle I felt I had fallen into and the increasing sense of isolation that paired with my reclusivity. Musically, I tried not to think about it too much. I just see each section as a bite-sized moment from my favourite bands of my early adolescence. They come together to form the alt-rock Frankenstein that the song is.”
Channelling sounds of The Smashing Pumpkins and Deftones, these guys are truly bringing those nostalgic sounds to the present and from what we can see so far, they’re doing it pretty damn well.
To celebrate the release, we asked the band to get a little more nostalgic and share their top five kids shows of all time!
Ren and Stimpy
Ren and Stimpy is easily my favourite on this list and it’s a show that I’ve come back to time and time again. My favourite episode is probably one called Space Madness, where they both go out into space and slowly Ren starts becoming paranoid and crazy. Ren biting into a bar of soap because he thinks it’s an ice cream bar is both the most hilarious and disturbing thing I’ve seen.
Around the Twist
This Aussie after-school show was pretty messed up. I remember genuinely being terrified during some episodes. It was about a family that lived in a lighthouse, but every episode there was always something paranormal happening. The theme song of the show has to be one of most iconic songs for any kid from that era, and there were some pretty iconic songs.
Courage the Cowardly Dog
This was a Nickelodeon style animated show about a dog who lived on a farm, with his owners, a creepy old couple. The gag was always that Courage would be able to see something paranormal unfolding and try to explain it to the old couple, who would always just be completely oblivious to what was happening until it was too late. The creepiest part of the show is probably the old couple, particularly after they become possessed by aliens or whatever was happening in that episode.
Feral TV
This was another iconic after school show for Aussie kids of this era. The show was done with puppets and was about a bunch of animals that worked at a TV station. All the characters in the show seemed to be terrible to one another and seemed to be caricatures of bogan Australian culture at the time. It was crass and disgusting, even for a kids show, but pushing those elements to the extreme is really what made it stand out.
Dragonball Z
Waking up early to tune into Cheese TV to catch up on the latest Dragonball Z episode was as integral to the daily ritual as anything. The writers of this show had a way of making every episode a cliff-hanger, without actually ever progressing the storyline. Goku charging up a spirit bomb for like 20 episodes is something to chuckle about now, but at the time it was awesome!
‘Let Me Rust’ is available worldwide now. Check out the video below.
