When God Closes A Door He Gets Stuck In A Window

Hi all, here's the long awaited return of my monthly playlist posts. This time focusing exclusively on music from Melbourne.

At the end of last year I was feeling burnt out on American music so I decided to focus my listening this year on local music. Which it turns out is easier and harder than you’d think. I eventually settled on the most ear to the ground strategy I could think of: waking up every morning and checking bandcamp for new released tagged ‘Melbourne’. There is an unbelievable amount of music being made in this city. A huge chunk of it is awful. A lot of it is AI generated (which is thankfully now against bandcamp’s terms of use), but a lot of it is also fantastic, so here’s a playlist of everything I loved in January. It runs the gamut from garage rock to bedroom pop to spoken word, from leftfield dance to big band to free jazz to screamo. I’ve tried to order it in a way that makes a sort of sense but it’s a lot to try to contain in an hour or so of music. A few of these seem somewhat popular, but for plenty I’m the only person that’s bought it so far. This is fresh out the oven stuff, so if you like any of these please go ahead and buy them yourself. 

Anyway, without further ado, here’s the best new music from Melbourne for January 2026.

Listen here:

Bird - Video Life

I decided to start with this song because it’s the most quintessentially Melbourne sounding one of the lot. It feels like a Dick Diver song, and frankly there’s no way to know that this isn’t yet another Al Montfort side project (I’m pretty sure it isn’t), but it slots right into the dolywave canon and feels like a song I’ve known for years already. 

Wedding Riff - Mellowing

Midwest Emo knows no limits to time, space or geography. I was excited already halfway through this song when I thought it was an instrumental in the vein of bands I love like Enemies, but then the whole thing shifts down a gear and some very beautiful vocals kick in and my socks were officially knocked off. 

Lithics - Wire Doll

This song is ice cold. It is so unbelievably tight and really perfectly arranged I’ve been completely obsessed with it. There’s such an art to structuring the restraint and release over the course of a song and they do it so amazingly in this one. And also Wire Doll is a really great band name honestly. 

Movies - Oreo

This song is loud as fuck for some reason. Don’t know how they did that but it’s nice to get blasted in the middle of the playlist now and then. And also this song is great. I love the production and how absolutely chunky the drums are combined with the great layered harmonies in the chorus. 

Same Day - Doe St

Ok back to the garage. What I love about this song is the harmonies that really elevate it from rough and ready garage to something a little more sophisticated. I love the “ooo oo ooo” backing vocals. I love a damn rock and roll song. 

In U - Foggy

I really love the structure of this song, it constantly feels like it’s building to a big chorus but instead it kind of turns on its heel and shifts back to the nifty little descending riff instead. Then when it gears up in the final section it feels like it’s doing a third thing instead. Basically what I’m saying is it feels like this song could go for ten minutes and I wouldn’t mind. 

Between You And Me - Waxman

This is the song that really made me certain this was a good idea. This was sitting there uploaded to bandcamp on Jan 1 and it sounds like a fucking Slint and Polvo supergroup. Sometimes it feels like music finds you because it needs you specifically to hear it, you know?

Tiptoe - Rocket Rules

There’s been a massive shoegaze revival recently that has mostly completely bored me but this song absolutely grabbed me because it executes so perfectly what others miss, which is push and pull between the gentleness of the vocals and the hugeness of the guitars.  At the end when they really arc up completely that’s when you know for sure it’s good. 

Freakout - Slowcoaching

I love how lush and detailed the production is on this song. The seasick chorus on the guitar, the stuttering on the vocals, it’s all beautifully done and the song itself is fantastic too - it reminds me of early Twin Shadow which is a big two thumbs up from me. 

Ripcord - Alex Elbery

I was trying so hard listening to this album to figure out who it was reminding me of and then I realised it was Ben Lee of all people. The wordy sort of alt-pop that you don’t hear that much any more. Anyway the point I’m making is this song has an absolutely great bridge that really elevates and already great song. 

Grieving The Relief Of The Angel’s Burden - Joybun

I had expected there to be a lot more metal and heavy music along this journey, but this is the only album of the type that caught my ear this month. From what I can tell it’s a one person project which is a phenomenal effort for this sort of dense blackened screamo. This song seems to have endless riffs in my favourite kind of skramz structures where it’s just a rolling onslaught of continuously new sections that sounds like a hurricane. I love it. 

Rebola - Urzen

This is where the playlist starts to get a little more abstract. This song blew my mind when I first heard it, it is from an absolute other dimension and I am addicted to it. If you only listen to one album from this playlist please make it this one because this is just the first song and it goes in about a hundred different funky directions from here. The way it winds completely down and then switches into the most irrepressible groove. You can’t not dance. Also from what I can tell the mf that produced this has absolutely no socials no nothing. Guy’s an absolute ghost and he needs to be out djing.

Looking 4 U - Nug

This is a certified grade-A banger. An absolute perfect sample and a guaranteed energy lifter of a track. Start your day with this and you will succeed in every endeavour I personally guarantee it. 

Early Warning - Brendan Bosnack

They got everything on bandcamp. They’ve even got this great album of spoken word jazz. This fantastic song about going on the computer that ripples out into the general wider computer nightmare we’ve found ourselves in that is so simply and beautifully put together I listened to it twice in a row immediately when I first heard it. 

Dance Of The Zinfandels - Vanessa Perica Orchestra

You’re in the jazz section now. This is the only cheat song on the list that didn’t come out in January ’26. It came out in 2020 and won Best Jazz Album at the 2020 Music Victoria Awards and though I have to admit I didn’t hear the other nominees, it deserves it. Contemporary big band is alive and thriving and I’m in love with this song in particular that is so ever-changing it feels like there’s no time to catch your breath it’s just the best. 

Dr John -  Jerry

I’ve only recently become aware of bands like Surprise Chef and Cooking On 3 Burners and the apparently thriving and distinct Melbourne jazz-funk scene and so I was delighted to discover Jerry this month and add another great band to the rotation who are making the rarest of beasts, non-corny funk.

Spherical Bastard - Paddy Fitzgerald

You wouldn’t believe it but there were two great bird-focused jazz albums from Melbourne this month. This one, Floot Bird, from bassist Paddy Fitzgerald is apparently based around lyrebird calls and the strange natural rhythms therein. What I can tell you is the band on this song is absolutely cooking and I can’t get enough of it. Especially combines with the best song title I’ve seen in a long time.

Ryan Williams, Peggy Lee, Dylan Van Der Schyff - The Butcher