Sound Under Weekly Picks: 12 June 2026
From New Beginnings to Old Memories: This Week's Essential Australian Tracks
Every Friday, Sound Under curates the best of Australian alternative music: fresh releases, overlooked gems, rising artists, and songs worth spending real time with.
Whether you’re driving down the coast, walking through the city late at night, or simply tired of playlists chosen by algorithms, these picks are built differently. This isn’t about hype cycles or whatever is trending for 48 hours. It’s about music with replay value, personality, and something real inside it.
No artist is too early. No sound is too left-field, and no scene is too small.
Here’s this week’s Picks:
Chapter One — Even Hannah
There is something refreshing about hearing a band sound genuinely excited about what comes next. For Even Hannah, “Chapter One” feels exactly like that moment.
The Australian indie-rock outfit have been steadily building momentum over the last few years through energetic performances, big guitar hooks, and the kind of songwriting that feels built for crowded rooms. While many bands spend years searching for an identity, Even Hannah increasingly sound like a group growing more confident with every release.
“Chapter One” arrives as the beginning of a new wave of music for the band, and there is a sense of ambition running through everything surrounding the release. The band themselves joked about countless mix revisions and even taking out a bank loan to get the song across the finish line, but beneath the humour sits something important: this is a track they clearly believe in.
What we love most about “Chapter One” is the feeling behind it. Every band has a first chapter, a turning point, or a moment where things begin to click into place. Whether this becomes that moment for Even Hannah remains to be seen, but it certainly sounds like the start of something worth paying attention to.
Lunch Money — Radio Free Alice
Few bands in Australia are building momentum quite like Radio Free Alice right now, and “Lunch Money” shows exactly why.
The Melbourne post-punk outfit have built their reputation on sharp songwriting, restless energy, and an ability to make emotionally complex stories feel immediate. While many songs about leaving home focus on the person chasing something bigger, “Lunch Money” flips that perspective.
Instead, the song focuses on the person left behind.
There is something deeply relatable about watching somebody move on while you remain in the same place, wondering whether they escaped something you never quite managed to leave yourself.
What makes “Lunch Money” so effective is that Radio Free Alice never overplay their hand. The song moves with confidence, balancing emotional weight with the band’s trademark sense of urgency. It feels like another step forward for a band that continues to establish themselves as one of the most exciting names in Australian guitar music.
Got Time — Rum Jungle
Rum Jungle have built a reputation for writing the kind of indie-rock songs that sound effortless on the surface while quietly carrying something more thoughtful underneath. “Got Time” is a perfect example of that balance.
From the first listen, the track feels bright, warm, and endlessly replayable. The guitars bounce along with the kind of laid-back confidence that has become a hallmark of the band, making it easy to simply enjoy the ride.
Throughout the track, Rum Jungle repeatedly return to the idea that time is both our greatest asset and the one thing we can never get back. Lines about desire, ambition, relationships, and the relentless passing of days create a subtle tension between wanting everything and recognising that life only gives us so much room to chase it.
What we love most about “Got Time” is that it never becomes preachy. Instead, the band package those reflections inside one of the most infectious indie-rock tracks we have heard this month. It feels like the soundtrack to a summer afternoon, while quietly reminding you not to waste it.
Trackstar — The Halves
The Halves have spent the last few years quietly carving out a space for themselves within Australia’s alternative scene, blending post-punk intensity with the melodic instincts of indie rock.
Originating in Brisbane before establishing themselves in Melbourne, the band thrive in the space between tension and release.
“Trackstar” continues that tradition. The guitars feel urgent, the rhythms constantly push forward, and there is a restless energy running throughout the track.
More than anything though, “Trackstar” is a reminder of why guitar music remains so compelling when it is done well. Sharp songwriting, emotional weight, and a band completely committed to the feeling of the song. Sometimes that is all you need.
Hurracane — DMA’S
Few bands understand the relationship between melody and melancholy quite like DMA’S. Over the years they have built a catalogue filled with songs that feel massive enough for festival crowds while still carrying deeply personal emotions at their core. “Hurracane” continues that tradition beautifully.
At first glance, the song feels straightforward. But underneath that anthemic exterior is a song about memory, loss, and the lingering impact certain people leave behind long after they have gone.
The repeated image of somebody crashing through your mind “like a hurricane” perfectly captures the feeling of a memory that refuses to stay buried. No matter how much time passes, some people continue to leave their mark on us, resurfacing unexpectedly and changing the emotional weather all over again.
What makes the track particularly effective is that DMA’S take feelings of heartbreak, longing, and reflection and transform them into something uplifting rather than devastating. The result is a song that feels both nostalgic and hopeful at the same time.
Every Friday, Sound Under spotlights the best alternative music beneath the surface.
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