FEATURE:
Spotlight
I am spending time with an Australian Indie rock band formed in Frankston, Victoria in 2017. The Australian group, The Belair Lip Bombs consists of lead vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist Maisie Everett, guitarist Mike Bradvica, bassist Jimmy Droughton and drummer Daniel Devlin. The band released their debut L.P., Lush Life, in 2023. On 31st October, they put out the incredible Again. Their first album on Third Man Records, it has been acclaimed. The band seen as a great hope for the future. I will end this feature with a review of Again. Before getting there, there are some great interviews from this year that I want to cover. Currently touring Europe, the band head to the U.K. from 24th November, before a string of dates next year that sees them take in their native Australia and the U.S. You can check out their live dates here. Prior to getting to more in-depth interviews, there is one from Rough Trade from August:
“Maisie Everett, Mike Bradvica, Jimmy Droughton and Daniel "Dev" Devlin are Melbourne's The Belair Lip Bombs. Over the last 8 years, the "limerance-rock" four-piece have released two EPs and a debut album, honing a sound that channels classic rock icons like The Rolling Stones and Television through an indie lens influenced by The War on Drugs and Stephen Malkmus. In 2025, the group are ready to reintroduce themselves to a global audience - and boy do they have the material to back it up.
For round two, neatly titled Again, the Lip Bombs enlist the production credits of Nao Anzai (The Teskey Brothers), and Joe White (longtime Rough Trade favourites Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever), to perfect their gleaming melodies, all the while retaining the scrappy spirit that's seen them garner a loyal local following for the best part of a decade. The 10 tracks reveal a natural expansion of their sound, delivering something grander and brighter, packing pitch-perfect energy and euphoria that really makes you wanna get up and groove out.
For fans of: The Strokes, The B-52s, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, The Beths and Television
We're excited to announce The Belair Lip Bombs as part of Rough Trade On The Rise, our dedicated curation putting a spotlight on the emerging music we are the most excited for you to hear, to follow and become a fan of. Read on to discover more about the band in their own words and don't miss brilliant new album Again, on Third Man Records.
5 records you listened to prior to making your album?
3D Country by Geese
Aha Shake Heartbreak by Kings of Leon
Imaginal Disk by Magdalena Bay
Two Star & Dream Police by Mk.Gee
Bayou Country by Creedence Clearwater Revival
5 tips or words of wisdom you'd offer an artist entering the industry in 2025?
Embrace playing on musically diverse lineups.
Learn to truly believe in yourself.
Protect your mental health.
Be patient and be utterly yourself.
Don’t stop learning about your craft just because you can play a few chords and write a song. LEARN EVERYTHING.
5 essential items on your tour rider?
A steam inhaler
Sharpies + paper
Universal adapters
Goats cheese
Guinness”.
The Guardian spoke with The Bel Air Lip Bombs last month. With the release of the incredible Again, this band are going to gain a whole wave of new fans. Their extensive international tour dates will also add to that. 2026 is going to be a year when they will hit a new level. They are getting a bit of airplay in the U.K., though there are stations that have not connected with their music. Anyone who has not discovered the band need to follow them and see what all the excitement is about:
“The Belair Lip Bombs hail from Frankston, a suburb of Melbourne situated on the Mornington Peninsula, and cut their teeth playing at Singing Bird Studios, an all-ages venue and recording space around which a small, tight-knit community of bands has emerged. The band recorded their first two EPs – which were noisier and looser than either of their albums – there, and still see it as a vital community resource. “You kind of had to move to Melbourne if you wanted to play, so it’s great that something like Singing Bird existed for us,” Devlin says. “It’s pretty important for new bands that are coming up.”
The leap the band made between their 2019 EP, Songs To Do Your Laundry To, and Lush Life is remarkable – the songs became punchier and more driving; and Everett’s lyrics became more acerbic and deeply memorable, a quality she hones further on Again.
“From the first two EPs to Lush Life, I was growing up a bit – transitioning from being a teenager to being in our 20s,” Everett says. “People in the band were getting into relationships and going through breakups and we all did a lot of travelling.
The Belair Lip Bombs stand out in the Melbourne scene, if only because their sound – sharp, clean and direct as it is – is a far cry from the post-punk or art rock that many of the bands in the city tend to play. “The Melbourne sound or whatever, I wasn’t really introduced to it until I was in my early 20s,” Everett says.
Everett says the band “spent years writing songs” before Lush Life, in contrast to Again, where a lot more time was spent working out songs, restructuring and redefining them in the studio. Even so, the songs on Again feel even more clarified, evidenced by the deft intensity of tracks such as Again and Again and Price of a Man. Working with Joe White, from Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, “helped us tighten all the screws”, Everett says.
Devlin adds: “It was just nice having him in the room to support us – to build a bit of confidence in the band. When you’re trying to write a record that you know is coming out on a label for the first time, it was a little bit stressful – so it was nice having someone else there that could ease the pressure.”
Everett says: “You can’t really trust the opinions of your bandmates when you’re all fucking stuck in a room for 12 hours a day, right? Having a fifth person there to round everything out really helps.”
As so many other rising Australian bands have done before them, do they plan to move overseas now? “Spacey Jane, they all live in LA or whatever – it’s like, is that the only way? I don’t know,” Everett says. “We’ve been living in Melbourne so far … and everything’s sort of worked out!”
I will end with a review from NME for one of the year’s best albums. Again is one that you need to add to your collection. It is clear that The Belair Lip Bombs are one of the best bands in the world. Their second album confirms them as an act you cannot miss out on. It will be exciting to see what next year holds in store. If you have not seen the band play live then make sure you catch them. They are an extraordinary stage act. One that are going to be at a raft of summer festivals in 2026:
“The band’s second album ‘Again’, despite its title, is not a once-more go-around of ‘Lush Life’. Instead, it looks at that LP’s already-versatile nature and maps out new terrain for the ambitious indie rockers to explore. Such boldness is present in lead single ‘Hey You’, which buzzes with urgency due to its hypnotic Rhodes loop and the pounding, persistent drumming of new drummer Daniel Devlin (formerly of Delivery). It, paired with the satisfying rock-out finale of ‘Don’t Let Them Tell You (It’s Fair)’, showcases the band in full flight – reminding listeners that the Lip Bombs are a rock band first, indie band second.
Despite the aforementioned line-up change between ‘Lush Life’ and now, the band feel more sure of themselves from a musical standpoint. Lead guitarist Michael Bradvica, in particular, is an assertive presence throughout. His Nile Rodgers-style “chucking” on ‘Cinema’ gives the track both groove and depth, while his deft playing on the vulnerable, emotive ‘Smiling’ almost creates a dialogue of sorts between himself and vocalist Maisie Everett with transfixing results.
For her part, Everett has continued to develop her heartfelt vocal delivery on ‘Again’, making especially strong use of it in the album’s quieter, more pensive moments. Piano ballad ‘Burning Up’ might be the biggest sonic departure of the band’s young career thus far, and certainly feels like a considerable risk even when they’ve already established an eclecticism within their sound. For those that don’t talk over the quiet songs, however, a remarkable new side to the band can be found blossoming and blooming over the song’s four-minute runtime.
Rummaging through the wreckage of a relationship, Everett devastatingly assesses herself as “a prick in your thumb” and her former flame “a bruise in [her] lung”. “We were made for each other,” she sighs, “but we gotta blow out the flame.” With the churning guitars and swinging drumsticks traded in for E-bows and jazz brushes, the band aim for the heartstrings and don’t miss.
At an already exciting time for Australian music as a cultural export – from the rise of punk and hardcore acts like Amyl & The Sniffers and Speed, to the continuing arena dominance of Tame Impala and Rüfüs Du Sol – there’s unquestionably a space for The Belair Lip Bombs to thrive globally. ‘Again’, to paraphrase U2, feels like them auditioning to be the biggest band in the world”.
It is going to be interesting seeing how The Belair Lip Bombs develop in years to come. They have accomplished so much already, so what will be the next step? Coming to the end of a successful year, next year might be their most important yet. Looking around at the band in the current scene, and it is clear that there are…
FEW better than them.
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