NOT THE PAST, CAN’T BE THE FUTURE
OUT JUNE 28 VIA POISON CITY RECORDS
+ REVEAL NEW SINGLE “Old. Self. Doubt”
April 25, 2018
Melbourne post-punks Bench Press will release their new album Not The Past, Can’t Be The Future on June 28 via Poison City Records. Soon after, the band will take the album out on tour around Australia and New Zealand in July / August.
On their second full-length, Bench Press have refined their sound by maintaining some the frantic aggression of their self-titled debut, but have also brought a tighter approach to both melodicism and structure.
Almost every song clocks in at under three minutes as a testament to their ‘don’t bore us, get to the chorus’ philosophy. Bench Press project the wirey minimalism of early Talking Heads and Devo through a lens of heavier late-80s contemporary post-punk in a distinct shade of Melbourne garage.
What was once easily categorised as post-punk can just as accurately be described as ‘really, really loud pop music’ and it’s really, really good.
The second taste of Not The Past, Can’t Be The Future comes via “Old. Self. Doubt”, which perfectly exemplifies the Bench Press ethos – it’s short, sharp, clean and loud.
On Not The Past, Can’t Be The Future, thematically frontman Jack Stavrakis explores negative attitudes within himself and the wider community in order to grow and learn from mistakes. He pokes fun at bad attitudes – like overgrown boys at shows – but also attempts to highlight positives; such as feeling at home and a sense of awe at the determined. He does so with an eye towards the future and introspection on how he can improve as an individual.
Earlier in the year, Bench Press released the album’s first single “Respite”. A splintery dose of raucous catharsis you can dance to, upon its release “Respite” was #1 on the AMRAP Metro Chart and added to rotation on several community radio stations around the country, as well as triple j Unearthed where Home & Hosed host Declan Byrne quipped, “gonna have to go home and get me thongs because I’m not crossing this jagged, sharp edged number barefoot”.
Bench Press will hit the road in support of Not The Past, Can’t Be The Futurethroughout July and August including a show in Wollongong. Tickets are available at their respective venues.
BENCH PRESS
NOT THE PAST, CAN’T BE THE FUTURE
ALBUM TOUR
Thursday July 11th
Transit Bar, Canberra
Friday July 12th
The Chippo, Sydney
Saturday July 13th
Dicey Riley’s, Wollongong
Sunday July 14th
Tanswells, Beechworth
Friday July 19th
The Metro, Adelaide
Saturday July 20th
The Dart and Marlin, Warrnambool
Friday July 26th
The Bearded Lady, Brisbane
Saturday July 27th
Vinnie’s Dive Bar, Gold Coast
Friday August 2nd
San Francisco Boathouse, Wellington (NZ)
Saturday August 3rd
Whammy Bar, Auckland (NZ)
Friday August 9th
Northcote Social Club, Melbourne
