Melbourne punk legends The Meanies are dusting off a quarter-century-old gem with new single Shutdown.
Some bands take years to write new material. The Meanies just needed to remember where they left their old stuff. The Melbourne punk outfit are releasing Shutdown, a track recorded 25 years ago at Shane O’Mara’s Yikesville studio that’s finally seeing daylight on 9 October.
The single marks a sonic departure for The Meanies, trading their usual hardcore-meets-pop punk formula for something altogether sexier.
Link from the band reckons it’s danceable: “Shutdown’ is sonically The Meanies at their sexiest. Bono would say ‘this record has hips’ to which I’d reply, ‘piss off Bono you pretentious twat’. You can dance to this one. I can’t, I’m a terrible dancer.”
The release comes backed with covers from Frenzal Rhomb and Perth punks Leeches, who’ve tackled Meanies classics Play This Song Each Night and Scum respectively.
The Meanies
- 31 October: Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine
- 3 November: Young St Tavern, Frankston
- 4 November: The Tote, Collingwood (2pm start, part of Tote’s 2 Years Reborn series with BUDD, Benny J & The Psych Ward and RELAYS)
- 7 November: Islington Barracks Hotel, Newcastle
- 8 November: Petersham Bowls Club, Sydney
Check out our gig guide here.
The limited-edition seven-inch will be pressed on translucent red and gold vinyl through Cheersquad Records & Tapes and Fantastic Mess Records, with only 250 copies of each colour getting the hand-numbered treatment. Cover art comes courtesy of Link and Glenno Smith.
Since forming in 1988, The Meanies have carved out their place as genuine Melbourne icons, emerging from the late-80s GOD/Bored scene and paving the way for acts like Spiderbait and Magic Dirt. Their pop punk-meets-hardcore sound anticipated the Epitaph and Fat Wreck Chords explosion, earning them Triple J rotation and four Big Day Out appearances between 1992 and 1999.
The band shared stages with Nirvana, The Lemonheads, Redd Kross, Beastie Boys, Pearl Jam and Bad Brains, touring Europe, the US and Japan while building an international following. After releasing their first album in 21 years with 2015’s It’s Not Me It’s You, they followed up with Desperate Measures in 2020.
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