Alas, Melbourne, bands come and go.
Like lovers, some stick together through the years. Others call it quits (and sometimes get back together) leaving fans to imagine the true feuds, egos and dramas that tore apart even the most blissful Melbourne units.
We’ve rounded up Melbourne band breakups that’ve broken fan hearts over the years—some went out with barely a whimper, others imploded spectacularly. Whatever the case, they have left their sounds and legacy reverberating in our memories forever.
Read our list of best Melbourne bands here, best Melbourne albums here and best Melbourne films here.
Jet
The band had been slowly disintegrating since the Shine On sessions in 2005 or 2006, with drummer Chris Cester revealing they just never really talked about it. When they finally pulled the pin in 2012 after a decade of global fame, the Cester brothers’ relationship had deteriorated to the point where they were shouting at each other in airports while their bags came around on the carousel.
Frontman Nic Cester later admitted the problems were a combination of awful relationships between band members, exhaustion, drinking too much and taking a lot of drugs. Success came enormous and rapid, and the environment became quite toxic, making it impossible for him to perform in that band anymore. They’d become every rock and roll cliché in the book.
Chris Cester said it was more personal tension than anything else, with long-standing arguments that never got resolved. Record label pressure about chart positions, being told what to wear in photo shoots, egos and agendas; all of it built to a breaking point. They reunited in 2016 and again in 2023, inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
A 2025 album was said to be in the works, but it has yet to emerge; in the meantime, the group is jetting around the world, performing in Mexico as I write this.
Children Collide
Weeks before launching their third album Monument and embarking on a national tour in 2012, drummer Ryan Caesar quit. The band stated touring as a unit was no longer pleasant, and that was that. Behind that terse statement lay years of deterioration.
Frontman Johnny Mackay admitted it built to a weird place where there were all kinds of egos, agendas and pressures, even what chart positions the record was going to come in at. Record label Universal had expectations, people worried about chart positions and told them what to wear.
Caesar was the fourth drummer since the band’s inception. Mackay fled to New York to work on his Fascinator project, and though there was never an official announcement, everyone just looked around and realised the band was over. Nine years later they reunited, relationships healed, but that 2012 implosion stayed in memory.
Camp Cope
When Camp Cope announced their breakup in 2023, drummer Sarah Thompson didn’t mince words. The music industry is a bin fire, she declared, advising people to fire your manager, burn the joint down, morals over money.
Formed in 2015, the trio became beloved for their raw lyrics and feminist backbone, fearlessly calling out sexism and discrimination in the music industry. They changed festivals with altered lyrics protesting the lack of female artists. They launched campaigns against sexual assault at concerts.
Their 2023 separation after releasing Running With The Hurricane came as a shock to fans who’d watched them become one of Australia’s most important voices. Georgia Maq simply said she loved Camp Cope and all they’d done, they’d done together. But Thompson’s fiery farewell suggested the toll the industry took on them was higher than most realised. They left behind an industry forever changed by their activism.
Crowded House
Nothing dramatic here, more a case of burnout after eleven years of global critical success. Frontman Neil Finn said it was time to wrap up after all the fatigue from fame, touring and recording, with members wanting to turn to other creative priorities. It was more of a hiatus though. They’ve reunited multiple times since 1996, selling over 15 million albums worldwide over their 40-year on-and-off career.
Carpathian
From 2003, hardcore band Carpathian were known for their aggressive sound and intense performances. Their lineup changed constantly and guitarists Anthony Harris and Julian Marsh both left in 2006, burned out from the road. Even I Killed The Prom Queen vocalist Michael Crafter joined in 2006 but lasted only seven months before bailing.
In 2011, they cancelled their first American tour with The Carrier when vocalist Martin Kirby announced the group would be disbanding indefinitely. Their final show was at The Arthouse in April 2011, the same week that legendary venue closed its doors forever. A poetic end for a band that never stopped long enough to sort out its internal chaos. Only Kirby and drummer David Bichard remained from the original lineup by the end.
Snakadaktal
Five-piece indie pop/dream pop band built a reputation for airy, ethereal sound and lush arrangements from 2009. Following success on Triple J, the band signed a record deal in 2011 to be a fixture on the charts. Though the push-pull between group and solo projects came to a head in 2014, as they shared, “Today, collectively, we feel that it is time to move onto different pursuits that we each individually wish to explore.”
By 2014, after releasing their debut album Sleep in the Water, they announced their breakup. Two members, Phoebe Lou and Joey Clough, immediately regrouped as Two People, suggesting some musical relationships survived. Others didn’t.
Loon Lake
The indie rock band released EPs in 2011 and 2012, and albums in 2013 and 2015, being named one of Triple J magazine’s “50 Acts that Matter Right Now”. Things were going well enough that they decided to end it all on good terms in 2015, citing timing and life priorities.
Loser
A slice of Melbourne’s indie–alt 2010s scene, Loser’s breakup, after 6 years together, involved the typical symptoms: a mix of creative differences and members eyeing off other projects. They shared on Insta, “We have learnt a lot during our time as a band and are so grateful for everybody who has helped us along the way and listened to our music. Love from Loser (2018-2024).”
Huxton Creepers
The 1980s band circuited the jangle-pop scene before parting ways late in the decade due to direction differences and industry pressures. Still youngsters, they went on with different careers, from education, NGOs, to music.
Brief reunions included a 2002 performance on 3RRR at the Espy, a 2009 show at the Corner Hotel, 2011 concerts for the re-release of their album 12 Days to Paris, and a 2014 show to support The Sunnyboys at the Forum.
Sea Stories
Active from the late 1980s, the indie-pop band released three albums before announcing their dissolution during their April 1993 month-long residency on Wednesday nights at the Punters Club Hotel, with a final farewell show that May at Richmond’s Central Club Hotel.
Members Simon Honisett and Penny Hewson re-emerged the following year as acoustic duo Sunglass, with Hewson releasing her debut solo album Me in 1998.
Pray TV
Indie rock vibes meets jangly guitars, meets introspective lyrics, Pray TV wrangled a cult following from 1987 into the early ’90s in the underground scene. Tensions and pressures built up to a 1997 breakup, with a few solo projects and mini-reunions to follow for loyal fans.
Love Migrate
Love Migrate–formerly Goodnight Owl–was formed in 2011. Some say they “evolved out” of Goodnight Owl, though a band member later claimed it was just a simple rename. Several albums and EPs later, they’d found firm ground in Melbourne’s indie scene. Sometime after what would be their last show in February 2018, they quietly dissolved without a formal statement. They posted on socials in 2020: “We haven’t played or released new music in a while. Who knows if we will do it again.” The most ambiguous breakup on this list.
Ceres
Formed in 2012, paused in 2020 (pandemic things), and reuniting in 2024, the indie rock band with multiple critically acclaimed albums has toed the line of artistic, personal, and professional growth and are, by the looks of it, here to stay.
The Broderick
The hardcore quintet posted to Facebook in 2013, after returning from a Southeast Asia and Japan tour, that they’d decided to “no longer be an active band.” Not the most famous band on this list, but they are still well missed by locals, with a Redditor asking, “Anybody else remember them?” with another replying they’d seen the band up to 20 times.
World’s End Press
It’s been almost ten years since the electronic outfit called it quits after only a three-year stint. Though it’s all about quality, not quantity. The group had risen to global critical and commercial prominence with their dance and pop music, but decided to “call it a day”, claiming that it was an “amicable breakup; no tantrums, no grudges, no unresolved angst.”
NO ZU
This idiosyncratic dance and beat collective gained a national and international reputation for vibrant live shows and eclectic recordings, becoming one of Australia’s most “distinctive and debauched” groups. They took to the stage one last time at The Night Cat in 2023, with frontperson Nic Oogjes, saying, “The time feels right to go out on a high.”
Northeast Party House
Only this November, Northeast Party House had their last energetic tour. With an era spanning 15 years, this band emerged from warehouse parties with bangers for Melbourne’s live music scene, with shows that were always a good time. They shared they didn’t want to “just fade out” and rather finish on a bang: “It’s time for us take our last pinger and send it to the sun x”
As fans, it’s better to have loved and lost these bands than to have never loved them at all. We can only hope that their recorded music isn’t lost to time like their live performances. Feeling nostalgic? Give your old favs some love and have a throwback listen.
Read our list of best Melbourne bands here, best Melbourne albums here and best Melbourne films here.
