Coldwave

Perhaps one of the unlikelier sentences to come out of the creative melting pot that was SXSW. Valid however, considering the wide and diverse appeal of Adelaide based post-punk band Coldwave, our latest IAOTW at fbi.radio. 

Hailing from Australia's first and only, “UNESCO City of Music”, Coldwave recognise that, in spite of common assumptions, Adelaide is actually a very musically “lucky” city. They credit much of this solid musical foundation to bands that have been at it for a while - such as Raccoon City, Horror My Friend, and West Thebarton. 

“People go to pubs, get around it, a lot of the bands stick around, help younger bands develop their sound, take risks, create really interesting things.”

Interestingly enough, the structure and development of Coldwave’s individual project almost mirrors the trend of the Adelaide scene as a whole. Reflecting on the thematic and sonic developments in their newer work, (latest singles ‘Italia ‘06’ and ‘The Ants’ came out this year) they credit it’s “crazier” nature to a collective ethos.

Despite the essence of the latest singles being similar, Coldwave suggest the collaborative and democratic structure of their band actually enabled a level up of “the energy”, and “different textures” in recent tracks. 

“We’re all in on it together.”

In spite of their unorthodox number of members (6), instrumentation (trumpet), and potential for cacophony, Coldwave make it work. Maybe then, it’s not so much that they got lucky with Adelaide and it’s coincidental musical alignment for up and comers, but rather that they themselves, just as the bands that came before them, have contributed just as meaningfully to this scene as it has done for them. 

Words by Madi Martin-Bygrave