PREMIERE: STAPLES // Unjust Jeans (And Guillotines)

Oct 20, 2022 / WORDS Tiana Speter / Sounds Of The Underground

Get set for a burst of sonic sunshine in your life via the brand new track Unjust Jeans (And Guillotines) from Meanjin/Brisbane rockers Staples.

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Taken from the quintet’s upcoming sophomore EP due out on November 18, Unjust Jeans (And Guillotines) is another infectious gem from Staples full of buoyant guitar tones, boppin’ beats, clever melodics, and lush vocals. An instant toe-tapper and a track just dying to be heard at a summer festival, Unjust Jeans (And Guillotines) also draws inspiration from a nostalgic mix of iconic characters, including The Smiths and The Cure; but, ultimately, with a modern indie rock twist.

And while gleefully revelling in post-punk basslines, glistening synths and jangly guitars, there’s also permeating and hard-hitting narrative lurking beneath the jaunty surface of the new Staples tune, as the band explain: “Unjust Jeans (and Guillotines) explores the bleak reality of worker exploitation and corporate greed under late-stage capitalism, while encouraging solidarity and hope within the hopelessness.”

Forming in 2019 and evolving to embrace Britpop, alt rock, post-punk flavours, Staples have themselves become a staple in the indie rock realms, performing sold out shows around their hometown and also supporting fellow Brisbane indie icons Last Dinosaurs in 2021.

With their recent singles Talkerspace, Shoegrazze and Optimist scoring love on Triple J Unearthed and 4ZZZ, Unjust Jeans (And Guillotines) is another perfect taste of the fun to come on the band’s impending second EP, a follow up to 2019’s Another Melodramatic Mess. Keep your ears out on November 18 for the hotly-anticipated new EP, and in the meantime grab a listen to Unjust Jeans (And Guillotines) exclusively here on Hysteria Mag before it officially releases into the world.