The UnknownsEast Coast Low

Unknown by name but resoundingly familiar, Brisbane quartet The Unknowns pack a punk-fuelled punch with their new album East Coast Low.

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Emerging in 2014, The Unknowns recently expanded from a trio into a four-piece act, further enhancing their shaggy rock wares and industry clout, officially bringing on The Chats’ Eamon Sandwith into proceedings after previous releases dropping on the Chats-run label Bargain Bin Records. But Sandwith isn’t the only member of the 2022 ARIA Award-winning group part of The Unknowns, with Sandwith’s fellow-Chats bandmate Tom Hardy on drum duties, completing the lineup alongside vocalist and guitarist Joshua Hardy and bassist Nathan Montgomery.

Unsurprisingly given the group’s previous releases and their firm link to The Chats, who The Unknowns members also grew up with, the punk and garage vibes are strong with this latest full length outing. A 10-track journey through rollicking and riotous rock‘n’roll, East Coast Low doesn’t reinvent the wheel paved before by the likes of the Ramones, The Meanies, Cosmic Psychos, or any band orbiting in those vicinities; but one thing The Unknowns are devilishly adept at is burrowing into your serotonin and carrying you into their hooky, upbeat sonic world, and they deliver in spades on this nostalgia-ridden ride. Opening on a high with the scruffy rocker Shot Down, we’re gifted driving beats, steadfast melodics and sizzling guitar solos before The Unknowns jaunt into Dianne; a straightforward banger complete with “woah-ohs” and an underbelly brimming with rough and ready charm.

The Unknowns consistently deliver throughout East Coast Low, namely busting out performances that embrace the band’s explosive live energy.

From full blown punk throwbacks (Rid of You). to pop-spiced gallops (Crying), Ramones-ready odes (Beat Me), and frenetic barn-burners (I Don’t Know), The Unknowns consistently deliver throughout East Coast Low, namely busting out performances that embrace the band’s explosive live energy. And amidst the dedication to searing riffs, relentless drumwork and basslines, and plenty of raw vocals courtesy of Hardy, moments on Deleted open new doors to splashy rhythms, while Supersonic Love closes the entire album out with a uniform shift as the vocals tighten and some mighty grooves emerge. With all four members tackling songwriting duties for the creation of East Coast Low, and the album itself recorded in one week, The Unknowns are clearly aware of their strengths and overriding genre influences, effectively presenting a vigorous collection of short-but-sweet songs that’ll tickle your punk nostalgia soul while also put you in the sweaty moshpit that the very tracks are demanding to be heard in. The best and equally most detracting element for East Coast Low is its overall sonic uniformity, but when a band sounds this fun and can repeatedly keep you wanting more, it’s best to just sit back, let your hair down and enjoy the ride.  

STANDOUT TRACKS: Dianne, Crying, Supersonic Love
STICK THIS NEXT TO: The Ramones, The Meanies, The Chats