You'll Dance, You'll Laugh, You'll Clap Your Hands

The Offtopics are not an easy band to categorise, and like many outfits that have blended a unique sonic palette from a hodgepodge of influences and interests, it's often easier to slap an overly simplified label on their sound than explore each rich colour.

"We bill ourselves as a Melbourne soul band," shares singer, writer and show-runner Polash Larsen, "but fundamentally we're a dance band. We reference northern soul, southern rock, New Orleans funk and then we just keep heading south into the Caribbean until we incorporate rocksteady and ska as well."

Despite only forming in 2013 their first single was actually written 20 years ago, and Larsen describes Sunrise In Richmond as "a time travel song" that harks back his days watching bands in the Melbourne suburb. "Our songs are about quirky local characters and often have a comic undertone," tells the singer. "I try to situate the stories in a recognisable landscape so we have songs like Brunswick Strut and Sunrise In Richmond, but really we just want to make the audience dance, laugh and clap their hands.

"When I revisited it I found I remembered the chords but not all the words. I'm not the same songwriter I was then so there's an element of nostalgia in the way the song is presented.

In line with that nostalgic vibe, and The Offtopics' credo to never do things in an ordinary manner, they are releasing the track as a limited run 7" vinyl with a comic strip cover. It's the first of four such releases that, like their eclectic sound, will combine to make an impressive whole - a debut 12" dubbed Back On The Zine.