Syd Metalcore Outfit Polaris Pull Off #2 Debut On Aus Music Indie Charts

Sydney-based metalcore upstarts Polaris have achieved a stellar result on this week's Carlton Dry Independent Music Charts, steering their new full-length, The Guilt & The Grief, to the #2 spot on the weekly Albums ladder.

Granted, Sia's new record, This Is Acting, pipped them to the post to take #1, but that's barely a newsworthy occurrence these days; meanwhile, the result for Polaris — an unsigned band with a fierce local following, blowing things up in a non-mainstream market — is undeniably spectacular.

It's an effort echoed within the top 10 by West Sydney rapper Fortay, whose LP Can't Sell Drugs 4 Eva steps out comfortably within the first half, claiming the #8 spot. Last weeks' top five fill the space between, each dropping two rungs to this week see Courtney Barnett's Sometimes I Sit & Think, & Sometimes I Just Sit at #3, Sia's previous effort 1000 Forms Of Fear at #4, Hermitude's Dark Night, Sweet Light at #5, The Waifs' Beautiful You at #6 and Seth Sentry's Strange New Past at #7.

What is newsworthy for Sia, however, is the fact that — courtesy some sneaky re-entries — she now has five albums sitting pretty on the charts, with compilation record Best Of... returning at #11, old output Some People Have Real Problems back in the list at #17, and We Are Born dropping a rung from #19 to #20 this week. Both The Smith Street Band (Throw Me In The River, #18) and Courtney Barnett (The Double EP: A Sea Of Split Peas, #19) also see works return to the rankings.

As far as the week's favourite singles are concerned, Flume ups his top-20 presence to three tracks following the debut of Smoke & Retribution, ft. Vince Staples & Kucka, at #3; previous effort Never Be Like You, ft. Kai, retains its #1 position, while Some Minds, ft. Andrew Wyatt, drops a spot to #15. Triple j Hottest 100 winners The Rubens also stay steady at the pointy end this week, with Hoops staying unmoved from the #2 spot.

There's a stupid amount of Sia on the ladder here, too, as Cheap Thrills (#4), Alive (#6), Unstoppable (#10), Chandelier (#12), Elastic Heart (#14) and the returning Bird Set Free (#16) conspire to give the acclaimed songstress more than one-quarter of the top 20 to her name.