Fresh Finds: Class Of 2025 – Aussie Acts To Add To Your Playlist

Steve Bell, Journalist

Steve Bell

Many, many moons ago Steve Bell was unassumingly writing a small fanzine for the inner-city Brisbane record store where he worked when on one otherwise normal day he was poached into the cutthroat world of street press, embarking on an eye-opening journey interviewing bands and banging on about music for the street press publication Time Off. It's an association that's now existed for well over 20 years - including a decade full-time as the print editor for Time Off/The Music - and one which still provides him with immense enjoyment and satisfaction, even though in recent times it's nestled alongside other music-related vocations such as co-owning a record store and indie label, radio broadcasting and navigating the podcast world.

Features / Music
How Sunnyboys Are Writing New Classics & Revisiting The Old
"It doesn't matter when a song is written, a song is just a song - they're suspended in time somehow."
Reviews / Album
Album Review: The Bats - The Deep Set
"As effortlessly dreamy as ever."
Features / Music
Why You Should Hunt For Musical Collaborators On YouTube
"It just makes you wonder why he's hiding where he's hiding."
Reviews / Live
Live Review: Dinosaur Jr, Luluc
"Dinosaur Jr’s thrilling third stanza just seems to be going from strength to strength."
Features / Music
Dinosaur Jr Are Back And Just 'Polishing The Same Stone'
"I just knew that he'd be into it. I think I've learned enough over this reunion thing that he's totally game."
Features / Music
Unravelling The Patterns As A Jack-Of-All-Tastes
"I really just like seeing the similarities in everything, kind of like collecting things to see the big overarching patterns."
Reviews / Album
Album Review: Chavez - Cockfighters
"Welcome back: more please."
Reviews / Album
Album Review: The Molochs - America's Velvet Glory
"Instantly comfortable but with a fascinating new veneer."
Features / Music
The Music 2016 Writers' Poll: Steve Bell
Reviews / Live
Live Review: Paul Kelly & Charlie Owen, Sweet Jean
"Kelly remains front and centre and his inimitable voice soars through the church."
Reviews / Album
Album Review: Cold Chisel: The Live Tapes Vol 3 - Live At The Manly Vale Hotel
"The band's tough and uncompromising, and the sound pristine."
Reviews / Live
Live Review: Mullum Music Festival
"It’s just one massive explosion of joy in the streets."