Spacey Jane, Hyclass, Butter + more: Covering a stacked August for WA music

The West Australian music scene has well and truly been shining in a lane of its own and its time we shed some light on the talented artists, making their name in and around Perth. Take a look at a few artists we are loving at the moment that are creating sounds that are cleverly defining WA’s music scene.

Spacey Jane - Good For You 

Spacey Jane are a band that at this point, need no introduction. The Perth-based group have become highlights on our live music scene over the past few years, but now they're grappling with a larger national break-out – evident through one of BIGSOUND's most densely-packed showcases – signalling an exciting future of the band after years of finding their footings back home. Their latest single, Good For You, captures their upwards trajectory in a musical sense, showcasing their evolution as a band as they navigate upbeat bursts of energy and catchiness, with its short-yet-sweet, less-than-three-minute duration making Good For You a song you can play again and again and again. Laden with thick guitar rhythms and lush vocals, Good For You continues Spacey Jane's streak for making crafty indie-pop-rock; catchy hooks holding just as much of an important place as head-turning, sun-soaked melodies. Arriving with a video directed by Matt Sav and a quickly-selling national tour on the verge of a full sell out, Good For You is another marker that shows Spacey Jane's potential to be our next big national export.

Hyclass - You Don't Even Know 

In a local scene rich with some of the nation's most exciting hip-hop talent, Hyclass stands out. The Perth-based rapper is someone we've found ourselves head over heels for time and time again, showcasing a strong versatility as she swerves between the piano-twinkled Queen and this year's Pilerats-premiered Yeah Nah – a high energy, quick-firing track that's amongst her best yet. Her new single, You Don't Even Know, sees Hyclass change lanes once again as she continues to showcase her strengths on the hip-hop circuit, with a crackling instrumental intertwined with jazz-y brass and nostalgic California-rap grooves meeting her focused flow, which offers something a bit more sensual as she sings about lost crushes with that expert tip of sex: "But if your eager to please, then let me see, 'cause you got the vitamins I need, starting with the letter D."

Butter - Gum

One of this year's unexpected Perth highlights have come from Butter, who despite only having a pairing of singles – their debut Hocus Pocus and their follow-up, Butch & Bobbito – managed to join Spacey Jane as one of BIGSOUND's biggest crowd-getters, and have generally speaking blossomed into a dark horse of our woozy indie-hip-hop scene. Their new single, Gum, is a reinforcement of their woozy, BADBADNOTGOOD-meets-King Krule sound, showcasing their strengths in experimentalism and keeping a little left-of-centre, while deepening their craft and further introducing us to a band quickly becoming our next best thing. 

The Southern River Band - Do You Miss Me? 

On the road to their new album Rumour and Innuendo, The Southern River Band are quickly reinforcing themselves as something special. With a triple-peat of brilliant singles, the group are quickly becoming cult-favourites within this larger-than-life, glamour-rock sound, bringing hefty melodies and heavy riffs together with some of the year's most entertaining vocals and video clips – their latest, Second Best, standing tall as one of the best videos we've seen all year thus far. Their new track, Do You Miss Me? is something a little bit different that showcases an edge of versatility and range, with Cal Kramer and his crew taking on something a little bigger than usual; their signature pulse subdued a touch as they explore a more subtle take on their otherwise grand and mighty sound.

CALMLY – Calmly

Ending this month's column with something a little bigger, Calmly sees the eventual and long-awaited arrival of the band it's named after. Formerly known as Childsaint, CALMLY have spent much of the last six years finding their unique lane within Perth's music scene as a band worthy of being celebrated both live and in recording, and with Calmly, the band's long-awaited debut album, the latter is finally being realised. It's a hypnotic eight-track release that spans their dream-pop/alt-rock intersection they've been exploring for much of this time, contrasting light and heavy; bright and dark as they unite fuzzy guitars and and thickly-layered percussion with vocals amongst Perth's most head-turning and brilliant, soundtracking a bright coming-of-age with CALMLY's years of growing finally out in the public.