Sydney band Red Riders may be retired, but it’s band members Al Grigg and Tom Wallace have brought a similar vintage rock sounding vibe to their new band, Palms. I just discovered this demo and have been playing it on repeat.

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Perhaps an anthem for our times? If you like a bit of Nick Cave-infused messy grit-pop-rock, then this Sydney-based trio, The Wild Frontier, may be for you. The brainchild of brother and sister, Christopher and Philippa Mayes, with David Mackie, this archival style promo seems to hang together quite well in a sort of sixth class collage kinda way. As the band themselves pronounce on their YouTube channel: ‘Get your sackcloth on and writhe in the ashes’. Just what I was thinking.

Tin Sparrow are a Sydney band in the midst of their first single launch in Sydney this month, for the song Hector Myola from their much anticipated album due to be released early 2012. The band sound like a dreamy summer, folksy layered and richly diverse pop blowout. This is no surprise due to some handy work from ex-The Middle East producer Mark Myers.

Sydney indie outfit Cogel are fast developing a following with their ethereal vocals and layered percussion. They recently opened for Wally De Backer (aka Gotye), who also laid down vocals for their track, Rocks on the Sun. Their self-titled debut EP is available on iTunes.

Sydneysiders Pear Shape parade their own brand of joyous pop-rock on the track Righteousness. Set against the backdrop of a local indie music scene saturated with brooding experimentalism and ambience, Pear Shape provides a refreshingly accessible alternative, calling on the influences of their 60s predecessors, The Kinks and The Zombies.

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Stirring up indie, electronic, rock and ambient genres, is the striking enigmatic sounds of Sydney-based band, Sooners. With influences including Low, Toe, and Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Sooners will soon be releasing their double single on 7” vinyl. How about that!

I was hooked the minute I heard the captivating opening guitar riff in Ghostwood’s I Am Overcast. It’s got a glitzy Brit shoegaze feel that flirts with psychedelic elements.

I’m hearing a Cobain-style vocal, a little Ride guitars, some My Bloody Valentine in the effects, and maybe even a wee bit of Pixies and Jeff Buckley thrown into the mix. Overall, it’s ace and such a good listen to kill time while these Sydney rockers record demos for a new album. If your ears necessitate more sneak peeks, the guys frequently share demos on their Facebook page.

Sydney indie heroes (in the nicest possible way), The Paper Scissors (TPS to those that know the secret handshake) have made a video for their new single, The Bandit. And it’s good. Damn good.

With one of the biggest singles of 2007 — Vitriol — and consistently amazing live shows, bluejuice are bright sparks on the Sydney music scene. With their Australian tour beginning soon, we put some questions to Stav, one of two vocalists in the group: Tell us about how you guys got started? ‘Jamie, Ned and Jake all went to school together and the former two had played in bands together before. Jerry is a killer keys player from the Blue Mountains and was looking for bands to play with as he’d just moved to Sydney and I kind of fell into the band. We started off as a five-piece playing free Sunday night jam sessions at the Three Monkeys in Sydney until we got replaced by a Neil Diamond covers band. Ick!’ A bad bluejuice show is like Santa or the Easter Bunny. A myth. How do you guys manage to deliver killer live sets every time? ‘Well, I don’t think we quite do killer shows every time, but we certainly give all of our guts every time. We’ll go as hard as possible until we’re basically about to sweat to death. But if it does go wrong, there’s every possibility that a guy called Scott from Glebe will write a spiteful letter into [local free music magazine] Drum Media calling you “possibly the worst and most pointless band Australia has ever produced”. Finally, some passionate people!’ Vitriol was one of the biggest songs in Australia during 2007. Did you know all along it would be so well received? ‘I knew it would be a single from that album but I had no idea it would go nuts for us like that. It’s pretty insane’.

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Microphones that don’t work; a bass with broken strings; musicians that can’t hear what they’re playing; the set gets cut short when a large amount of people storm the stage (myself included). One would assume all the above elements would contribute to one of the worst shows you’ve ever seen. However, when the musicians in question are Sydney’s bluejuice, it doesn’t matter. Put simply: bluejuice are the best live act in Sydney at the moment. And what’s more, their debut album Problems is out now and has just been shortlisted for the Australian Music Prize. Check it.