LIPSTEREO’S LIVE AT BAKEHOUSE IS SIMPLY SPLENDID

Photography by Kallum Wimalasuriya

With a name that is so brilliantly poignant, Australian indie rock four-piece band Lipstereo has released their new EP, Live At Bakehouse. The three-song EP touches upon themes of nostalgia, relationship issues, parental entanglements, and the importance of sincerity. The EP was recorded live during a worldwide streamed concert, Let Me Help - Children Of The World, presented by Noise11.com. The concert was filmed in the Scrap Museum in New York City and telecast lives on behalf of children’s charities across the world. All three songs on the EP were produced by notable Australian music producer Mark Opitz AM (INXS, AC/DCs, Cold Chisel). Live At Bakehouse is Lipstereo's follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut EP, Modern Mythology.

Up-and-coming indie rockers Lipstereo toured Melbourne, Australia in 2019. The four members, Sam Stranges (vocals and rhythm guitar), Andrew Stainsby (lead guitar), Tage Hosking-Gregory (bass), and Jesse Porter (drums) toured all over the city for two years before the arrival of the-virus-that-shalt-not-be-named, honing and perfecting their chemistry and the aesthetic bond that they formed around their shared love for Iconic acts such as Strokes, Weezer, and Arctic Monkeys. 

"Lipstereo fuses loud guitars with a post-punk songwriting sensibility to create music that in a parallel universe, would be on Phil Spector's Spotify playlist."

For the Triune collection that makes up 'Live At Bakehouse", toured delivers "You Got The Things" followed by "Push The Tide" and finishes up with "Feedback".

"You Got The Things" packs a powerful and heavy groove, an imposing sound that rages against the feelings that haunt you when you feel that you've been taken advantage of and then discarded. "Push The Tide" is the love song for the unconventionally romantic -those a tad too rough and wild to be tender- though it can also be about being so madly into someone you start crossing certain lines. Finally, "Feedback" bounces back with a much more melodic and bittersweet (yet decidedly upbeat) sound that helps reminisce on both the good and the bad times.

Let's set aside the themes for a moment and focus on the quality of the music. If this was your introduction to Lipstereo, I think you'd be blown away. The band's polished and tight performance is truly astonishing, and it makes me want to see them live.

Any half-decent musician can record a good song and make it sound professional with all their snazzy studio tools. But it's in the heat of a live performance that you can truly see the caliber of the musicians involved. Lipstereo takes its live shows very seriously, and they are committed to delivering something truly worthy of a discerning audience's time. You can also tell that they have a lot of respect for each other.

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MEET THE AUTHOR

Samuel Aponte is Venezuelan-born raised and based. 

I joined Rival Magazine after a few years of doing PR work for independent musicians of all stripes; understanding their struggles to be heard in a sea of constant  ADHD noise and paywalled access to platforms, I now bring a willingness to always appreciate and encourage the effort and creativity that artists put into their work . Can also find some of my writings on LADYGUNN and We Found New Music.