SURG’s Best Albums of 2023
2023 was a big year for music, and what better way to wrap it up then to share our favourite albums. Forget the paid critics and big music magazines, SURG is bringing you the crème de la crème of this year’s record releases. Now read on! Hackney Diamonds – The rolling stones REVI
Welcome to the Brian Jonestown Massacre
Photo by Rosina Carbone Rosina reviews the Brian Jonestown Massacre @ Enmore Theatre – 16 November 2023 Good things happen to those who wait around concert venues. So when singer Anton Newcombe and guitarist Ryan Van Kreidt spill out of the doors of the Duke to greet the throng of flat caps an
RECAP: Mode Festival 2023
Image: By Ravyna – Ravyna Jassani Bailey recaps the highs and lows of this year’s ‘mode’ at Cockatoo Island Mode Festival is in its sophomore year of turning Cockatoo Island warehouses into thumping stages for a worldwide selection of electronic music. This year, the lineup i
Brutalismus 3000: Serving ‘ULTRAKUNST’ in Paris 2023
The Berlin-Based post-techno gabber punk duo brought an electric set to La Cigale Hall in May this year. After discovering the ‘post-techno gabber punk’ duo Brutalismus 3000 on a techno playlist assembled for me by Spotify, I made it a mission to get to their ULTRAKUNST 2023 Tour. As it ju
Deep Purple: More than ‘Smoke on the Water’
Xuandi implores you to appreciate this classic band. Whenever someone asks for a classic rock band recommendation, hard rock fans won’t always mention Deep Purple first. Even when the band is noted, the frequently mentioned song is ‘Smoke on the Water’ (1972), inspired by a real fire accident
Retrospective: Fifty years on from Goats Head Soup, have the Stones’ critics learned anything?
At the end of the day, the Stones rock on. The history of the Rolling Stones is, in large part, a history of sceptical critics dismissively writing off albums, and interviewers posing the question of when the band will pack it in. 61 years in, they’re still waiting. Released August 1973, Goats Hea
‘Barbie: The album’ deserved better
The soundtrack for the biggest film of the year is heavy on big names, but light on thrills There are probably very few people as satisfied with themselves right now than the Barbie marketing team. Between the universally praised teasers, social media campaigns that caught on like pink wildfire, and
Splendour in the Grass ’23: Day 2 Diary
Image credits: Bruce Baker Solomiya tackles the hot and the cold Dear Splendour Diary, I think I somehow got both hypothermia and hyperthermia; waking up at ungodly hours with no feeling to my feet, then waking up at a godly hour absolutely sweating. Now used to the Splendour routine, I donned the l
’23 Splendour spotlight: King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
Charlie gives a short but sweet intro to one of Australia’s most hyper-productive and style-shifting rock bands. I first saw King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard at the Luna Park stage earlier this year; easily one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. Not only do they perform with insane
Eurovision 2023: Here We Go Again
Strap in as Solomiya Sywak details for you the epic highs and lows (but mostly lows) of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest It’s that time of year again, time to get out all the silver outfits from deep inside the closet because Eurovision 2023 has just smacked the whole world in the fac