Internationals are such limelight hogs.

Withholding themselves from Australian audiences for long enough to whip us into a ticket buying frenzy once they announce a tour. Those dicks. What about the locals? We love the locals.

Poison City is renown for their fine taste so it’s no surprise that even the smaller acts on their annual Weekender Festival are a veritable picnic basket for your starvin’ ears. Blerg pulls back the blanket to feast on these delights. Won’t you join us? It’s vegan friendly.

THE SUGARCANES

To call these guys the next Sasquatch would be doing them a tremendous disservice. Their sound is similar and as such they stand in a league of their own on the Weekender lineup, but they know that gutsy musicianship and hooky as shit songs have an appeal that dick kicks the constraints of genre. Lead vocalist Lucy Wilson is in posession of the gnarliest lungs in all the land (see her Full To The Brim EP for proof) and anything she lends them to will just, work.

Find out more here.

FOXTROT

Formed in 2010, Foxtrot have been gigging solidly ever since cos you know a sound that takes notes from Hot Water Music pretty much never dies. Foxtrot are a reliable staple on any Australian punk bill. Like the tasty cheese in your salad sandwich, they just make things better and they know how to have a good time on stage. “If you’re into any kind of punk with a bit of an edge then you’ll be into Foxtrot” – The Bennies

Buy their stuff here.

MARICOPA WELLS

Playling mercilessly since their relatively recent inception in 2012, Maricopa Wells will be a familiar name to a lot of people. Members of Strathmore, Initials, Tired Breeds and the Quiet Contender joined forces like a wonderous, colourful Voltron to make tunes that have a real Frank Turner/ Billy Bragg blue collar folk punk funk to them. Their new album ‘Places To Land’ comes out on August 28, right in time for Weekender celebrations.

Find out more here.

HORROR MY FRIEND

Poison City Records has recently welcomed this SA fuzz-rock trio to the fold and they sound unlike what you would expect from a typical PCR signing. Tapping into the spirit of 90s college rock and shoe gaze, the trio will release their debut album Stay In, in January 2016.

Find out more here.

FREAK WAVE

Fuzzy lofi throwback dad rock. Freak Wave have no qualms with admitting their songs are ‘unpolished’ because they’re the kind of band that’s wise to the intricacies of songwriting and know that the shmick does not necessarily maketh the song. Their live show is on point too. Add them to your ‘must see’ list if you have one. If not, you should probably make one.

Find out more here.

GEORGIA MAQ

We’d call G Maq a hidden gem but it’s apparent that we’re not the first to have dug her up, so to speak. Her voice and her serene attitude totally belie her age to the point where it’s nigh on disconcerting and she has immense and enviable songwriting chops.  We’d suggest seeing her somewhere dark on a winter’s night while sipping whiskey like a True Detective trope but you’ve no chance of that at PCRW.

Find out more here.

Poison City Weekender kicks off next Thursday in Melbourne. Tickets are still available for the Underage show at the Corner Hotel here.