The Belair Lip Bombs, Snuggle, MORN

The Belair Lip Bombs might be Australia’s best-kept secret. But it won’t stay that way for long.

Hailing from the coastal town of Frankston, the close-knit indie-rock four-piece have been building a loyal local following since they first formed eight years ago; fans across the band’s hometown of Melbourne and beyond have been magnetized to the group’s earnestness and ultra-sticky power-pop song structures.

Now, the four close friends — lead singer/guitarist Maisie Everett, Mike Bradvica (guitar), Jimmy Droughton (bass), and Daniel "Dev" Devlin (drums) — are about to embrace a new chapter with their signing to Jack White’s Third Man Records (the first Australian release on the international label) and the unveiling of their endlessly listenable sophomore album, Again, which echoes the album’s joyous opening track (“Again and Again”) and winkingly symbolizes the band’s reintroduction to a global audience.

It’s easy to see why Third Man snatched them up: Born from the creative hub that is Frankston DIY venue Singing Bird Studio, The Belair Lip Bombs pull you in immediately with their self-coined “yearn-core” combination of quick-footed rhythms, warm and fuzzy guitar melodies, and Maisie’s cathartic vocals, which recall the heartfelt stylings of Yawners' Elena Nieto, Julia Jacklin, or Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield. Such a vocal presence is ironically at odds with Maisie’s insular and pensive personality, but it’s in the music where her heart truly shines brightest, and it’s in the Bombs’ electric live show where her artistry confidently commands the stage.

Following the breakout success of 2023’s Lush Life, the quartet’s follow-up effort gives the group’s DIY indie-rock style a fresh coat of polish across 10 rollicking new tracks, which were produced by the band, Nao Anzai (The Teskey Brothers), and Joe White (Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever).

Maisie, who was born in Scotland and moved to Australia at 3 years old, tends to fall back into an early love of vocal behemoths Queen when she writes the band’s prominent melodies and harmonies. And while songs tend to pour out of the band in a free-flowing, jam-adjacent way, ultimately the group relies on a gut sensation when deciding whether a track will make a record or not. “It has to evoke some kind of emotional response out of me,” Maisie says. “We've written songs before that, objectively, are probably quite good, but there’s a certain feeling that I won’t get from it. It’s tricky to find the words to describe that feeling, but I think other people can pick up on it as well.”

Since forming eight years ago upon graduating from high school, the Belair Lip Bombs juggled band life with day jobs as they worked to define a sound inspired by classic rock pillars like the Rolling Stones and Television, indie stalwarts like the War On Drugs and Stephen Malkmus. They spent the first years as a band opening for Australian favorites like Ladyhawke, Spacey Jane, Slowly Slowly, and Tired Lion before releasing their more grunge-inspired self-titled debut EP in 2018 and then the poppier three-track follow-up Songs to Do Your Laundry To (2019).

As the next decade rolled in, the Belair Lip Bombs fine-tuned their “limerence-rock” (as Maisie phrases it) aesthetic across impassioned and snappy singles like “Out Of Here” and Lush Life standout tracks “Gimme Gimme” and “World Is The One.” As they began to map out what would become Again, the band merged their individual influences more than ever to craft a no-skips collection of indie-rock anthems.

Marking the first time the Belair Lip Bombs worked with a producer, Again was helped over the finish line by White, who Dev says took the pressure off and let the band focus on the bigger picture of making their record. “It was really good having someone else there who was just as invested in what we were playing as we were,” he says. “Sometimes when you’re recording you’re in your own little world… He made all of us feel really confident in what we we