Radio Free Alice

BIOGRAPHY

“I can’t eat you, I can’t fuck you, so why the fuck would I come?”

Those were the parting words of Brian Jonestown Massacre frontman Anton Newcombe to Radio Free Alice’s band members. Hobbling over to the band, tequila in hand, as the band finished the early set of their Sydney residency at Newtown’s The Duke, the wiry icon offered words of praise. BJM were playing at the venue the next block down, and enjoying the natural rapport between them, the band invited Newcombe back to watch Radio Free Alice’s late set that night after BJM’s show. The invitation only to be rejected in the dry wit typical of the BJM founder, “I can’t eat you, I can’t fuck you, so why the fuck would I come?!”

Despite wandering off into the night, never to be seen again, that interaction is emblematic of the allure of the Melbourne four-piece, whose frenetic live shows have captured imaginations throughout this year.

At the vanguard of a new wave of high energy guitar rock and fast emerging as one of Australia’s most exciting young bands, Radio Free Alice released their first two EPs Radio Free Alice and Polyester.

With an operatic swagger and an angular, guitar-driven sound, the Melbourne group emerged with an art school musical palette, painted from a suburban Australian canvas. Immediate and arresting rock arrangements from the quartet meld with frontman Noah Learmonth’s distinctive yearning throaty vocal, harking to the stylings of Ian Curtis and Robert Smith. Guitars with clean tones and clever notes, melodic bass lines, urgent drum beats, and the occasional sax translate the band’s DIY recordings to an energetic, charismatic live show from the young quartet.

Following 2023 singles “Paris Is Gone” and “Look What You’ve Done,” which have received support from triple j, FBi and 3RRR, the band have opened for The Killers, Royel Otis, Sorry, Django Django, High School, The Snuts and a sold out four week residency at inner Melbourne’s Nighthawk. The band’s captivating live show saw them emerge from Brisbane’s BIGSOUND showcase and SXSW Sydney as one of the breakout artists for 2024, and backed up by NME who included them in their NME 100 list for 2025.

Having recently played festivals around Australia, a two month stint of club shows and festivals in UK/Europe and a sold out headline tour at home in Oz, expect more music from this frenetic new young band in 2025.