In this blog post, we list some of the best Australian rock bands to listen to right now. Most of these bands formed and started jamming together during the height of rock music in the 60s and 70s. Nonetheless, they’ve created multiple anthem singles and lots of fan-favorite classics.
Best Australian Rock Bands
1. Men at Work
Men at Work are an ARIA Music Award winning and Grammy winning rock band that formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1979. Considered a popular part of the new wave movement in Australia, the band’s best known line-up consisted of Colin Hay (vocals, guitar), Ron Strykert (guitar, vocals), John Rees (bass), Greg Ham (saxophone, flute, keyboards), and Jerry Speiser (drums).
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2. Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil are an influential alternative rock band formed in Sydney, Australia in 1976. The band originally formed as “Farm” in 1972. The band is best known for their political activism and environmentalism and their 1987 worldwide hit single “Beds Are Burning”.
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3. Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel produced the canonical example of Australian pub rock, with a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and they are acknowledged as one of the most popular and successful Australian groups of the period, although this success and acclaim was almost completely restricted to Australia.
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4. Icehouse
Australian new wave band Icehouse was formed in 1977, initially called ‘Flowers’, by Iva Davies (born Ivor Arthur Davies, on 22 May 1955, in Wauchope, New South Wales, Australia). Inspired by art rock and avant-garde pop, Davies was the main creative force behind the band, being a classically trained musician.
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5. Australian Crawl
Australian Crawl was an Australian rock band formed by James Reyne (lead vocals/piano) and Simon Binks (lead guitar) in 1978 and joined by Guy McDonough (co-lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Bill McDonough (drums, percussion), Paul Williams (bass guitar), and Brad Robinson (rhythm guitar). The band was named after the Australian slang term for freestyle swimming. The band’s status as an icon on the Australian music scene was acknowledged by induction into the 1996 Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame.
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6. Divinyls
Divinyls were a rock group formed in 1980 in Sydney, Australia. The band had several lineup changes, retaining only central members Chrissy Amphlett (vocals) and Mark McEntee (guitar) throughout the band’s entire run. The band was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 2006.
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7. Mental As Anything
Mental As Anything is an Australian New Wave/rock music band who, since the late 70s have released numerous albums & singles and have produced many innovative music videos. Their top ten Australian singles are “If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too?” and “Too Many Times” (both from 1981), “Live It Up” (1985) and “Rock and Roll Music” (1988).
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8. The Choirboys
The Choirboys both defined and popularized the sound of Australian pub rock who formed in Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Singer Mark Gable, guitarist Brad Carr, and drummer Lindsay Tebbutt performed around Sydney’s pub scene for several years through the early ’80s before one of their demos fell into the hands of George Young of the Easybeats. Their 1987 single “Run to Paradise” remains their biggest commercial success.
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9. Hoodoo Gurus
Hoodoo Gurus are an Australian rock band combining elements of seventies power pop, bubblegum pop, Beatle-esque harmonies, psychedelia and grungy garage rock. They were inducted into the Australia’s 2007 ARIA Hall of Fame.
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10. The Angels
The Angels are an Australian rock band which formed in Adelaide in 1974 as The Keystone Angels by Bernard “Doc” Neeson on lead vocals and bass guitar, John Brewster on rhythm guitar and backing vocals, his brother Rick Brewster on lead guitar and backing vocals, Peter “Charlie” King on drums. The Angels were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in October 1998 with the line-up of Bailey, John and Rick Brewster, Eccles and Neeson.
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11. The Seekers
The Seekers were an Australian folk-influenced pop quartet, originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States.
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12. The Living End
The Living End formed in 1994 after lead singer/guitarist Chris Cheney and bassist Scott Owen were introduced to each other by their older sisters at Wheelers Hill Secondary College in Melbourne, Australia They have released eight studio albums, two of which reached the No. 1 spot on the ARIA Albums Chart: The Living End (October 1998) and State of Emergency (February 2006).
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13. Daddy Cool
Daddy Cool is an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne, Victoria in 1970 with the original line-up of Wayne Duncan (bass, vocals), Ross Hannaford (lead guitar, bass, vocals), Ross Wilson (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica) and Gary Young (drums, vocals). Their debut July 1971 LP Daddy Who? Daddy Cool also reached number 1 and became the first Australian album to sell more than 100,000 copies.
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14. The Easybeats
The Easybeats were an Australian rock band which formed in Sydney, Australia, in late 1964, and disbanded at the end of 1969. They were the antipodean echo to the style and sound of the Beatles in Britain, and the first rock and roll act from Australia to score an international pop hit with the 1966 single, “Friday on My Mind”.
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15. Eskimo Joe
Eskimo Joe is an alt-rock band from Fremantle, Western Australia comprising Kavyen Temperley (bass/vocals), Joel Quartermain (guitar/drums) and Stuart MacLeod (guitar). The band won eight ARIA Music Awards; in 2006, and achieved four wins—from nine nominations—for work associated with Black Fingernails, Red Wine.
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16. Killing Heidi
Killing Heidi are an Australian rock band from Violet Town, Victoria. The band, which went on hiatus in 2006, is most widely known for its multi-platinum album Reflector, released in 2000. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2000 they were nominated in seven categories and won four trophies: Album of the Year, Best Group, Breakthrough Artist – Album and Best Rock Album for Reflector.
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