Words by Natalie Blacklock
For many music lovers, there’s always one band that manages to capture something so raw and so special in their music. It’s an inexplicable feeling that washes over you with every first listen, with every subsequent sing-a-long in your car, and every bang of your head in a moshpit – it’s almost like love at first sight over and over again. For me, one of those bands is Tasmania’s favourite sons, Luca Brasi. I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve been on the Luca Brasi train since the very first time I saw them – if memory serves correctly, it was in March 2014 for their ‘By A Thread’ tour at Crowbar Brisbane (RIP) and I was bloody excited! In the months before, I’d heard them quite regularly on Triple J’s Short. Fast. Loud. and was utterly taken by their newest single Borders and Statelines. Since then, I’ve seen Luca Brasi maybe 25 or 30 times and unsurprisingly, my feelings are still the same as they were that very first time.
Luca Brasi are:
Tyler Richardson – Vocals / Bass Guitar
Patrick Marshall – Rhythm Guitar / Vocals
Thomas Busby – Lead Guitar
Danny Flood – Drums
Now in their 14th year as a band, Luca Brasi have continued pushed their musical boundaries, giving us everything they’ve got with their sixth studio album, ‘The World Don’t Owe You Anything’. The songwriting is mature and reflective, juxtaposed against soaring and desperate riffs that are just aching to be heard. Engineered by LB guitarist Pat Marshall and produced by the band themselves in collaboration with Slowly Slowly frontman, Ben Stewart, at the esteemed facilities of Pudding’s House of Flavour and Banana Pig Studios, ‘The World Don’t Owe You Anything’ is the product of a band fully embracing every piece of who they are and where they’ve come from to form an honest, reflective and sophisticated account of their last few years. From the very first listen, ‘The World Don’t Owe You Anything’ feels like a natural progression from the band’s 2018’s ARIA-nominated ‘Stay’, and demonstrates growth in songwriting and musicality from 2016’s ‘If This Is All We’re Going To Be’ as well earlier efforts ‘By A Thread’ (2014) and debut record ‘Extended Family’ (2011), delivering fans yet another stellar Luca Brasi record that feels more poignant, and more exciting than ever.
‘THE WORLD DON’T OWE YOU ANYTHING’ TRACK LISTING:
- The Entry Ramp
- The World Don’t Owe You Anything
- Habits
- Rinse & Repeat
- Party Scene
- Sonny
- Sonny
- Til Forever
- Concussion
- Losin’
- A Place to Begin
Album opener, The Entry Ramp is a slow-burner, providing the perfect vessel for Frontman Tyler Richardson’s trademark twangy vocals and faint high-hats from Drummer Danny Flood, effortlessly setting the scene for the record through its brief 1:38 seconds. A smooth transition into the album’s title track doesn’t pull any punches. The World Don’t Owe You Anything presents as a pensive exploration of self-worth, inner strength and self-determination all rolled into one. Frontman and Bassist Tyler Richardson questions “if I’ve already sung all the good words I have left, what good am I to anyone?”, and emphatically responses with the song’s chorus – “THE WORLD DON’T OWE YOU ANYTHING”, ensuring that this track will undoubtedly become a live fan favourite!
Bursting out of the gates with an unrivalled resolve is Habits. Reminiscent of older Luca Brasi cuts, this track showcase of Luca Brasi’s skill as musicians; with Patrick Marshall’s melodic riffs and Thomas Busby’s booming Lead Guitar lines, underwriting Richardson’s soaring vocals, creating a raucous punk banger. The next track is a subtle nod to Patrick Marshall and Danny Flood’s mid-late 2000s days in Hobart 4-piece Your Demise. Rinse & Repeat speaks of stumbling, falling, failing, and throwing a middle finger to the doubters. “Watch me stumble, watch me fall,” the song’s refrain dares, before promising “watch me stumble as I turn the corner.” This track is definitely one to grease up the knees for and get ready to jump along to – regardless of your vintage. By now a familiar staple of the LB live set, Party Scene was the first taste of new music from the band since 2021’s Jackies On The March; Brasi’s unofficial lovesong to their state’s NBL team, the Tasmania JackJumpers. The track itself details the strained relationship with night-after-night partying and the stark realisation faced by many of us over-30s that the candle doesn’t burn at both ends like it used to – it doesn’t mean that the party’s over, it just means that partying looks a little different these days!
Shifting in tempo, recent single Sonny puts Luca Brasi’s remarkable sense of restraint and poise on display. Channelling mid-tempo emo rock, Sonny sums up life for the LB boys; “Being in a band, and living a real life between touring is a bizarre existence at times. It is trying to understand who you are in between these lives, the highs and lows and everything they bring. Understanding what lifts you up but also what keeps you grounded is everything.” Released on the back of the saddening announcement that Frontman and Bassist Tyler Richardson and wife Alix’s one-year-old son, Harris had been “diagnosed with cancer out of the blue”, Sonny and its accompanying music video, drives home the importance of the human connection we all share – something that has always been a huge part of the attraction to Luca Brasi – both as people and as musicians.
The album’s sole acoustic track, Scars strips back the bravado often seen in the music industry and a provides space for quiet contemplation in the middle of a punk-rock record. Reminiscent of 2014 track Western Junction (which absolutely slaps in live acoustic mode), Scars delivers a dose of quiet vulnerability through Richardson’s raw vocals, underpinned by Busby’s plucky guitar work, exploring mistakes made, regret carried, and scars worn. Til Forever is certainly another nod to older tracks like 2016’s Aeroplane; a huge boppy number boasting big verses and a full multi-harmony chorus, that makes you want to sing (cc: scream) along. The driving drumlines from Flood, paired with the soaring guitars from Marshall and Busby really drive this track through its exploration of fear, love, loss, and ultimately perseverance. Til Forever underlines the band’s unique spin on melodic punk-rock drenched in the kind of earnestness that could never be mistaken as anything less than sincerity. Next up is Concussion. An introspective, reserved yet frankly honest look at one’s most inner feelings; when the good times are overtaken by the bad. The gentler pace on the track allows Richardson’s vocals pierce through the instrumentation, without taking away from the arrangement itself. Losin’ is an upbeat anthemic blast that shifts the record back into high gear. Punctuated by a rippin’ Busby Guitar solo, the track is a thoughtful look at desires lost to time and accepting circumstances beyond one’s control as Richo’s lyrics “what you want, you can’t get back again” echo through the chorus. The journey of self-reflection that ‘The World Don’t Owe You Anything’ embodies culminates on closing track, A Place to Begin. The track is a triumphant sermon led by Richardson’s vocals, declaring that you are who you are, and that’s okay. Touching on negative self-talk, broken promises made to oneself and some of life’s more menial chores, the track implores the listener to stay angry and “stick a middle finger up to anyone who thinks that they’re the one that gets to run your show.” The song’s almost conversational opening verses gives way to Danny Flood’s uncompromising and perfectly executed drumlines as the song, and the album, rumble toward its conclusion echoing “everyone needs a place to begin” and a place to be happy just as they are.
If this album confirms anything, it’s definitely that there’s something different about Luca Brasi. The Tassie lads have created something special; down-to-earth, humble and heart-on-your-sleeve honesty in everything they do – creating genuine connection with punters not only as fans of their music but as people too. ‘The World Don’t Owe You Anything’ opens up and highlights the importance of honesty, perseverance and determination in the face of adversity. Luca Brasi have captured a moment in time on this record; something big, something grand, something inspiring that binds us all together in pumping fists, sweaty hugs and bloody good times in bandrooms and backyards across the country (if not the world). So, slow down, pick yourself up, keep fighting and keep moving forward.
Luca Brasi‘s new album ‘The World Don’t Owe You Anything’ is out today – Friday September 29th via Cooking Vinyl Australia – you can pick yourself up a copy HERE.
‘The World Don’t Owe You Anything’ Album Launch
Thursday September 28 – The Vanguard, Sydney
Friday September 29 – The Curtin, Melbourne
Saturday September 30 – Stranded Bar, Brisbane
Sunday October 1 – Deep South Brewing, Hobart *SOLD OUT*
With thanks to Deathproof PR
