Primo

Primo emerged amid the lively Australian indie rock community of the 2010s, where hook-driven, raucous guitar pop prevailed, their strong résumés from prior stints in standout local outfits such as the Shifters and TERRY, together with their energetic style, allowing the group to distinguish itself via the 2018 debut Amici and its 2020 successor Sogni.

Formed in Melbourne during 2016, the project began as a regular weekly partnership involving Xanthe Waite, already active in TERRY and Mick Harvey’s band, Violetta DelConte-Race of the Shifters, and filmmaker Suzanne Walker. The three applied their basic abilities to crafting straightforward post-punk material shaped by early Flying Nun acts like the Clean, while assembling their loose two-guitars-drums-group-vocals texture. That April they issued the seven-song cassette Primo Cassetto, followed in early 2017 by a split single alongside L.A. Mood; live performances commenced around the same time, with further recording pursued around commitments to their other projects. Al Monfort, known from TERRY and Dick Diver, took on production duties as the band tracked material across 2017, yielding Amici, which Upset the Rhythm put out in mid-2018 just as the lineup—now expanded by Amy Hill of TERRY on bass—embarked on a European tour.

The resulting quartet developed fresh songs during rehearsals, road-tested them in concert, and captured them once more with Monfort guiding the sessions. These tracks received the same unadorned treatment as the debut, so that Sogni, arriving in 2020, carried forward an equally minimal yet melodic character.