Terry

Australian quartet TERRY specialized in straightforward tunes carrying memorable melodies shaped by post-punk and the early Flying Nun catalog. Its roster drew from UV Race, Total Control, and Dick Diver, among other groups. From 2015 onward the four-piece issued a run of singles and LPs, including the strong 2017 set Remember Terry, that stood alongside the output of the players’ primary bands; by the arrival of Call Me Terry in 2023 any notion of the project as a casual endeavor had clearly faded.

Al Montfort handled guitar while also appearing in UV Race, Total Control, and Dick Diver. Zephyr Pavey occupied the drum chair, contributed to Total Control, and led Eastlink. Xanthe Waite took the other guitar position and sang in Mick Harvey’s band. Amy Hill played bass and belonged to Constant Mongrel. The musicians came together in the mid-2010s and cultivated a close-knit style of indie pop in which vocal duties rotated and songwriting was shared. Their first release, the single “Talk About Terry,” appeared on Upset the Rhythm near the end of 2015; a second 7-inch, “8 Girls,” followed on Aarght! Records in the middle of 2016. The band’s debut album, TERRY HQ, arrived on Upset the Rhythm at the start of July.

After a stretch of live dates the members reconvened to write and, in early 2017, entered the studio. Mikey Young mastered the resulting tracks, which Upset the Rhythm issued as Remember Terry in mid-2017. Maintaining momentum, the group delivered its third album, the consistently tuneful and dryly humorous I’m Terry, in August 2018. Attention then shifted to separate endeavors, among them the post-punk duo Sleeper & Snake formed by Montfort and Hill, as well as new employment, relocations, and family life. The COVID-19 pandemic’s enforced seclusion pulled the four back into contact; they began exchanging demos in 2020. Once gathering limits eased in 2021 they met at their practice room to lay down basic tracks, later adding overdubs at individual homes. The finished recordings blended typical melodic indie pop with sporadic glam-rock rhythms and occasional political lines. Upset the Rhythm released the collection, titled Call Me Terry, in April 2023.