Biography
The Smith Street Band began life as an outlet for Australian singer/songwriter Wil Wagner yet dropped the "Wil Wagner &" tag after two years and stood on its own. Wagner pulled the Melbourne lineup together in 2010 with guitarist Lee Hartney, second guitarist Tom Lawson, bassist Jimi O'Loughlin, and drummer Chris Cowburn. Their earliest release, the EP South East Facing Wall, surfaced in 2011 and led directly into the debut album No One Gets Lost Anymore. Constant road work in the local punk circuit earned the five-piece a growing audience for its folk-tinged punk approach.
Once O'Loughlin left the bass chair, Michael Fitzgerald stepped in for the 2012 sophomore album Sunshine & Technology, and by the close of that year Tom Lawson also exited by mutual agreement. The 2013 Young Drunks national tour, which featured the Bennies and New York's Bomb the Music Industry!, delivered the band's biggest shows to that point; one especially charged night in Byron Bay later supplied the spark for the EP Don't Fuck with Our Dreams.
An American run with Frank Turner in mid-2013, an appearance at Gainesville's Fest Festival, and European dates lifted the group's profile sharply that year, after which the quartet launched another full Australian circuit early in 2014 alongside Pennsylvania punk band the Menzingers. In July the remaining members retreated to rural Victoria to cut their third album, Throw Me in the River, with Jeff Rosenstock of Bomb the Music Industry! producing. The record arrived at the end of October 2014 and entered the ARIA chart at number 18. Early 2015 brought a national headline tour plus the single Wipe That Shit-Eating Grin Off Your Punchable Face, prompted by former Prime Minister Tony Abbott's asylum-seeker policies. August brought a second single, I Scare Myself Sometimes, featuring vocals from fellow Australian Lucy Wilson.
The group maintained its heavy touring pace through 2016 with shows across the U.S., Australia, and Europe, then returned to the studio with Rosenstock to track a fourth album. Preceded by the singles "Death to the Lads" and "Birthdays," More Scared of You Than You Are of Me appeared in April 2017.
Once O'Loughlin left the bass chair, Michael Fitzgerald stepped in for the 2012 sophomore album Sunshine & Technology, and by the close of that year Tom Lawson also exited by mutual agreement. The 2013 Young Drunks national tour, which featured the Bennies and New York's Bomb the Music Industry!, delivered the band's biggest shows to that point; one especially charged night in Byron Bay later supplied the spark for the EP Don't Fuck with Our Dreams.
An American run with Frank Turner in mid-2013, an appearance at Gainesville's Fest Festival, and European dates lifted the group's profile sharply that year, after which the quartet launched another full Australian circuit early in 2014 alongside Pennsylvania punk band the Menzingers. In July the remaining members retreated to rural Victoria to cut their third album, Throw Me in the River, with Jeff Rosenstock of Bomb the Music Industry! producing. The record arrived at the end of October 2014 and entered the ARIA chart at number 18. Early 2015 brought a national headline tour plus the single Wipe That Shit-Eating Grin Off Your Punchable Face, prompted by former Prime Minister Tony Abbott's asylum-seeker policies. August brought a second single, I Scare Myself Sometimes, featuring vocals from fellow Australian Lucy Wilson.
The group maintained its heavy touring pace through 2016 with shows across the U.S., Australia, and Europe, then returned to the studio with Rosenstock to track a fourth album. Preceded by the singles "Death to the Lads" and "Birthdays," More Scared of You Than You Are of Me appeared in April 2017.
Albums
Singles
