Soundtracked: music for biking

Driven by a DIY ethos and a penchant for lurking in the fringes of society, the music and biking communities are good mates, old friends. They’ve been that way for a long time and aren’t planning on changing. They live near each other, have similar interests and have been there for each other at milestone events.

With so many aligning layers, it would be disrespectful to not incorporate some love for music. In the spirit of Australian based DIY culture, this version of Soundtracked focusses on three independent, Australian artists.

Ideally, one or all of these artists will appeal to your taste, provide something to share with the homies and maybe soundtrack your next session.

Enjoy.

Teether: It Must Be Strange to Not Have Lived

Teether, It Must Be Strange to Not Have Lived (CONTENT.NET.AU, 2024).

Long gone are the days of what some people describe as ‘BBQ Rap’, a radio friendly version of Australian hip hop which was, and still is, dominated by the likes of Hilltop Hoods, Drapht and Illy et al. For many reasons, the cultural landscape in Australia has evolved, which includes an embrace of a much varied and diverse hip hop scene, as detailed by Henry Owens (Vice, 2023).

“I think now we’re collectively getting to a point of more awareness, where different styles are becoming more accepted, and that sounds new because we exist in an untapped part of the world.”

This isn’t a new take, however it still seems valid to say, but Australian hip hop is not what it used to be. It is now a hotbed of genuinely talented, progressive artists of an international standard, that we can and must be proud of.

Teether is one of these artists.

Refining his craft in the inner northern suburbs of Melbourne, Teether now resides in London and is on an ever ascending path with his ability to produce a sound that nods to endless genres, defined by paranoid trap instrumentation and hallmarked by his hazy monotonous flow, as Mike Lesuer (Flood, 2025) explains:

“…chew up hip-hop as it develops in the US, UK, and across the internet, and spit it out within the unique context of their diverse local Footscray scene.”

Teether’s 5th solo album, ‘It Must be Strange to Not Have Lived’ found its way into the world in February 2024, released on the ‘CONTENT.NET.AU’ label. As the Teether Bandcamp describes:

“Somewhere between observation and rumination, this album is an exploration of the first-person and all that surrounds. Embarked on at the height of Naarm’s 2021 solitude, this album is the sound of too much time to think.”

Executive produced by Teether himself (alongside Stoneset and Nerdie [1300]), this cut is a mix of wide-spanning instrumentals, samples and live instrumentation. True to the Teether palette, expect a catalogue of the unexpected; industrial metal, post-punk even hints of math rock dressed alongside the more typical hip hop production.

With a debut album partnering with producer Kuya Neil that just released in May 2025, Teether is one to keep a side eye on.

Shady Nasty: Trek

Shady Nasty, Trek.

From Teether to Shady Nasty, an unintended segue which does well to showcase a group making music equally focussed on dissolving genres and experimenting with wide-ranging influences while still retaining accessibility. With Shady Nasty, a 3 piece from Sydney who have just released their debut LP, ‘Trek’ the dials are biased towards punk with hip hop less a defining feature. Although, as you will hear pretty quickly upon first listen, the way vocalist/guitarist Kevin Stathis delivers the lyrics is in many ways, reminiscent of modern hip hop, as Julie Fenwick (Vice, 2023) details:

“[We were] keen to highlight a niche we felt had been overlooked or unappreciated; one melded by digital obsessions, modding cars and immigrant parents”

With ‘Trek’, the trio build further upon their unique sound, offering up 8 cuts of drawling, anxiety inducing sounds that both confuse and entice. With the bass murmuring away, the signature interplay of post rock-esque guitars and vocals does its thing, ranging from digitised crooning to hard-hitting, twang heavy flow. Even as I write this, I’m unable to decipher the sound, the bent towards punk and hip-hop as close as it gets, although still a distance off. Lindsay Riley (FBI, 2025) does well to explain:

“Shady Nasty spares a thought for the middle class adlay; less jumping trains, more drifting souped up Skylines down Parra Road. With a sincerity to their hallowed idols, too, ‘You’ve never seen a case of Monster cans / On the backseat’. The band’s visual design has a zoomer surrealism to it: Snapchat filters, CCTV footage and Adobe Illustrator-metaness examining a judgement-free understanding of Australian suburbia. Not unlike David Lynch, overexposing almost towards parody, but actually maxxed out right at the edge of sincerity, revealing its truest, most realest nature.”

A genuinely independent band which stands in a space desperate to be filled, performing a role that has much to say, by people that don’t often get to speak. A refreshing antithesis to what Triple J would have you believe is the sound of up and coming Australian music, Shady Nasty vastly outperform their peers in terms of an accurate representation of life as a young person in modern, urban Australia. Go check them out live, they don’t seem to stop touring, buy a t-shirt and support real ass people doing good things.

Aglo: Build Fear (Brilliant Emperor)

Aglo, Build Fear (Brilliant Emperor, 2023).

Finally, wrapping up our trio of Australian albums of note is the solo Melbourne project of Aaron Osborne, Aglo, and the 2023 cut ‘Build Fear’.

Markedly easier to describe, Aglo follows in the path of many predecessors in the metal arena, taking heavy influence from science fiction and the endless void of universe that surrounds us. In fact, the science fiction theme is beyond an influence, it is the fibre of this machine. Take it from Inner Strength Check podcast (2023):

“Well, the overarching ‘theme’ of the band is essentially taking all influence from Star Trek haha, so the Borg storylines have influenced a lot of the lyrics/visuals as I think it’s just one of the coolest arcs in the show/movies. But I think a lot of the stories are very relatable to every day problems and societal issues (which was the intent of the OG Trek writers), so it’s very easy to apply those themes to lyrics about the world/people being shit, haha.”

Not a new concept, in fact, aligning with the birth of metal via the 1971 release by Black Sabbath, ‘Master of Reality’ and their track ‘Into The Void’. The song speaks to the scourge that is humanity; pillaging, consuming and destroying until nothing remains, the concept of space being a saviour, a relief to a society so devastating that it has eaten itself. Within this context, you can start to form a fuller picture of why metal looks and sounds the way it does.

Aglo is no different, serving up 7 thick slabs of raging death doom, evoking imagery of a purgatory nightmare; mega-machinery, suffocating pollution and sacred forests being felled. The divine overlord enraged by colossal, unabated ignorance and narcissism. Performed and produced by Aaron Osborne himself (alongside Colin Young on drums), the album has been released by the excellent, Sydney based label ‘Brilliant Emperor’. If you appreciate heavy music and/or Australian/NZ talent, highly recommend this entity.

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Words by Mike Vockenson. The printed version is on pages 18 to 19 of Issue 01.