Gaslight Radio were an Australian indie rock band. It was founded by brothers, Martin (guitar) and Rory Cooke (vocals, guitar) with Simon Piper (drums) and Phil Roubin (bass guitar) in Burleigh Heads, Queensland in 1995. They released three studio albums, Hitch on the Leaves (September 1998), Z-Nation (2003) and Good Heavens Mean Times (July 2006), before disbanding in 2009.
History
Gaslight Radio formed at Burleigh Heads, Queensland in 1995 as an indie guitar pop group by Rory Cooke on vocals and guitar, his brother Martin Cooke on guitar, Phil Roubin on bass guitar and Simon Piper on drums. The Cooke brothers grew up in a housing commission suburb, Burleigh Park, which later became part of Burleigh Heads. Rory later explained why he took up song writing, "If someone is in their bedroom with their headphones on, trying to drown their parents' fighting, that's when music can mean the most."
Gaslight Radio recorded a four-track demo in the Gold Coast hinterland, which included the track "Tarmac and Line". The demo was sent to Mushroom Records, where the band signed with an independent offshoot – Lonely Guy Records. The first EP, Torchin' Towns, Hankering Homes (August 1996), was recorded over the Easter weekend with Greg Wales (Drop City) producing at Smash Studios, Sydney. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, opined, "With influences drawn from US bands like The Pixies, Pavement and The Breeders, the band fashioned a compelling brand of low-fi indie guitar pop." Its five tracks were "earning the band across-the-board praise." "Tarmac and Line" was one of its popular tracks.
The group played several shows in the Gold Coast and Brisbane prior to the release of the EP, including co-headlining with another Gold Coast band, Pollen. They toured Australia for a year "with other like-minded bands such as Autohaze, Drop City and Pollen." After its release their material gained high rotation on JJJ radio and independent stations ZZZ and RRR. They appeared at the Big Day Out, Gold Coast and at Brisbane's Livid festival.
They recorded their second five-track EP, ...Our Dolelove (June 1997), in Melbourne during mid-1997 with the assistance of Charles Bickford from the Paradise Motel. It appeared via Lonely Guy Records and was distributed by Mushroom Distribution Services (MDS). McFarlane felt its "track 'The Singer's a Liar' highlighted the band's off-kilter inventiveness." Extensive touring was undertaken in support of the EP, including a national support with Even and Header.
In late 1997 Gaslight Radio recorded four tracks for their third EP, Is by Bus (November 1997), with Lindsay Gravina (Underground Lovers, Magic Dirt) at Birdland Studios, Melbourne. The title track, "Is by Bus", received significant airplay. Phil Roubin departed the band, prior to their relocation from the Gold Coast to Melbourne.
Gaslight Radio's debut, Hitch on the Leaves (September 1998), was released to critical acclaim: McFarlane described it as "a fine example of indie guitar-pop," while AllMusic's Ned Raggett rated it as four out-of five stars. He explained, "[it is] a wonderful debut album from this quintet, equal parts pretty Cocteau Twins-inspired shoegaze and fragile rock drive... [they] don't sound like a cloning of any one group in particular, partially since the group turns from total feedback overdrive to subtler, slow motion approaches."
In December 1999 they issued a six-track EP, Sleeveful of Slight, via Silvertone Records, "With a new bass player and drummer installed, the band recorded new material." Five of its tracks were recorded in October with Tim Whitten producing. Cameron Webb of Oz Music Project felt the title track is "easily the best track here and is forged from the same mould used for the previously released 'Is by Bus' and 'Spindlings of the Summer'."
Webb observed, "Upbeat catchy pop with skewed guitars and abstract lyrics have become the trademark of Gaslight Radio and there is no shortage of those elements here. However, it is nice to hear a more minimalist approach taken to most of the other tracks where drums have been stripped back and a greater prevalence bestowed upon the organ."
A six-track EP, Chapter 6: The Hard Luck Knights, was released in 2002 via Love + Mercy / Inertia Records. Oz Music Projects Jasper Lee opined "[it] follows nicely onto their last release, the 7" Sleeveful of Slight and is broken down into two single tracks and four demo recordings... Not much to fault here, it's very much a Gaslight Radio disc, with their sound relatively intact through the years in the musical wilderness."