Skyways Are Highways

A power-pop song masquerading as a punk rock tune. What you get is something that's both rocking and catchy. - Dom Alessio - Triple J Radio

Oh man. Punk gigs. That might be a misnomer, considering that Melbourne-based duo Skyways Are Highways bill themselves as sunshine pop first and punk rock second, but they certainly know how to make some noise. So I’ll give myself a free pass on that one.

Finally, Skyways Are Highways took to the stage. Well, Skyways and what appeared to be a large portion of their friends, including keys, two extra percussionists, a bassist, and a second guitarist. The stage creaked under their combined presence as they burst into the set. My fear that the sheer number of instruments would muddy Skyways clean guitar driven pop was unfounded, and they deftly navigated each song as a tightly coupled unit. Pushed to the front of the stage, I gingerly perched on what felt like a mountain of crushed glass as they worked through songs from their self titled debut double-a side, their recent EP Let Them Run Wild and their newest EP So Young.

The enthusiasm in the air was palpable, and lead singer Eli Hood regularly grinned at the tightly packed room. The infectious single, Wild Animals, drew a huge crowd sing-along from all corners of the Evelyn. It’s clear it deserves all the accolades it gets, including its rave review from Triple J’s Richard Kingsmill. It’s a slice of pop punk joy, and Skyways Are Highways used it to show why they’ve become one of the most exciting pop bands in Melbourne.

Drummer Angie Brown was joined by two percussionists (including Morda of Ceres) who thrashed and battled along with her throughout the set. Maintaining a thumping, dizzying rhythm, the three made the room feel like a stadium. But for all the fanfare, instruments and additional members, it was the simple mid-set song “I’m A Storm” that stuck with me. Hood, standing alone under the stark white spotlight, provided a moment of quiet introspection in an ocean of dancing and drinking.

As they worked towards the end of their set along came So Tough, a highlight of Let Them Run Wild. Pausing to catch his breath, Hood invited the audience up with the band to sing along. And quite a few, including myself, did. The tightly packed stage felt like an island, the crowd pulsing forward under the hot lights as we swayed and cried “So Tough!” at the top of our lungs.

Regardless of anything, it was Skyways boundless enthusiasm and tireless joy that shone through. Hood and Brown caught one another grinning, nodding to one another as though everything in the world was going to be okay. I felt like they meant it – every word, every note and every beat reverberated throughout the room, drenched with real feeling. Maybe it’s a reflection on the kind of processed cookie cutter music pushed out by the current pop culture, but Skyways Are Highways were clearly doing what they love. And by extension, so were their adoring crowd.
- AdamNOTeve

Oh man. Punk gigs. That might be a misnomer, considering that Melbourne-based duo Skyways Are Highways bill themselves as sunshine pop first and punk rock second, but they certainly know how to make some noise. So I’ll give myself a free pass on that one.

Finally, Skyways Are Highways took to the stage. Well, Skyways and what appeared to be a large portion of their friends, including keys, two extra percussionists, a bassist, and a second guitarist. The stage creaked under their combined presence as they burst into the set. My fear that the sheer number of instruments would muddy Skyways clean guitar driven pop was unfounded, and they deftly navigated each song as a tightly coupled unit. Pushed to the front of the stage, I gingerly perched on what felt like a mountain of crushed glass as they worked through songs from their self titled debut double-a side, their recent EP Let Them Run Wild and their newest EP So Young.

The enthusiasm in the air was palpable, and lead singer Eli Hood regularly grinned at the tightly packed room. The infectious single, Wild Animals, drew a huge crowd sing-along from all corners of the Evelyn. It’s clear it deserves all the accolades it gets, including its rave review from Triple J’s Richard Kingsmill. It’s a slice of pop punk joy, and Skyways Are Highways used it to show why they’ve become one of the most exciting pop bands in Melbourne.

Drummer Angie Brown was joined by two percussionists (including Morda of Ceres) who thrashed and battled along with her throughout the set. Maintaining a thumping, dizzying rhythm, the three made the room feel like a stadium. But for all the fanfare, instruments and additional members, it was the simple mid-set song “I’m A Storm” that stuck with me. Hood, standing alone under the stark white spotlight, provided a moment of quiet introspection in an ocean of dancing and drinking.

As they worked towards the end of their set along came So Tough, a highlight of Let Them Run Wild. Pausing to catch his breath, Hood invited the audience up with the band to sing along. And quite a few, including myself, did. The tightly packed stage felt like an island, the crowd pulsing forward under the hot lights as we swayed and cried “So Tough!” at the top of our lungs.

Regardless of anything, it was Skyways boundless enthusiasm and tireless joy that shone through. Hood and Brown caught one another grinning, nodding to one another as though everything in the world was going to be okay. I felt like they meant it – every word, every note and every beat reverberated throughout the room, drenched with real feeling. Maybe it’s a reflection on the kind of processed cookie cutter music pushed out by the current pop culture, but Skyways Are Highways were clearly doing what they love. And by extension, so were their adoring crowd.
- AdamNOTeve

The second EP from Byron Bay natives Skyways Are Highways comes to you fully formed, sounding like two musicians who are very confident in their sound. Their stated love for 60's surf music is mostly lost on 'So Young', the influence only heard in the backing vocals and a few of the guitar lines. Instead what is presented are four slices of bold punk rock. The sound quality is undoubtedly crisp as Eli Hood belts out his simplistic romanticism over his own guitar, a little pisano and some quality drumming from Angie Brown. A fun blast of optimistic rock'n'roll. - Inpress Magazine

The second EP from Byron Bay natives Skyways Are Highways comes to you fully formed, sounding like two musicians who are very confident in their sound. Their stated love for 60's surf music is mostly lost on 'So Young', the influence only heard in the backing vocals and a few of the guitar lines. Instead what is presented are four slices of bold punk rock. The sound quality is undoubtedly crisp as Eli Hood belts out his simplistic romanticism over his own guitar, a little pisano and some quality drumming from Angie Brown. A fun blast of optimistic rock'n'roll. - Inpress Magazine

Melbourne’s Skyways are Highways recently released their debut EP Let Them Run Wild, and you can watch the video for lead single “Wild Animals” now. The somber telling of a losing a Summer love, quickly turns into a celebration admist cheery 50’s clad friends cruising around town. I mean really who need a 2 month relationship, when you can hang out with a bunch of happy pals instead? Under the bubbliest and brightest of melodies, the song shines bright and is a daft Cali-pop song in disguise. We must remember it is Summer currently in Australia, and this song seems absolutely perfect for the warm days down under. These guys automatically remind me of fellow Aussies Loon Lake, for their rugged-voiced infectious concoctions. - Handclap Movement

Melbourne’s Skyways are Highways recently released their debut EP Let Them Run Wild, and you can watch the video for lead single “Wild Animals” now. The somber telling of a losing a Summer love, quickly turns into a celebration admist cheery 50’s clad friends cruising around town. I mean really who need a 2 month relationship, when you can hang out with a bunch of happy pals instead? Under the bubbliest and brightest of melodies, the song shines bright and is a daft Cali-pop song in disguise. We must remember it is Summer currently in Australia, and this song seems absolutely perfect for the warm days down under. These guys automatically remind me of fellow Aussies Loon Lake, for their rugged-voiced infectious concoctions. - Handclap Movement

This keeps getting better the more I hear it. Snappy playing, strong vocals, driving guitar, solid drummer. Luckily they have a decent enough song to play too!

Richard Kingsmill – Triple J Radio Music Manager - Richard Kingsmill - Triple J music director

Skyway Are Highway’s EP Let Them Run Wild is much like can of Red Bull; it’s sugary sweet, kick starts your heart and it’s going to have an effect on your frame of mind long after it’s over.

A shot of modern indie rock that blends the sensibilities of the genre with a distinct pop punk influence, Let Them Run Wild flaunts the young Melbournian’s influences. Above all however are tight pop melodies that cut through every track and stick with you for much longer than their concise running time. There are hooks abound and the uncomplicated vocal melodies will have you singing along by your second play through. There are plenty of woah-oh’s and na-na- na’s, and if you were once 90s kid riding the pop punk wave (raises hand), then you’re going to love the youthful exuberance of this EP.

Piano and acoustic guitar are also prominent features of this band’s sound, which may seem like an odd choice at first. However, unlike many other bands who let these elements slow the momentum, Skyways Are Highways use them to add texture to their raucous blasts of energy. Adding sentimentality to melody, the piano allows the guitars to squeal and the drums to crash, as the songs retain a sense of tenderness. The best example of this is in ‘So Tough’, which sticks with you as perhaps the most energetic track of the EP yet the most instinctually emotional.

Running just under 16 minutes, Let Them Run Wild will quench your thirst high- energy pop record. Perfect to let your hair down, jump around and sing along.
- adamNOTeve

This keeps getting better the more I hear it. Snappy playing, strong vocals, driving guitar, solid drummer. Luckily they have a decent enough song to play too! - Richard Kingsmill - Triple J music director

You’ll realise precisely what “punk drenched, 60’s inspired sunshine-pop” is meant to sound like in the first five seconds of hearing Let Them Run Wild – the new and shiny, debut EP by Melbourne band Skyways Are Highways. That’s how the band explains their sound on Facebook – and it seems a pretty apt description.

I’ll gleefully admit that I took to these guys the first time I heard them. My introduction came in the form of the single If You Get Caught We Never Met back in February, and since then that track has only ever fleetingly escaped my ‘Recently Played’ in iTunes. I found that track so fun and so playfully devious that I couldn’t help but keep returning to it.

Now, thankfully, these guys seem to be gearing up toward a first album. Their debut EP Let Them Run Wild – released in Australia on October 19th – is overflowing with relentless torrents of fast flowing, frenetic energy. Consisting of Eli J. Hood (songwriter, guitar, keys), Angie Rose Brown (drums) and, more recently, Brenton Maybury (bass), the band has delivered more of precisely what their currently-limited fan base demanded with this release.

This week I was fortunate enough to exchange a few words with Eli, and he described to me, in general terms, the underlying theme of Let Them Run Wild: “Basically it's about the beauty and anxieties of young love, and the troubles a young person goes through to find their place in the world.”

Indeed, each track seems to communicate something different on this theme in a different way. The tracks are all inherently diverse – both musically and emotionally – but they’re all just as quirky as each other.

“Skyways’ song writing starts with me and becomes collaborative towards the end of the process, when the song really comes to life.”

In terms of themes, though, a song can mean anything to anybody who wants to apply their own meaning to it, and given Eli’s approach to lyrics, this EP could mean a lot of different things.

“The songs are about everything!” he says. “Song writing is very meditative for me – especially lyrics – so once I’m done I kind of wake up and go ‘whoa what's this all about?’ Then I try to figure it out, but I never can. I usually get a few people come to me and tell me it's about them and some troubles they are going through – and it helps them – and I'm thinking ‘okay, maybe that is what it's about!’.”

“I've tried to write literally before and it doesn't work,” he adds. “I have to go to that meditative state to get to the good stuff.”

All I can say is that regardless of where he has to go, I hope he keeps going there.

The first track Waiting on the Morning Sun explodes out of the blocks with an unrelenting beat, its warm punk tones laid beneath a few simple, prominent piano lines that persist the whole way through. I won’t go so far as to say the vocal track is incredible – that’s a tag reserved for very few artists – but it’s easily on par with most quasi-comparable, recognised indie bands out there. The wailing vocals of the line “I’m waiting on the morning sun to warm my broken...” certainly aren’t simple, and they convey this underlying sadness that I noticed throughout the entire compilation.

In fact, I thought the vocal tracks overall turned this EP from a simple, fun, pop-laden release to one with more depth than that. It seemed like there was this profound pain or loss behind it all – like the jubilation of the music was a mask for the emotions of the man behind it all.

I do tend to over-analyse the crap out of everything, I’ll admit, but I guess you can’t dismiss what it was like to be young and in love, right?

Anyway, Wild Animals – the EP’s second track – seems to have garnered the most attention so far. It’s punchy and fun – we’ve come to expect that – but again there’s this inescapable sadness throughout. “I found a raging river; he told me he would never be free; I found a weeping willow; she told me she is crying for me; I guess I’m better off alone”. It’s a clever track, and there are enough “nah, nah nah’s” to make it accessible to anyone who wants to jam along the first time it hits their radio on the drive home.

Fox in Hawaii is probably the token ‘place-filler’ track here, but at the same time it’s also the most unique. It kicks off with rolling drums and the strumming of some blissful short strings, and the hazy vocals soon complete the island imagery behind your closed eyes. A cute solo line and some pretty piano work fade away gradually over the latter half of the track like the setting tropical sun on the radiant summer horizon.

So Tough! is a standout track for this reviewer. Its overloaded with more of those mindless “bah, bah, bah’s” that’ll have you involuntarily singing along – particularly in the breakdown that quickly builds to the crescendo – and you’ll very quickly realise when you’re meant to cheer “so tough!” with the child-like chorus of voices that do so every few bars. This is the first track that real - Australian Music Network

You’ll realise precisely what “punk drenched, 60’s inspired sunshine-pop” is meant to sound like in the first five seconds of hearing Let Them Run Wild – the new and shiny, debut EP by Melbourne band Skyways Are Highways. That’s how the band explains their sound on Facebook – and it seems a pretty apt description.

I’ll gleefully admit that I took to these guys the first time I heard them. My introduction came in the form of the single If You Get Caught We Never Met back in February, and since then that track has only ever fleetingly escaped my ‘Recently Played’ in iTunes. I found that track so fun and so playfully devious that I couldn’t help but keep returning to it.

Now, thankfully, these guys seem to be gearing up toward a first album. Their debut EP Let Them Run Wild – released in Australia on October 19th – is overflowing with relentless torrents of fast flowing, frenetic energy. Consisting of Eli J. Hood (songwriter, guitar, keys), Angie Rose Brown (drums) and, more recently, Brenton Maybury (bass), the band has delivered more of precisely what their currently-limited fan base demanded with this release.

This week I was fortunate enough to exchange a few words with Eli, and he described to me, in general terms, the underlying theme of Let Them Run Wild: “Basically it's about the beauty and anxieties of young love, and the troubles a young person goes through to find their place in the world.”

Indeed, each track seems to communicate something different on this theme in a different way. The tracks are all inherently diverse – both musically and emotionally – but they’re all just as quirky as each other.

“Skyways’ song writing starts with me and becomes collaborative towards the end of the process, when the song really comes to life.”

In terms of themes, though, a song can mean anything to anybody who wants to apply their own meaning to it, and given Eli’s approach to lyrics, this EP could mean a lot of different things.

“The songs are about everything!” he says. “Song writing is very meditative for me – especially lyrics – so once I’m done I kind of wake up and go ‘whoa what's this all about?’ Then I try to figure it out, but I never can. I usually get a few people come to me and tell me it's about them and some troubles they are going through – and it helps them – and I'm thinking ‘okay, maybe that is what it's about!’.”

“I've tried to write literally before and it doesn't work,” he adds. “I have to go to that meditative state to get to the good stuff.”

All I can say is that regardless of where he has to go, I hope he keeps going there.

The first track Waiting on the Morning Sun explodes out of the blocks with an unrelenting beat, its warm punk tones laid beneath a few simple, prominent piano lines that persist the whole way through. I won’t go so far as to say the vocal track is incredible – that’s a tag reserved for very few artists – but it’s easily on par with most quasi-comparable, recognised indie bands out there. The wailing vocals of the line “I’m waiting on the morning sun to warm my broken...” certainly aren’t simple, and they convey this underlying sadness that I noticed throughout the entire compilation.

In fact, I thought the vocal tracks overall turned this EP from a simple, fun, pop-laden release to one with more depth than that. It seemed like there was this profound pain or loss behind it all – like the jubilation of the music was a mask for the emotions of the man behind it all.

I do tend to over-analyse the crap out of everything, I’ll admit, but I guess you can’t dismiss what it was like to be young and in love, right?

Anyway, Wild Animals – the EP’s second track – seems to have garnered the most attention so far. It’s punchy and fun – we’ve come to expect that – but again there’s this inescapable sadness throughout. “I found a raging river; he told me he would never be free; I found a weeping willow; she told me she is crying for me; I guess I’m better off alone”. It’s a clever track, and there are enough “nah, nah nah’s” to make it accessible to anyone who wants to jam along the first time it hits their radio on the drive home.

Fox in Hawaii is probably the token ‘place-filler’ track here, but at the same time it’s also the most unique. It kicks off with rolling drums and the strumming of some blissful short strings, and the hazy vocals soon complete the island imagery behind your closed eyes. A cute solo line and some pretty piano work fade away gradually over the latter half of the track like the setting tropical sun on the radiant summer horizon.

So Tough! is a standout track for this reviewer. Its overloaded with more of those mindless “bah, bah, bah’s” that’ll have you involuntarily singing along – particularly in the breakdown that quickly builds to the crescendo – and you’ll very quickly realise when you’re meant to cheer “so tough!” with the child-like chorus of voices that do so every few bars. This is the first track that real - Australian Music Network