Strangers

Today, GuitarWorld.com brings you the exclusive premiere of "Persona Non Grata," a new track by Strangers, a band from Sydney, Australia.

Their debut album, Persona Non Grata, which was recorded and produced by Tom Larkin (Shihad, The Getaway Plan, Calling All Cars), captures the band's dual-guitar attack. The band is Ben Britton (vocals), Mark Barnes (lead guitar), Benny K (guitar), Tristian Griffiths (bass) and Timmy Hansen (drums).

‘We all grew up loving the fuck out of bands and live music," Barnes says. "Whether it was Motorhead, Black Flag or any number of killer local bands, it didn’t matter. We were at the shows then and we’re still at the shows now. The only thing that’s changed is we’re now adding our particular brand of rock and roll to the legacy we love."

The video for "Persona Non Grata" will be released soon. It was produced and directed by Natalie Van Den Dungen, who directed The Persecution Blues: The Battle For The Tote, plus clips for Children Collide, Wagons and Seeker Lover Keep. - Guitar World

Australia has produced many great rock acts over the years. Strangers are the newest band to come out of Australia, ready to take the world by storm. With their single “Bred For Breeding,” and their debut LP, Persona Non Grata, the band will hit the road to promote the record. After performing at SXSW, they will head to New York for two shows. The first stop is on March 25 at the Knitting Factory, and the next is at Bowery Electric on March 28. Since their formation only a few years ago, the band has become no strangers to success. - The Aquarian

Australia has produced many great rock acts over the years. Strangers are the newest band to come out of Australia, ready to take the world by storm. With their single “Bred For Breeding,” and their debut LP, Persona Non Grata, the band will hit the road to promote the record. After performing at SXSW, they will head to New York for two shows. The first stop is on March 25 at the Knitting Factory, and the next is at Bowery Electric on March 28. Since their formation only a few years ago, the band has become no strangers to success. - The Aquarian

Hailing from the Southern beaches of Sydney, Australia, Strangers unleash a debut effort that sounds more Seattle post-grunge than it does Aussie barroom boogie. In fact if you are looking for a Foo Fighterish fist of fun to the face, then you could do much worse than wrap your ears around Persona Non Grata.

Crucially things kick off in fine style, with "Red Brick" hurtling through the air at maximum velocity, guitars crashing, drums dashing and vocals smashing through joyously uplifting attack that convinces from the off. "Closer To Nowhere" reins things back, taking its foot off the gas with a deft swipe of ever moving percussion that hits hard and continues to meet the mark. Then "Bred For Breeding" takes that blueprint flicks the ferocity up to the max, making for the best track on PNG. However from there things become a little less steady, while maintaining just enough verve and exuberance to keep you interested. Rather than push on and up the ante, the likes of "Far Too Late", "Heiress" and "The Yearly Drag" become all too keen to repeat the opening trio's approach a little too closely, but without the same level of success. However it pays to keep in mind that the triumvirate which introduce the album really are pretty fine, meaning that what follows is good, if all a little downhill. Thankfully however things do end on a real high with "Long Snake Moan", even if the song title is awful, possessing a guitar groove that could do with making itself more readily apparent elsewhere on this album. The axe-work taking a rather ordinary framework and lifting it far beyond initial expectations, especially through the excellent Cornell-lite throaty yowl of singer Ben Britton.
Persona Non Grata isn't likely to have you reassessing your best releases of 2013 so far list, although it may well give you pause for thought in the debut album stakes. However it is an album that stands up reasonably well to repeat listens and if you can put aside a propensity for things to repeat themselves a little too often, then it certainly suggests that these Strangers might well be worth getting better acquainted with.
- Sea Of Tranquility

Australian rockers Strangers kick off a string of North American dates tonight in L.A. at the Viper Room and to celebrate we asked singer Ben Britton to tells us about their new single "Bred For Breeding." Here is the story:
Strangers were in Melbourne Australlia at the time about to begin pre production for our first album Persona Non Grata. The band had come up with the verses in our rehearsal space a few months prior back in our home town of Sydney but we hadn't cracked the chorus yet.

We jammed out the song over and over and eventually the first words of the song came out - "In a world full of pride, did you let me down just to fall in line?" after that the concept for "Bred For Breeding" was born.

We were from a small town in Sydney Australia and had big dreams to become musicians and do something different than what everyone else around us was doing - settling down, having kids and forming the building blocks for a safe secure life (not that, that is a bad thing) but we wanted to travel the world, write music and follow our dreams.

Coming from a small town (Like most small towns) if you didn't follow the norm like everyone else you were cut down for what you were doing. So being in a band and pushing hard to make the band work was seen as a waste of time to most people. I was frustrated. I wanted to break free of that mentality, and follow a different path.

I remember sitting down on a seat in the middle of the city of Melbourne, looking around and thinking to myself "Melbourne is such a great city with so many people being proud of their creativeness and allowing themselves to grow into whatever they dreamed it was." It made me think of home and how a lot of the people surrounding me all sung along to the same tune so to speak, which cracked the chorus's first line "Did you notice did we all just sing along?".

Musically we always wanted to write a song that was bombastic sounding straight out of the gates so when we finished recording our album Bred For Breeding seemed the obvious choice to make people sit up and listen.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and check out the video, plus find out where you can see them including their stops at SXSW and CMW right here! - Anti Music

Bloody-Disgusting is excited to bring you the exclusive US music video premiere for “Persona Non Grata” from Australian rockers Strangers. The song is the title track from their debut album, which will be coming out in the US April 9th via Permanent Records. The video mixes performance footage of the band with shots of a man in a sleeping bag running frantically away (or toward?) something. This band is definitely for fans of Karnivool or Dead Letter Circus.

Below you can find the video, tour dates, social links, and a FREE download of their track “Bred For Breeding”. Enjoy! - Bloody Disgusting

Bloody-Disgusting is excited to bring you the exclusive US music video premiere for “Persona Non Grata” from Australian rockers Strangers. The song is the title track from their debut album, which will be coming out in the US April 9th via Permanent Records. The video mixes performance footage of the band with shots of a man in a sleeping bag running frantically away (or toward?) something. This band is definitely for fans of Karnivool or Dead Letter Circus.

Below you can find the video, tour dates, social links, and a FREE download of their track “Bred For Breeding”. Enjoy! - Bloody Disgusting

Strangers have been teasing us with snippets from their debut album for a while now and latest single ‘Persona Non Grata‘ is doing nothing for my patience. Fresh from warming the stage for Calling All Cars, Closure in Moscow and UK’s The Darkness, the Sydney rockers are starting to make a splash in the Aussie music scene.

‘Persona Non Grata’ is haunting at times, raw and real as singer Ben Britton croons into the microphone, lulling you into a false sense of security before the guitars accelerate him flawlessly into a passionate scream.

Furiously keeping up the pace, heavy and energetic guitar riffs contradict the overall (unsurprising) negative tone of the lyrics of the unwanted stranger.

The boys have once again delivered what can only be described as an epic track, and one that will tide us over until the release of their debut album in August. Just…

4/5 - PUSH TO FIRE

Strangers have been teasing us with snippets from their debut album for a while now and latest single ‘Persona Non Grata‘ is doing nothing for my patience. Fresh from warming the stage for Calling All Cars, Closure in Moscow and UK’s The Darkness, the Sydney rockers are starting to make a splash in the Aussie music scene.

‘Persona Non Grata’ is haunting at times, raw and real as singer Ben Britton croons into the microphone, lulling you into a false sense of security before the guitars accelerate him flawlessly into a passionate scream.

Furiously keeping up the pace, heavy and energetic guitar riffs contradict the overall (unsurprising) negative tone of the lyrics of the unwanted stranger.

The boys have once again delivered what can only be described as an epic track, and one that will tide us over until the release of their debut album in August. Just…

4/5 - PUSH TO FIRE

Strangers made their presence clear from the very outset. Being the only Sydney band on the bill, they stated how pumped they were to play to such a packed Annandale room and completely blew away the audience. This band were the real deal, from the power stance guitarists to lead singer Ben Britton’s great stage presence. In every sense, Strangers were epic. They played so tight as a unit that not one band member dominated the foreground, and their togetherness flowed through in their performance. The band had heads and feet moving with an electrifying performance with a large part of the audience singing the lyrics to closing song Bred For Breeding. Their performance blew away many, and won them many new fans. - Music Feeds

Having been digging Strangers first single Bred For Breeding, (I mean the video is awesome in itself, featuring a Cinderella (Cinderella the BAND) t-shirt wearing “fan”), I was pretty keen to check out what Strangers were all about as a live band. I got a glimpse of this a few nights earlier when they were supporting The Darkness at The Palace Theatre, but even though that was my first real time seeing the band live, I got the sense that The Darkness support performance wasn’t a real indication of Strangers as a live act. So tonight it was time for the band to play a bit more intimate venue and play to a far more appreciative crowd than of a few nights earlier that were only after one thing – jumpsuits and falsetto! As I suspected, tonight I wasn’t left disappointed. The band has a real undeniable energy on stage and they are certainly an interesting concoction of personalities, which I haven’t quite been able to pinpoint, who the band remind me of. Frontman Ben Britton possesses a real brooding kind of persona, with his real power coming from his vocals, rather than necessarily relying on a commanding and showy on stage presence. Meanwhile, it’s the dual guitar attack of Mark Barnes (who incidentally sports one helluva handle bar moustache) and Ben Kinsela that provides the animated visual dynamic of the band with all amounts of guitar posturing. Musically, Strangers are one of those types of bands that could be described as being many things, but for me, I just find it easier just to say they’re ROCK and really, that’s mighty fine by me. It’s all about big riffs, some intense heavier moments, and songs such as lead single Bred For Breeding deliver a chorus that will reel you in hook line and sinker, then the band will throw in a bit of a curveball with a bit of tambourine for equal measure. With an album yet to be released, the momentum for Strangers is gradually building and with the obvious fans they picked up from tonight’s performance, along with a stomping new single Persona Non Grata, Strangers will not be “strangers” for very much longer…that is guranteed! - May The Rock Be With You

Having been digging Strangers first single Bred For Breeding, (I mean the video is awesome in itself, featuring a Cinderella (Cinderella the BAND) t-shirt wearing “fan”), I was pretty keen to check out what Strangers were all about as a live band. I got a glimpse of this a few nights earlier when they were supporting The Darkness at The Palace Theatre, but even though that was my first real time seeing the band live, I got the sense that The Darkness support performance wasn’t a real indication of Strangers as a live act. So tonight it was time for the band to play a bit more intimate venue and play to a far more appreciative crowd than of a few nights earlier that were only after one thing – jumpsuits and falsetto! As I suspected, tonight I wasn’t left disappointed. The band has a real undeniable energy on stage and they are certainly an interesting concoction of personalities, which I haven’t quite been able to pinpoint, who the band remind me of. Frontman Ben Britton possesses a real brooding kind of persona, with his real power coming from his vocals, rather than necessarily relying on a commanding and showy on stage presence. Meanwhile, it’s the dual guitar attack of Mark Barnes (who incidentally sports one helluva handle bar moustache) and Ben Kinsela that provides the animated visual dynamic of the band with all amounts of guitar posturing. Musically, Strangers are one of those types of bands that could be described as being many things, but for me, I just find it easier just to say they’re ROCK and really, that’s mighty fine by me. It’s all about big riffs, some intense heavier moments, and songs such as lead single Bred For Breeding deliver a chorus that will reel you in hook line and sinker, then the band will throw in a bit of a curveball with a bit of tambourine for equal measure. With an album yet to be released, the momentum for Strangers is gradually building and with the obvious fans they picked up from tonight’s performance, along with a stomping new single Persona Non Grata, Strangers will not be “strangers” for very much longer…that is guranteed! - May The Rock Be With You

Every so often, a band comes along that grabs your attention from the get-go. Strangers are one of those bands. After causing a stir within the local music scene over the last 18 months, the Sydney 5-piece are set to unleash their debut album, Persona Non Grata on the masses. And thankfully, you will not be disappointed.

Launching into opener, ‘Red Brick‘ – the album explodes from the beginning with a pounding bass/drum combo that ensures the noise is ‘well and truly bought’ by the time frontman Ben Britton opens his mouth. Not to be outdone, following tracks ‘Closer to Nowhere‘ and live set favourite ‘Bred For Breeding’ build the album into a formidable beast – drumming up images of Grinspoon‘s earlier, grungier days.

‘Medication [Fire Eyes]‘ offers a more chilled, mellow sound – albeit it mixed with a loud, in-your-face, sing-a-long chorus that makes you want to throw yourself head first into a dirty, sweaty moshpit. The onslaught doesn’t stop as the opening bars of title track and latest single, ‘Persona Non Grata‘ ring out through your speakers. Once again, it’s the quiet-loud-quiet technique that sells the track over – with Britton’s vocals ranging from poetically reserved to a melodic roar.

‘Searching the Low‘, ‘Glitter Kids‘ and ‘The Yearly Drag‘ round out the album – allowing the listener to wind down as the last bars of ‘Long SnakeMoan‘ bring the album to a dramatic end.

Without a doubt, Persona Non Grata is the perfect debut album . It not only demonstrates the hard rocking prowess of a band with huge amounts of potential, but also offers a fresh perspective on a genre that is as old as the hills. Keep your eyes on Strangers – they’ve got a big future ahead of them.

[5/5] - PUSH TO FIRE