Naarm / Melbourne’s Bench Press are excited to share their third long player and first album in five years, Personal Best, out now via Poison City Records.
The Melbourne band arrived hot on the scene in 2016 and brought with them an essential dose of oddball, new-wave garage punk. They went on to share stages with IDLES and influenced the slew of proceeding bands that helped shape Melbourne’s idiosyncratic punk sound.
After a global pause, an international exchange and a regrouping that welcomed two new members, Anna Lienhop (Moody Beaches) and Paulo Junior on drums, Bench Press re-emerged after their extended break with a catchier, rhythmic, and more textured sound, with Anna’s additional guitarwork facilitating the band’s multi-layered approach and contributing to the group vocals that heighten lead vocalist Jack Stavrakis’ absurd lyricism.
The new album, Personal Best, continues to meditate on themes of self and mental health lyrically but through a new lens, as the album follows Stavrakis’ journey of making a career change into mental health social work. Where Stavrakis has previously dwelled on the politics of personal action, he now looks outwards and critiques what and who he sees in our increasingly chaotic world.
To celebrate the launch of Personal Best, the band have announced a national run of tour dates for Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne.
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