Ahead of their January Australian tour, we catch up with American group The Front Bottoms to chat specially crafted beers, their friendship with The Smith Street Band and returning to Australia for their own headline tour. It’s been two years since you last toured here with The Smith Street band, what are your expectations for the upcoming…

In case you missed it ahead of the weekend, the longlist for the 12th Australian Music Prize is now complete and being shown off in all its glory. 364 albums were listened to during the initial process by the judging panel – the most ever submitted in the history of the competition. For its 12th…

“There is an unreasonable amount of TV” was exactly the right declaration to open The AV Club‘s “All The TV You Should Have Watched By Now” panel at Sydney’s inaugural BingeFest. Over the course of the following session, the three representatives from the popular online TV criticism website pitched a member of the audience on why…

On paper, Bingefest’s Writers’ Room handily emerged as parhaps the most uncertain-yet-unmissable event on the weekend’s lineup (that doesn’t involve Shia LeBouf). Bringing together Community-creator Dan Harmon, Please Like Me’s Josh Thomas and Rosehaven co-creators Luke McGregor and Celia Pacquola under the guidance of Gretel Killeen to develop a concept for a TV show sounds…

Arriving into Australian cinemas on Boxing Day is Disney’s brand new animated feature Moana and this will be the first time the studio is exploring the culture and myths of the South Pacific region, particularly that of the Polynesian people. In the film an ancient curse that is causing the crops to fail and fish…

The American West is a factual docudrama that recently aired on Foxtel’s History Channel, which catapults you into a violent world of cowboys, Native Americans, outlaws and gunslingers. The ground runs red with the blood of their stories, from Jesse James to Billy the Kid. These men were the first to live the American dream,…

In cinemas now is the first of the Star Wars standalone films, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, an all-new epic adventure. In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in…

The kind of film that benefits from its titular character being portrayed as less of an impression and more as a fully realised character, Barry is at once thoughtful, intelligent and particularly entertaining. Though he is introduced to us as Barry, we’re all aware of the Barack Obama he ultimately will become (so to speak),…

Following the ever-expanding DC Extended Universe, the feature film debut of Aquaman, starring Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones, Stargate: Atlantis) is set to be directed by our own James Wan (The Conjuring, Saw, Furious 7) and will be filmed on the Gold Coast. AusFilm reports Aquaman will be filmed at the Village Roadshow Studios during the first…

When we went to put our Game of the Year list together for 2016, the thing that became immediately apparent was that 2016 was a crazy good year for games. The list of titles we were tasked with whittling down to a Top 10 was sixteen shades of chocolate bonkers. As a result, there were many that, regrettably, did…

Earlier this year, one of the most highly regarded boutique hotel brands in the country, Art Series Hotel Groups, finally opened the doors to their long-awaited Queensland debut, The Johnson, followed an extensive three-year renovation of the heritage listed Main Roads Building. Like its sister hotels, the property pushes light-hearted luxury with a link to…

Tour operators need to change and evolve with the times, constantly looking at what young travelers actually want in order to curate their various itineraries and offer as much value as they can. Of course, one of the best known for Australians, Topdeck, is no exception here, evidenced by several new programs which will offer…

As the city of Sydney approaches the holiday season and its famously crisp summer, the very approachable Vibe Hotel Rushcutters Bay has unveiled a substantial makeover as well as their brand new bar-eatery Storehouse on the Park, bringing the property into the same league as Vibe Hotel Canberra Airport and Vibe Hotel Marysville, all of…

Newly appointed Head Chef George Fowler ha brought a sharp focus on seasonal and sustainably sourced produce to make some changes at Potts Point favourite The Butler. Now with a team that also includes Danish-born Executive Chef Kasper Christensen (ex-Quay) and regular foraging sessions with forager and chef Elijah Holland (who worked with Kasper at…

Revealed just a few weeks out, Kingsford favourite The Regent has thrown open their doors to the public following an extensive makeover that has seen changes to both the interior and the pub’s food and bev offerings. The popular student haunt now sports a restored heritage ceiling and a design that has gone street-level with…

Popular Asian dessert chain Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart, which originated in Malaysia earlier this year, are said to turn over around 20,000 baked cheese tarts pet day. It’s this kind of popularity that has allowed for an easy and rapid expansion into other markets, and the latest to benefit is Australia with four stores in…

Fratelli Fresh’s fast-casual pizzeria spin-off, Fratelli Famous, has been very well received in Sydney and Melbourne this year, expanding as part of Rockpool Dining Group’s (formerly Urban Purveyor Group) ambitious plans that have seen the hospitality group grow immensely in 2016. Now it’s Brisbane’s turn to get the city’s first Fratelli Famous, and where better…

Sydneysiders who have fond memories of dining at Saigon Street in Bali will be happy to know that the popular eatery has been brought across the waters to four locations across Sydney, all opened recently by Aki Kotzamichalis (co-founder of the island’s famed Ku De Ta). Local chef Phil Davenport, who was Ku De Ta’s…

The true crime genre has experienced a really extraordinary revival following the arrival of the hugely-popular podcast Serial. However, two years later, the only question bigger than whether Adnan is guilty or not is whether or not Serial might actually eclipse the rest of podcasting as a medium when it comes to raw popularity. Sarah originally…

Artistic Director of Urban Theatre Projects, Rosie Dennis, is no stranger to delving into the heart of a community for her theatrical inspiration. In the company’s latest work, Home Country staged for the Sydney Festival, Dennis takes audiences on a journey (both figuratively and literally) through a multi-storey carpark in Blacktown. We were naturally intrigued……

One of Bondi’s best known venues, the beachside Hotel Ravesis, has pushed into the summer holidays with a complete refurbishment, revealing what is perhaps one of the area’s largest and most impressive changes in years. The two-storey space now has brand new interiors for the ground-floor, the balcony and the restaurant & bar spaces, as…

Following the successful entry of Yayoi into the Australian dining scene, Japan-based company Plenus have begun what they hope will be a nationwide expansion for another one of the popular brand’s, Hotto Motto. The well known bento box chain, which boasts around 2,656 locations world wide, has chosen Sydney’s The Galeries as their first port…

Melbourne go-to Dukes Coffee Roasters has officially expanded to Sydney with South by Dukes, a slick new venue in the lower of Tower One in the Streets of Barangaroo precinct. Long known as one of the most highly-regarded specialty coffee roasters in Melbourne, Dukes has built a sizable following for their signature beans which are…

After three months of renovations, Crowne Plaza Surfers Paradise has unveiled some enhancement to their public spaces as well as two new dining venues, a wine bar named Balthazar and a specialty restaurant named SIFU, both located on the ground floor of the popular hotel. Having been named for a 12 litre wine bottle, Balthazar…

Canadian Club are getting in on that slice of summer celebration by introducing pop-up racquet clubs across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane for December and January. In an effort to build anticipation for one of the country’s largest annual sporting events, the Australian Open, the pop ups will be using some of the country’s best known…

Sometimes it pays to be a little over-the-top, which should explain the success of The Thirsty Wolf’s colourful “Unicorn Month” which recently ran throughout November. It’s pretty straight forward, for an entire month the popular Newtown bar replaced a typical Melbourne cup celebrate with a four-week homage to a different breed of horse, channeling the…

The cavalcade of emotional, digital, political and cultural disasters that have hit the internet in 2016 ended up being so numerous that it’s hard to look back and take stock of things. Still, someone’s got to do it. At least, that was the idea behind Bingefest’s Harambe Memorial Service. After all,  if you’re going to…

Rockpool Dining Group’s rapidly expanding Saké Jr has just seen a second venue open up for Melbourne, this time at St Collins Lane. The popular fast-casual spin off to Sake Restaurant & Bar debuted earlier this year as part of a larger expansion for Urban Purveyor Group (now Rockpool Dining Group following a merger with…

Ahead of their Australian tour next month, The Bats have unveiled a new tune from their forthcoming ninth LP, The Deep Set (out January 27 on Flying Nun), “No Trace”, which feels like an instant classic from this iconic New Zealand band. Today, the AU are excited to present the Australian exclusive premiere of the…

Heads of Charm are a Melbourne-based trio, of David Gagliardi (vox, guitar), Zaire Kesha (bass) and Lachlan Ewbank (drums). Their music is hard-to-define, an astoundingly dynamic sound that led them to being pinned one of our top BIGSOUND acts of 2016. They’ve just dropped their second single of the year, “OK Yes Pls”, are about…