11 BANDS & LABELS TO BUY FROM DURING BANDCAMP'S JUNETEENTH FUNDRAISER

We've got some good news to share with you. This Juneteenth (June 19, from 5PM to 5PM AEST) and every Juneteenth hereafter, for any purchase you make on Bandcamp, they will be donating 100% of their share of sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, a national organization that has a long history of effectively enacting racial justice and change through litigation, advocacy, and public education. They're also allocating an additional $30,000 per year to partner with organizations that fight for racial justice and create opportunities for people of colour. Pretty cool.

Here are 11 exceptional labels and bands we recommend buying from:

1. Anti Fade Records

Part of Anti Fade Records, Vintage Crop

2. Dinosaur City Records

Dinosaur City Records is an independent record label based in Sydney, Australia. The label was founded by Cody Munro Moore (Big White) and Jordanne Chant in 2016 with the launch of Dinosaur City Records Mixtape #1, a 21-track compilation featuring unreleased singles from up-and-coming Sydney artists including Den, Greta Now, Moody Beach and Glitter Graphixxx (Matt Mason of DMA’S). Dinosaur City Records has since gone on to release and promote music from unique artists from Australia and beyond including NOCON, Gum Country (LA), Skydeck, Navy Gangs (NY), Sunscreen, Cody Munro Moore, No Local, Poison Abbey, Greenwave Beth and Cotillon, with our catalogue distributed by Inertia/[PIAS].

Part of Dinosaur City Records, Gum Country

3. Bargain Bin Records

“We set up Bargain Bin records to be a place where we could put out our own records, and our mates records without some donkey telling us how to do it. Now we can do that and make sure it gets in stores across the planet." - The Chats

Part of Bargain Bin Records, The Chats

4. Piss Fart Records

Part of Piss Fart Records, Dumb Punts

5. Farmer & The Owl

Farmer & The Owl is a record label based in Wollongong, Australia. It was originally established with the intention to help the wealth of talent from our local area, release their music to a wider audience. The label’s first signing was Hockey Dad, a Windang based duo who released their debut EP in November 2014, and have followed it up with two widely acclaimed albums ‘Boronia’, and ‘Blend Inn’.

The label has grown as more local artists have joined the roster, including The Pinheads, Totally Unicorn, TEES and Tropical Strength, with Bec Sandridge’s debut EP ‘In The Fog’ also being released via F&O.

In May 2019, Bad//Dreems joined the Farmer and the Owl family, marking the first non-local artist to be signed. The Adelaide five-piece released their third album, ‘Doomsday Ballet’, in October.

Part of Farmer & The Owl, Hockey Dad

6. Cool Death Records

Cool Death is the no-nonsense label every diehard wish they made. Since 2012, founders Tom Bradford, Alessandro Coco and Moses Williams have released a small army of cool, creative, and catchy punk records. By any measure, their know-how of singular music is enviable. The likes of Power, Gutter Gods, Tyrannamen, and Soma Coma have at once pushed Melbourne’s punk scene and broken it down piece by piece. With crunching power chords, face-melting distortion and cyclonic vocals, this new wave of punk bands are more Rose Tattoo than Ramones. The trio has also been fortunate enough to keep a physical outlet for the label. With help from Dan Stewart (of Straightjacket Nation and Total Control) Lulu’s opened in 2015 and provided a compact record store flattering their love of scuzzy, chest-beating rock. For Tom, Mo and Coco – three mates who flippantly bemoan their waning finances – money seems to be the least of their concern. At Cool Death, the only objective is to keep the scene alive and kicking. Always kicking.

7. 100

Sydney’s enigmatic post-punk quartet 100, confidently swing from full-tilt energy to self-reflective fragility without ever wavering in their stride. The band deliver a stunning live show with honesty and originality akin to bands such as The Replacements and Fugazi. 

8. Mini Skirt

Four blokes making noise in Byron Bay. MINI SKIRT hit like a sunburn, a dry, stinging take on Australian rock ‘n’ roll minus an identity centred around drinking VB. Formed in Byron Bay but firmly tied to their homage from all over the East Coast, there is zero irony here. The middle finger is raised amid a few ‘cheeky’ smiles. This is what makes MINI SKIRT so refreshing. Here we have a band that actually stands for something… or nothing.

9. Floodlights

Floodlights are a Melbourne four-piece project who present a distinctive outlook on contemporary life in Australia. Combining raw vocals with strong instrumentals, Floodlights explore themes of culture and identity with words of meaning and a sincere sentiment. Their debut EP 'Backyard' was released in 2019 and reissued via Spunk Records 
 The group consist of Louis Parsons (Guitar, Vocals), Ashlee Kehoe (Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals), Joe Draffen (Bass) and Archie Shannon (Drums).

10. Tony Dork

Just your average four-piece try hard punk band born out of the south-east suburbs of Melbourne. "We began having no clue at all what we were doing (still don’t) and didn’t really know anyone in the scene at all" they say.

11. The Buoys

The Buoys are an Australian all-female alternative rock band formed in 2016. Since May 2019 the line-up has been Courtney Cunningham on bass guitar, Hilary Geddes on lead guitar, Tess Wilkin on drums and founding mainstay, Zoe Catterall on rhythm guitar and lead vocals. They released their first extended play, Soft Boy, in 2017. They have issued several singles and toured nationally.