Hearts and Rockets
Hearts and Rockets is the Naarm-based bratwave duo of Kalindy Williams and Kurt Eckardt. In late 2021, they released their five track EP TV is Boring on cassette and across all digital and streaming services.
The EP follows their 2019 LP Power and 2017 album Dead Beats, and their four 7” releases including splits with Shrimpwitch, Zig Zag and Piss Factory. These tracks, alongside the band’s digital singles (including breakthrough single ‘Milk Bar’ which reached the BBC airwaves thanks to Iggy Pop not only playing it, but singing along on air!), sees their output surpass 40 officially released original tracks across their short career.
Hearts and Rockets are not only known for their tongue-in-cheek and not-so-subtle stabs at society, and their cheeky pop culture references, but also for their clever self-produced (but pro af) video clips. All three singles from the EP came with incredible videos, with the clips for ‘Buy It’ and ‘Square Eyes’ getting multiple spins on rage.
TV Is Boring’s 3rd single ‘Buy It’ is a dig at the ease at which we let products and ads filter into our brains and our everyday lives. Influenced by TV ads all claiming to have the next best thing, ‘Buy It’ is a super-liminal message to hand your money over and give in to the TV. The clip doesn’t beat around the bush, but also features slow-mo clips of the band performing in front of an 80s game show-inspired backdrop.
The 2nd single ‘On/Off’ references a bunch of Hearts and Rockets' favourite TV shows directly (including the X-Files, of course). It's a back and forth between the duo about the two sides of screen time: the comfort of TV and the distraction it creates, with a clip of the band playing in a country field.
The first single, ‘Square Eyes’, is about those late nights sneakily staying up past your bedtime as kids to watch rage and try and catch a scary movie. The video clip features the duo starring in multiple familiar scenes.
Engineered at home by Kurt, the EP has been mixed and mastered by their long-time collaborator Mikey Young, and sounds crisp, nostalgic and fresh all at once. With their trademark delay-laden vocals, driving bass lines, post-punk guitar and poppy synth all present, this EP also signals a new direction for the band. Still always finding the perfect balance of having fun and taking what they do super seriously, on TV Is Boring Kalindy and Kurt have refined their craft.
Hearts and Rockets have not only garnered the attention of triple j, double j and rage, but are heavily supported on community radio across the country. They’ve been granted Album of the Week on PBS, SYN, 4ZZZ and EDGE, and have seen regular plays across 3RRR (playing five live to air sets across the years), FBi, 2SER, SYN, Radio Adelaide, RTR, 3CR, 2XX and many more.
They’ve shared a stage with the likes of X, Screaming Females (USA), Moody Beaches, Shepparton Airplane, Rocket Science, Pinch Points, Cable Ties, Lazertits, Laura Imbruglia, A. Swayze and the Ghosts, Dream Can (China), Bench Press, Slag Queens, SaD, Cry Club, Mere Women, Cong Josie, Penny Ikinger, Murmumur, Teenage Dads, Tactics, Michael Beach, Dark Water, Hexdebt, MOD CON, Martyr Privates, Bitch Diesel, V, HEX (NZ) and all your favourite local bands. Kurt and Kalindy have also played at Leaps and Bounds Music Festival, Brunswick Music Festival, Bush Festival, King Street Crawl and more.
Find out more on Facebook / Instagram / YouTube / Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple Music / Soundcloud
Some press for Hearts and Rockets:
Weirdo Wasteland (16/05/17)
"It’s a soundtrack of synth-heavy party punk that laughs at the futility of it all – made by a band that is choosing to face the world, lumps and all, with a sneer and a playlist of jams fit to dance to."
Matthew Lynch, 4ZZZ (15/05/17)
"If there were a dance party that snapped Daria Morgendorffer out of her anti-everything mood and on to the dancefloor, Heat Wave would have to be on the bill."
Hi-Tec Emotions, Purple Sneakers (02/02/17)
"Kalindy and Kurt from Heat Wave are the nicest people who make the funnest music. Dead End Town pulls you in with a catchy bassline that crumples into extreme distortion during the chorus, the synth feels like The B52s, but bleak, and the beats ensure this ode to hopelessness is a dance hit.”
Brendan Telford, Sonic Masala (25/11/16)
"The staccato drum machine, the Theremin-like whine, the bottomed out bass - it's a post-punk Heat Wave! Kurt Eckhardt (Astral Skulls) and photographer Kallindy Williams join forces to shine a sordid glow on the shadows of Australian inertia and hardwired desperation. Their album is called Dead Beats, so yeah, outlook is pretty grim. But with tracks like 'Dead End Town' at least the Apocalypse can be danced to."
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Deadpress (19/11/16)
"Restless Aussie rockers Heat Wave have now released a video to accompany their single ‘Dead End Town’. The song, which comes from the punk band’s forthcoming debut album ‘Dead Beats’, tackles the monotony that even Australians face in every day life..."
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Gen Fricker, JJJ 17/11/16)
"It's like Le Tigre got left out on the deck over a hot Australian summer. Love the spooky fun vibes."
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Monique Myintoo, Noisey (14/11/16)
"Gritty and poised, Heat Wave could best be understood as a byproduct of restlessness. Coming together in one of Brisbane's hottest summers, Kalindy Williams and Kurt Eckardt soon moved to Melbourne where the concept behind the band was simple: a single drum machine, synth and bass guitar, fledged alongside call-end-response vocals that tip into a hot, heavy boiling point.
"Focusing their energies into a mix of synth pop, punk and doo-wop, the duo found themselves writing about horror movies, strange houses, and Kalindy's day-to-day experiences on staying safe in the streets. Celebrated as the summer-goth-party band the Australian punk scene has been waiting for, "Dead End Town" is the first single off their debut record Dead Beats, due for release digitally and on cassette in February 2017..."
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Dave Ruby Howe, JJJ (02/11/2016)
"You make the town in this song sound so shit but if you're there then I'm coming too."
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