In 2022, a band releasing an album every two years somehow feels like a frenetic pace. But for Aussie indie rockers Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, it's likely that the band may feel like underachievers. After all, with a sound that subtly hearkens back to several different strands of mid-'80s Antipodal underground rock (during which it seemed like bands had new EPs and full-lengths every time you turned around) and an ethos that prizes emotive immediacy, one wouldn't be surprised if RBCF's discography was twice as big. And, were it not for the pandemic, likely that the band's follow-up to 2020's Sideways to New Italy would have been made and released quite a bit sooner. Due to Australia's lockdown rules (and their extended duration), the band found themselves in a bit of a forced slowdown, but used the time to retreat to a lakeside house a few hours north of Melbourne where, relatively isolated and able to collaborate and iterate, they wrote and recorded the material that would become Endless Rooms. That material is just as direct and warmly ragged as their previous work, but a bit less explosive and a bit more expansive, once again indulging in a sound that is simultaneously bright and a little doleful; the three-guitar approach of the band is a texturally lovely one that splits the difference between open-chord jangle and guitar-forward punk. The songs bubble with the energy and vitality of youth, but also with a wit and winsomeness that speaks to a more mature approach. To be sure, there's plenty of fizzy energy here—"The Way It Shatters" careens off the walls with buzzy, fatalistic verve and "My Echo" is as epic as it is caffeinated—but there's also a good dose of shaggy sprawl too. Tracks like "Caught Low" and "Saw You At The Eastern Beach" evoke classic Aussie singer-songwriter-isms, while the title track is wistful and optimistic, threading the vibes of '80s underground rock through a gentle, wobbly psychedelia. It's album closer "Bounce Off The Bottom" that provides both a summation and a statement of forward purpose for the band; a spry, mid tempo rocker, the track is thoughtfully arranged and tightly played. That enveloping, chiming guitar tone is present again, but accompanied by actual percussive chimes, making for a gorgeous coda to a remarkably dynamic album. © Jason Ferguson/Qobuz