Skink Tank plays pub rock with a big heart.

Offering a sound which is simultaneously nostalgic and completely unique, the band has taken that classic northern suburbs foundation and built something special.

Heard live, their ballad-bordering lyrics – even when sung decidedly unmusically – swirl around your body and hoist you up, coaxing you to sing along with everyone else in the room.

Guitar, with the sharp clean-cut sound of an early rock’n’roller, is kept in check with a bassline which wanders but never strays off track.

Ally’s tight-yet-lively drums are active participants but never hog the limelight.

Stand-out on the band’s latest EP, 2024’s Livin Under Rock (sic), is “On the Merri“. The song is deceptively pacey, pulling you in with arpeggiated chords before swiftly starting the first verse, launching you forward like a fallen leaf on its namesake creek the morning after rainfall.

The song’s proto-chorus, “tune in, listen…”, invites you to reflect while offering no reprieve from the water’s pace. When Maggins’ vocals ebb for a few beats Rick’s guitar surges on and the next verse begins.

But at no point do you feel yourself being pulled under the surface; rather shown proudly, glistening back to the sun on a bright morning.

In the last minute, vocals end as abruptly as they started and both guitars swell, rising gradually but never really changing pace, jangling like sun sparkling on fervent water.

The track pairs well with the next: “Teaching Song“.

Written almost like a musical round for one voice, the song explores cycles in time and life. It juxtaposes the unique freedoms of a schoolkid with the responsibilities of an adult returning to the classroom as a teacher. Stuck lingering in a still moment, lyrics flit between nostalgic respite and adult angst.

Skink Tank will appear at Northcote Social Club on Monday 24 March as part of the venue’s Social Sanctuary series. There they are billed alongside fellow animal-named performers Clean Beast and Minky Lush. Entry is free.

You can find the band’s two EPs at skinktank.bandcamp.com.

This article was first published in the Merri Mirror’s 3 March 2025 print edition.

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