Starky were an Australian power pop band formed in 1998. The line-up was Beau Cassidy (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Nick Neal (bass guitar and spoons), and Jonny Wilson (guitar). Their first single, "Rock 'n' Roll is the Devils Music", was released in 1999 by

Phantom Records Phantom Records was an Australian record store and independent record label established in 1978 by Dare Jennings and Jules R.B. Normington. Phantom Records was one of Australia's first indie labels, and the store was known for its guerilla m ...

, they were named Best New Talent by

Channel V Channel '' ("V" standing for the letter, not the Roman numeral "5") is a Chinese and former Asian pay television musical network originally launched by Star TV Hong Kong (now Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific). It was part of the unit of Disney ...

, and received $50,000 for a music video. In October 2003 their debut album, ''Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre'', was issued by Laughing Outlaw Records, which was produced by

Rob Younger Rob Younger (born Robert Kent Younger) is an Australian rock musician, vocalist, songwriter and producer. He is a founding mainstay of the punk rock group, Radio Birdman, and a pioneer of the local independent music scene. Radio Birdman, forme ...

. It was the Feature Album on Australian youth radio station,

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

. On 12 August 2006 they released their self-titled album via Universal Records. The lead single, "Hey Bang Bang" debuted at No. 42 on the

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

. It received considerable airplay on Triple J, and was nominated for the

ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist - Single In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

at the

ARIA Music Awards of 2006 The 20th annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAS) were held on 29 October 2006 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex. Presenters on the night includ ...

. On 28 July 2007, following their final show at the East Brunswick Hotel, Starky disbanded, which they announced via a MySpace blog.Starky Music
on MySpace.

History

Starky formed in 1998 from half the members of Sydney pop band, Pennidredful, which had released a single and two extended plays, ''Money for Some Woollen Socks'' (May 1997) and ''The Ping Pong Delegate'', on

. In 1999 Starky's debut single, "Rock 'n' Roll Is the Devil's Music" was released on Phantom. P G Gleeson opined that "The title track is not the initial grabber; rather a grower... with track two, 'Pencil Sketch', featuring Brian (Golden Rough) Crouch on keys, a quiet little ditty, and the closer, 'She's Gone', back to the foundation sound of the record." Starky's line-up, in 2002, was Beau Cassidy on guitar and lead vocals, Nick Neal on bass guitar, David Simons on guitar and Brendan Clift on drums. Note: User may need to click on "The band" tab to access further information. They had toured the United States, Japan and France during that year. Starky's debut album, ''Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre'', was released by Laughing Outlaw Records on 6 October 2003, which was produced by

. The line-up was Cassidy, Neal, Simons and Graeme Trewin on drums. The Barman from I-94 Bar felt that "You get 11 tracks on ''Mirror...'' and there's not a clunker among them. The killer single 'That's How I'll Know' and another previously released cut, 'Complicator', have been re-recorded, and now boast a big beefy, bottom end." In November 2005 they issued their self-titled EP on Universal Records with Cassidy and Neal joined by Saul Foster on drums. It was produced by David Eringa (Manic Street Preachers, Starsailor). Michelle Evans of ''FasterLouder'' noticed they were "Pounding out the Britpop the way it is meant to be played, the songs on this EP culminate the resonance of early '80s new-wave with modern day power pop." By December the trio were joined by Peter Farley (ex-Gelbison) on keyboards and Johnny Wilson (ex-Faker) on guitar. The ''Starky'' EP reached No. 13 on the ARIA Hitseekers Singles chart. They performed at the third Come Together Festival at Luna Park, Sydney in June 2006. Neal told Kelsey Munro of ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' about their touring, "We're in the midst of an After the Fall tour, then we get a few days off and start doing the remainder of the Gerling tour. Yeah, we're busy, we haven't had much sleep in the last few days... This amazing rock'n'roll lifestyle." Their second album was self-titled and appeared on 12 August 2006 via Universal Records with Starky as the four-piece of Cassidy on lead vocals, Foster, Neal and Wilson. Its lead single, "Hey Bang Bang", was released ahead of the album, and debuted at No. 42 on the

. The track had been recorded in London and was initially meant for a B-side – however it became their first top 50 hit. It received considerable airplay on Triple J, and was nominated for the

at the

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, "Hey Bang Bang" ,

, , , -

References

{{Authority control Australian rock music groups Musical groups established in 1998 Musical groups disestablished in 2007 Musical groups from Sydney