RADIO FREE ALICE
BAND REVIEW
Laneway Punk Lives. Radio Free Alice (RFA) and the Sound of Now
Radio Free Alice performing at The Creek and the Cave. Australia Sounds Like Showcase. SXSW 2025. Photo by Pablo Herrera.
Radio Free Alice (RFA) isn’t just another Melbourne post-punk band—they’re a statement. A five-piece from Naarm/Melbourne (Carlton, to be exact), made up of Maayan Barnatan, Michael Phillips, Jules Paradiso, Lochie Dowd, and Noah Learmonth, they step onstage with the kind of presence that turns a gig into a moment. Dressed like they mean it, playing like they really mean it, they know exactly what they want to say—and they make damn sure the audience hears it.
Call it post-punk if you want, but there’s something wilder in their sound—something messier, more immediate. Alley punk? Laneway Punk? Something else entirely? Whatever you call it, it’s young, it’s restless, and it refuses to be boxed in. Music isn’t just about style—it’s about that strange tension between impermanence and permanence, about capturing something fleeting and making it stick. So what is RFA really trying to say? I got the chance to ask them about their influences (check out the video below), and honestly, I wasn’t surprised—I loved everything they mentioned. No wonder I love their sound.
Photos below, RFA performing at the Australia Sounds Like Showcase at the Creek and the Cave. SXSW 2025. Photo by Pablo Herrera (TMN.) Click on the image to enlarge.
Their set was pure electricity—shredding riffs, pounding rhythms, and a vocal delivery that didn’t just demand attention but dragged you into it. When they played I Gotta (Fall in Love)? That was it. That track hit hard, balancing urgency with melody, rawness with something strangely refined. The whole thing was impossible to look away from.
RFA has the hunger, the presence, and the spark to leave a mark. They might be early in their journey, but this showcase proved they’re already carving out a space in the indie scene—on their own terms. Australia keeps churning out killer bands, and RFA is no exception.
And here’s the thing—RFA isn’t just a band, it’s a belief. They’re in their 20s, dreaming big, but with a razor-sharp sense of what they want. I read an interview with them on Monster Children, where they made it clear: this isn’t about money. And I get it. RFA isn’t a business—it’s the real deal.
Radio Free Alice interviewed at SXSW 2025. Australia Sounds Like Showcase. The Creek and the Cave. Video by Pablo Herrera.
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