WHIPLASSH and VERATIE perform at Blackflag Brewing Mooloolaba. Photos: Penny Brand.
From existential crises and teenage pressure to deliberately imperfect recordings, the songs reaching YELO’s weekly ABC Sunshine Coast segment reveal a local scene that is becoming harder to define, and far more interesting.
The Coast has long had a strong folk and indie identity, shaped by hinterland events such as Full Moon Dance, long-running community-led institutions like Peregian Originals.
Artists including Andrea Kirwin and Pat Tierney have helped carry that folk and indie tradition into the Coast’s music scene today.
Even Woodford Folk Festival began in Maleny before outgrowing the town and moving to Woodford, a reminder of how deep the Coast’s folk roots run. Smaller events and venues such as Maleny Lane have continued that tradition locally.
Beyond the hinterland, Solbar helped grow a distinct indie-folk and alternative scene, helping nurture major local exports such as The Dreggs and Betty Taylor alongside a much broader mix of original local music.
A new Coast sound is emerging
With Solbar and The Station now closed, Blackflag stepping up, and renewed energy around grassroots gigs, a much broader Sunshine Coast sound is emerging.
Each Tuesday, YELO joins Sarah Howells on ABC Sunshine Coast to introduce a local release and share some of the best gigs happening across the region. Looking across the songs played lately, a few patterns are emerging.
The artists are getting younger, the guitars are getting heavier, and genres are starting to overlap. But underneath it all, a lot of the songs are coming from the same place.
A lot of these songs come from a generation that watched COVID blow up normal life, venues and festivals disappear, housing drift out of reach, and schools and other institutions feel increasingly out of touch. Perhaps it’s no surprise the guitars are getting louder.
Does this spell the end of the Coast’s indie-folk bubble? Probably not. But alongside it, a younger wave of artists is pulling hard from 90s and early-2000s grunge and punk, with bands such as Karma Police and Wave Raiders making that sound feel current again.
EDM is booming too. Raw Ordio built a loyal following playing local pubs before going on to play major events such as Pranafest, while Sunny Side Up has shown there is a serious appetite for electronic music on the Coast.
Writing through uncertainty
A lot of the music on YELO’s Pineapple Radar lately has carried a darker, more unsettled mood.
On “Strange Times,” Those Folk join Andrea Kirwin and Canadian musician Ryland Moranz to respond to political manipulation, social media, strange weather and the low-level dystopian feeling of trying to make sense of modern life.
Written while the musicians were touring in 2024, the song wraps its concerns in warm, beautifully arranged folk music, with a seriously good groove to boot.
The song sounds warm and welcoming, even as it wrestles with the anxiety of waking up to a world that feels less stable and harder to understand.
Sunshine Coast band Karma Police bring a similarly unsettled energy to “Frog In My Throat.”
The track pulls from grunge, post-punk and alternative rock, with the fuzz and nervous momentum of bands such as Nirvana, Radiohead, Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins and early Silverchair.
It is part of a wider return to music that feels rougher and less polished. These young artists are leaving the edges in, and the songs are stronger for it.
But unease is not the only thing shaping the Coast’s new music. Coolum rapper Harlum’s “Lemon Juice” brings a wave of positivity, quick wordplay and humour, with a strong local identity. It follows last year’s feel-good banger “Sunny Days” from fellow Coolum artist CaelWhip.
Breakout act Phil and the Blanks also bring a light-hearted mix of hip-hop and rock, without taking themselves too seriously. Their live shows are fun, hilarious and full of crowd interaction.
Imperfection is becoming part of the sound
That willingness to let the rough edges stay also appears in The Dreggs’ “Golden Lights.” Rather than polishing away every small mistake, the duo deliberately left imperfections in the recording, describing the result as “perfectly imperfect.”
After years of hyper-polished releases, perfect vocal takes and digitally corrected performances, some artists appear to be leaning back towards work that feels human. A breath, a scrape, a missed note or an unguarded vocal moment can create a stronger connection than technical perfection.
The Coast is moving beyond one genre
VERATIE take things somewhere darker on “Tranquillium,” mixing electronic rock, heavy guitars and cinematic tension.
I first heard the song at a recent Blackflag Mooloolaba set. I was so drawn into it that afterwards I went straight over and asked the band, “What was that last song?”
A driving riff sits at its centre, but the track keeps building and shifting around it, creating moments where the guitar and drums seem to lock together and take control of the room.
That intensity feels a long way from the old idea that Sunshine Coast music must always sound sun-drenched or relaxed.
At the other end of the spectrum, Cora represents the region’s increasingly polished indie-pop output.
Her music is bright and immediate, but songs such as “Your Toy” still carry bite beneath the glossy production. At 20, she has already appeared at BIGSOUND, reached the Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition top 50 and earned three Sunshine Coast Music Awards finalist nominations.
Together, VERATIE and Cora show just how wide the Coast’s sound has become. The shift is not simply towards louder music. It is towards greater range.
Young artists are breaking beyond the local circuit
Another clear trend is how quickly young Sunshine Coast musicians are moving beyond school stages and small local rooms.
Karma Police emerged through a high-school Battle of the Bands before progressing to venues including The Triffid and The Cave Inn.
Nambour is becoming an important part of that pathway too, with Black Box Theatre giving young bands a place to launch releases, build local followings and move from school-based opportunities into serious live shows. Karma Police’s upcoming Pale and Blue EP launch sold 50 per cent of its tickets soon after going on sale, showing how quickly local support can build.
Wave Raiders became the youngest band to play Good Things Festival in Brisbane last year, after touring with The Screaming Jets and The Superjesus. And we can’t forget their 2024 Caloundra Music Festival moment, when Spiderbait pulled them from the crowd to perform “Calypso.”
Footage of the trio performing from the back of a ute at Double Island Point also attracted more than one million views.
Young artists are moving fast between local gigs, festival stages, viral moments and professional studios. The question is whether the Coast can give them enough places to keep growing.
Free live music is helping songs find an audience
Songs do not build a scene on their own. Artists need stages to try them out, grow a crowd and reach people who have never heard their name. That is where venues such as Peregian Beach Hotel and Blackflag Mooloolaba become important.
Peregian Beach Hotel has championed local music for years, putting emerging and established musicians in front of relaxed crowds through its free live-music program. Recent and upcoming performers include Isaiah Hing, Hayden Hack, German Sugar, Che Burns and Ino.
Burns recently won Best Song at the Sunshine Coast Music Awards, proving just how strong the artists playing free local shows can be. It creates a simple but valuable pathway: hear a new local artist on radio or Spotify, then encounter them in a real room without the barrier of an expensive ticket.
At Blackflag Mooloolaba, Ben Russoniello curates free live music across rock, punk, alternative and other local sounds. Tucked behind Mooloolaba Esplanade, the boutique brewery has a “living room” stage where the crowd is never far from the performers.
Events such as Indie Invasion, featuring Happy Valley, The Paper Ghosts and Wholesale Noise, and Drop Beers’ Punk Piss Up show what can happen when a venue treats free live music as genuine programming rather than background entertainment.
That is how people find local music: over dinner at the pub, when a support band steals the room, or when a song suddenly clicks after hearing it live.
Songs on high rotation at YELO in 2026
Karma Police, “Frog In My Throat”
This group of Sunshine Coast teenagers channels 90s and early-2000s alt-rock nostalgia, drawing on Radiohead, Nirvana and early Silverchair. Lines like “there’s a man in my stomach” give the song a creepy, claustrophobic edge.
The Noggins, “Driving Down the Highway”
Sunshine Coast trio The Noggins pair an easy indie groove with bright vocals and the kind of chorus that makes it almost impossible not to bop along. “Driving Down the Highway” feels youthful, sunny and built for a windows-down Coast drive.
Harlum, “Lemon Juice”
Sunshine Coast rapper Harlum rides a sharp, stripped-back beat with laid-back confidence, quick wordplay and a hook that sticks. “Lemon Juice” is playful and self-assured, while adding a distinctly local voice to the Coast’s growing hip-hop scene.
Wholesale Noise, “Static”
“Static” takes me straight back to my university campus in 1999, when Walkmans and bus rides ruled. Sunshine Coast indie-rockers Wholesale Noise pair sharp guitars and a driving rhythm with a chorus made for a packed local room.
Phil and the Blanks, “Josiah”
“Josiah” mixes hip-hop, emo and rock with the band’s usual sense of humour and chaos. A tribute to the band’s dark horse, it’s loose, catchy and built for live shows with a home crowd.
The Paper Ghosts, “Paralysed”
Sunshine Coast indie-rockers The Paper Ghosts build “Paralysed” around tightly wound guitars and the suspended feeling of being unable to move forward. The tension keeps building without ever allowing the song to fully settle.
Those Folk, Andrea Kirwin and Ryland Moranz, “Strange Times”
Those Folk have been leaning into collaboration lately, including a recent track with Elke Louie and this new release with Andrea Kirwin and Canadian banjo player Ryland Moranz. Together, they turn uneasy ideas about social media, political manipulation and a world gone strange into warm, close-knit folk.
VERATIE, “Tranquillium”
Dark, mesmerising electronic rock built around heavy guitars, cinematic tension and the dramatic pull of bands such as Paramore and Evanescence. The song closed one of VERATIE’s sets so powerfully that I went straight over afterwards to ask what it was.
Sailing In Space, “Ride or Die Sunshine (Demo)”
Nambour electronic duo Sailing In Space bring playful, high-energy pop hooks, bright electronic production and a sense of pure fun. The demo feels spontaneous and carefree, exactly the kind of song you could imagine lighting up a local crowd at The Presynct.
Listen to Pineapple Radar
Pineapple Radar brings together the music YELO is playing right now, including every song featured during our weekly segment on ABC Sunshine Coast, plus other current favourites from the Sunshine Coast and across Queensland.
For more new music from across Queensland, discover The Pineapple Mixtapes.
Find every song featured so far, along with the artists and weekly gig picks, on the YELO on ABC Sunshine Coast page.
Looking for more live music? Head to the Sunshine Coast gig guide for upcoming gigs, launches and local shows.
