IF the members of Midnight Oil and Yothu Yindi had formed a super group 30 years ago they would have sounded like King Stingray.
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This of course is partly genetics. King Stingray frontman Yirrnga Yunupingu and guitarist Roy Kellaway are Yothu Yindi's singer Dr M Yunupiu and bassist Stu Kellaway's nephew and son respectively.
Just like Yothu Yindi, the Yolgu rock band infuse western music with Indigenous sounds and lyrics, but there's also a healthy of dose of the surf-rock energy which propelled Midnight Oil to national consciousness in the late '70s.
Since the release of their debut single Hey Wanhaka (meaning "where you going") in 2020, King Stingray have been building a reputation as an electrifying live act. The East Arnhem five-piece has managed to bottle that lightning on their self-titled debut album.
The album also proves King Stingray's songwriting extends beyond the infectious single Get Me Out.
These are of songs of longing for home, wonderment in the beauty of nature and the exuberance of youth when setting out to conquer the world.
Raypirri, meaning "a matter of being sensible" is a frenetic rush of surf-punk capped off with a devilish guitar solo, while the funky Milkumana is a party anthem with an underlying message of "who's gonna lead, who's gonna follow?"
Yunupingu's Sweet Arnhem Land is another anthemic rock celebration of home, while Malk Mirri Mayin with it's syncopated bass riff and thrashing guitar is straight from the Midnight Oil songbook.
The acoustic closer Life Goes On acts as the nightcap to the party record as the band unite in a harmonic chorus.
An important message throughout, and a refreshing one, in King Stingray's music is that of friendship and respect. This is a multicultural band of Yolgu and non-Indigenous musicians and tight-knit friends.
Unlike the increasingly divisive nature of modern identity politics, King Stingray rise above the negativity to focus on our commonalities, rather than our differences.