Regional Victorians, Two Last Names return with another slab of alt/indie punk in latest single, ‘Captain Smooth’.

It’s a track that is dedicated to those that continuously question how they managed to snag the one the love, and keep them close.

The first 50 seconds of ‘Captain Smooth’ eases you in with one of the best opening lines this year, ‘I’d be real shredded if I didn’t eat that cheddar’, and though it’s tongue-in-cheek, there’s a level of sincerity to it. It’s a quirky, mellow start, before the fuzzy Oz punk kicks in, and the urge to pogo along to this track increases. The change-around, two-thirds of the way through the song, though it alters the pace, thickens the sound like a fine mac’n’cheese, with a fat groove filled with harmony, before kicking back in to the punk bounce. Full of ocker tones, and romantic notes, embarrassing truths and raw notes, ‘Captain Smooth’ is fun and cute, wrapped up in safety pins and flannelette.

Vocalist/Guitarist Amber Irving-Guthrie says that despite the quirky lyrics, it is still a romantic love song if you listen closely and ignore the nonsense.

“The song is a long list of things I regret... and the chorus is me having the realisation that I didn’t in anyway regret meeting my now fiancé back in the glory days... and how smooooth I was (lol).”

The track (recorded in-between lockdowns last year) was written before Amber formed the band, and features plenty of lines that are quite exposing to play live to people that know her.

“My family or anyone who grew up with me will easily be able to pick out the lyrics of the really humiliating stuff I did as a teen – ‘that time I ran away from home and left a dramatic note’ and ‘I’d have spare brain cells if I didn’t drink those UDL’s.”

The style and lyrical content is consistent of Two Last Names, always taking the metaphorical piss out of themselves, and joking around to level out the serious stuff.

“I often joke that I’m the smoothest one in the band... and I’m the Captain of the smooth sailors... as you can see I’m clearly not in anyway... but I like to think my smoothness is what wooed my partner in the early days (she thinks differently).”

This is the fifth single from the trio - a band birthed from jamming in an abandoned train carriage in the hills of Gippsland (Vic) on Gunaikurnai country, mixing musical influences resulting in a cooked blend of ocker nonsense, emo oversharing and unexpected beats that somehow works.

Two Last Names, passionate about women, gender-diversity and LGBTQIA+ musicians getting on stage, and encouraging regional-area gigs, have played all sorts of random venues all over the place, with upcoming shows with The Hard Aches, and The Living End, are showing no signs of slowing down, with more releases to come.

‘Captain Smooth’ is out right now via all streaming platforms.