Melbourne's alt rock lords, LOSER complete their brilliant drip-fed EP, 'Stadium Dreams on a Bedroom Budget'

Photo by by Ian Laidlaw

Melbourne’s alt rock lords, LOSER, really need no introduction now, having drip-fed their latest EP, ‘Stadium Dreams on a Bedroom Budget’ over the past 8 months, with EP coming to completion now with latest single, ‘Starting Over’, putting an end to their cathartic creative endeavour.

Known for delivering an electrifying performance with face-melting guitar solos and choruses for a crowd, they also close the Stadium Dreams chapter in true LOSER style, having just completed a string of shows across Australia, ending the tour with a home show in Melbourne. 

Every decade since the 90s, Australian music cycles in a batch of alternative rock saviours that capture the rawness and beauty of a genre that has captured the hearts of disaffected folks. We are currently witnessing a new swathe of stunning, cleverly-crafted Aussie Rock, of which Melbourne’s LOSER is most definitely a part of.

If you’ve been following the drip-feed of singles for the ‘Stadium Dreams on a Bedroom Budget’ EP, you’ve been on a hell of a emotional rollercoaster, and come out the end older, wiser and comfortable with your choices - the journey LOSER wanted to take you on with them as the dig deeper within themselves. They have moved from the intensity and grunge of previous albums, ‘All The Rage’ and ‘Mindless Joy’, pulled their sound apart, and re-engineered a sleeker, fuller, maturer sound. Each piece of the ‘SDoaBB’ puzzle, from opener ‘Heaven Can Wait’, to the Aerosmith swagger of ‘Hold On You’, to the Powderfinger-dipped ‘Only One’, the absolute fun belter of ‘The More I Know’, the Cheap Trick-touched ‘Sunday’, and EP closer, ‘Starting Over’; these all fit seamlessly to show a band WORTHY of the big stadiums - they just need the industry to be on the same page. Have LOSER ventured into the world of Dad Rock with ‘SDoaBB’, hell yes they have, and it’s a world of good times, less stress and more respect, where the beer flows freely, and the songs saturate FM signals everywhere. Bravo, LOSER, bravo.

Of the track, LOSER’s Craig Selak talks on their introspective journey while creating ‘Stadium Dreams on a Bedroom Budget’.

“This whole EP is about self discovery. It’s about ignoring the distractions and digging deeper within yourself to find out who that is, what they want, and empowering yourself to be true to that. The name ‘Stadium Dreams On A Bedroom Budget’ is a reflection of that. We want to be a band that plays big stadiums and big crowds, but right now we’re recording the whole thing in our own backyard studio, touring hard as an opening band, and appreciating every moment of the journey without losing sight of our goals, or the reason we want to achieve them,” he said.

Throughout the course of LOSER’s innovative EP release, they foreground the power of the single whilst still maintaining the integrity of the long form EP release structure. With each release LOSER continued to build the narrative of the EP, navigating their journey of self-discovery alongside live performance videos and single-specific merch, that included a rarer-than-rare extremely limited vinyl run, distributed randomly to 10 fans mid-set at each leg of the tour.

Each release saw LOSER explore new facets of their creativity. From opening the EP with the power packed belter ‘Heaven Can Wait’, to pulled back introspective singles ‘Hold On You’ and ‘Only One’ LOSER edged towards the close with the simmering drama of ‘Sunday’ before launching into cathartic riffed out closer ‘Starting Over’. 

This final single encapsulates everything that has cemented LOSER as one of Australia’s premier alt-rock outfits. Tapping into vulnerability they explore the disorienting experience of finding passion and drive after the pandemic. Referencing the tumultuous time they simultaneously look with optimism towards the future. Accompanying the release is a live-performance video for ‘Starting Over’, the final instalment of a range of videos that showcase LOSER at their prime

“This song was one of the last songs written for the EP. Another one in the vein of ‘The More I Know’ thematically, after the pandemic it felt like starting from scratch again. However, so many things had changed and people grew apart. I always thought no matter how we all aged I would stay close to all my friends but humans grow up and this song is about that. No matter what happens in life all I can think about is being distracted by being on the road and doing what I love.” Tim Maxwell, LOSER

All tracks from the EP were recorded at Restless Noise Studios, the band’s own home studio. Band members Craig Selak and Tim Maxwell self-produced all songs with Tim lending his mixing skills. To close out the team, the track was then mastered by George Georgiadis at Little Wing Sound (The VANNS, Gang Of Youths).

The exciting and fulfilling completion of ‘Stadium Dreams on a Bedroom Budget’ is now up on all digital platforms. Play it loud, play it proud, play it now.