Hi-Feel Lo Fi
Showbag! is Glenn's first band. A lo-fi refuge where he wrote his first songs. After twenty quiet years we have returned...
NEW SINGLE: ALL I've GOT
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NEW ALBUM: WATERHOUSE
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LIVE TASTER FROM THE WATERHOUSE ALBUM LAUNCH
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BIOGRAPHY
Showbag! are an Australian indie band whose cult following began in the early 2000s with a sound that blended melodic instinct, lo fi texture and off centre charm. Emerging from the Perth music scene, they quickly built a reputation for songs that felt both fragile and anthemic, drawing comparisons to Guided by Voices, Pavement and REM, while always sounding unmistakably their own. Their releases carried a disarming emotional honesty and a freeing creative spirit that resonated deeply within Australia’s independent music community.
After years apart, Glenn, Chris, Adem, Jodie and Lee have reunited with renewed purpose and perspective, returning not as a nostalgia act but as a band with unfinished stories to tell. Their new record Waterhouse revisits songs first written in the mid 1990s, during a time of share house living, late night conversations and the emotional chaos of young adulthood. The youthful innocence that shaped those songs is still there, but they have now been revisited with the depth and understanding that only time can bring.
In many ways, Waterhouse feels like a channel re-opening a long closed billabong, finally letting the flow back. These songs carry the ghosts of another time, when hope lived easily inside indie rock and bands felt like purveyors of little revolutions waiting to happen. Beloved for their sincerity, humour and unpolished musical heart, Showbag! remain a band that reminds audiences why they fell in love with independent music in the first place.
After years apart, Glenn, Chris, Adem, Jodie and Lee have reunited with renewed purpose and perspective, returning not as a nostalgia act but as a band with unfinished stories to tell. Their new record Waterhouse revisits songs first written in the mid 1990s, during a time of share house living, late night conversations and the emotional chaos of young adulthood. The youthful innocence that shaped those songs is still there, but they have now been revisited with the depth and understanding that only time can bring.
In many ways, Waterhouse feels like a channel re-opening a long closed billabong, finally letting the flow back. These songs carry the ghosts of another time, when hope lived easily inside indie rock and bands felt like purveyors of little revolutions waiting to happen. Beloved for their sincerity, humour and unpolished musical heart, Showbag! remain a band that reminds audiences why they fell in love with independent music in the first place.
SUPPORT THE ARTIST
THE RADIO ROOM
A collection of Showbag releases, recordings and sounds from across the years.
WATERHOUSE (lp)
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(April 2026)
You don't need to come for the king of self ruin Waterhouse marks Showbag!’s long awaited return, bringing a collection of songs first written in the mid 1990s into the present with the band’s unmistakable lo fi spirit. Born out of share house living, late nights, and the emotional confusion of young adulthood, these songs capture a young songwriter trying to make sense of love, identity, and self doubt in a time when emotional openness in men was rarely spoken about. Instead, the truth hid inside metaphors and coded confessions, wrapped in crooked indie pop. Across the record, that fragile honesty surfaces in lines that feel both defiant and exposed. |
the town we loved in (lp)
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(June 2003)
You want to go out now but I feel so residential debut long player and in many ways a culmination of ten years of glenn's best song writing. heartfelt and insightful, the story is set in the fictitious Australian town 'perish union' (based loosely on windswept coastal ghost town: greenough), it tells fourteen tales, which, through a tapestry of girl/guy vocals, piece together the story of broken relationships, illness, love, hope and fear and how these coincide with the deterioration of the town. |
never get there (ep)
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(October 2002)
It's like a Hollywood film around you tonight the beginning of the bands era with san franciscan label zip records, featuring a selection of unique indie rock covers and a couple of tracks that became standout live favourites. |
how much would it hurt (single)
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(June 2001)
Jumping in with nothing "rollicking indie rock that certainly does not hurt the ears. could this be WA song of the year" XPress Mag it's amusing how easily reviewers can get carried away… high fidelity style. this single announced the arrival of the band on the national stage. features a couple of cracking b-sides 'not from here' and 'new august girl' |
quicksand (ep)
SMile like you're famous (cassette)
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(December 2000)
I never noticed before you look as good as you do Limited edition cassette of one hundred and fifty exclusively for fan club members. featured home recordings of some rare tracks including a cover of archers of loaf song web in front, plus the original demos of bandy and break it. one for the collectors. |
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playlunch (ep)
forget the cotton (cassette)
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(October 1999)
You know, I'm there, I'm yours, I swear limited edition cassette release to coincide with the bands first live performance. Featuring 'it's a lie' which afforded the band its first recognition. only seventy in existence. One for the collectors. |
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DEEPER CUTS
COMING SOON
Beyond the records: rare footage, live moments, forgotten recordings and fragments from the Showbag years.