MEDIA RELEASE
Friday 17 APRIL 2026
Friday 17 APRIL 2026
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contact: [email protected] to arrange an interview with SHOWBAG! for your radio, tv, podcasts, website or street press
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NEW ALBUM
WATERHOUSE
RELEASED TODAY
"Australia's premier high feel lofi band"
For fans of Guided By Voices, Pavement, R.E.M. and Built to Spill
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SHOWBAG! RELEASE THEIR FIRST ALBUM SINCE 2003! AND CELEBRATE WITH A PERFORMANCE AT RTR FM'S IN THE PINES AND AN ALBUM LAUNCH IN PERTH ON 26 APRIL, WITH PLANS FOR A RUN OF AUSTRALIAN EAST COAST SHOWS IN WINTER
Australian indie cult favourites Showbag! return with a long awaited new album, Waterhouse (April 17) – a raw and melodic collection steeped in lo fi charm, emotional honesty, and the off kilter songwriting that first defined the band.
Formed in Perth in the late 1990s, Showbag! built a loyal following through the early 2000s with their instinctive blend of melody, fragility, and unpolished indie rock spirit. Drawing comparisons to Guided By Voices and Pavement, the band carved out a unique space within the Australian underground, releasing records that resonated deeply for their sincerity and creative freedom. After more than two decades apart, Showbag! return not as a nostalgia act, but as a band reconnecting with unfinished ideas. Waterhouse revisits songs first written in the mid 1990s, during a time of share house living, late nights, and the emotional uncertainty of young adulthood. These songs capture a young songwriter searching for meaning in love, identity, and self doubt, often expressing truths indirectly in a time when emotional openness in men was rarely spoken aloud. Now revisited with perspective, Waterhouse carries that same vulnerability with a renewed sense of clarity, revealing a body of work that feels both time capsule and living document. The lead single All I’ve Got arrives as a rollicking slice of melodic indie rock, balancing playful imagery with stark emotional weight. Built on driving guitars and an undeniable hook, the song shifts between quirky domestic detail and deeply exposed confession, capturing the album’s central tension between deflection and truth. “Waterhouse comes from a time when I was trying to understand things I did not yet have the language for,” says songwriter Glenn Musto. “A lot of it had to come out sideways. Coming back to these songs now, I can hear what was always there.” Elsewhere on the album, moments of disarming honesty surface through fragments and lines that linger long after they land. Across its songs, Waterhouse explores belonging, disconnection, longing, and the quiet resilience of trying again. On Break My Arm, a quirky, melodic indie standout, the central line “don’t break my arm when I put it in your hands” masks a deeper plea, a sideways expression of vulnerability that says what it cannot quite state directly. In Don’t Ask, that restraint gives way to something more exposed, with the line “don’t ask me if everything’s alright, cause it’s not alright” cutting through with a simple and confronting clarity. Meanwhile, Hatch a Lizard leans into the band’s irreverent edge, pairing off kilter, Pavement meets R.E.M. stylings with a searching refrain, “I don’t know what home feels like,” capturing both the charm and uncertainty that runs through the record. Recorded with a commitment to immediacy and feel, the album leans into the band’s lo fi ethos, favouring instinct over perfection. The result is a collection that feels unguarded and alive, where imperfections are not only preserved but embraced as part of the story. Returning to the stage with a BANG - performing at RTRFM’s In The Pines, before following up with a star studded album launch a week later, Showbag! step back into view with a renewed sense of purpose, reconnecting with audiences who have carried these songs for years, while opening the door for a new generation to discover them. With Waterhouse, Showbag! remind us that some songs do not fade with time. They simply wait to be heard properly. WATERHOUSE IS OUT NOW ON VINYL/CD/DIGITAL VIA BANDCAMP
GLENNMUSTO.NET, IGLOO RECORDS AND AMRAP FOR COMMUNITY RADIO "I was a member of this quirky, yet brilliant band for about a year. I'd been a fan and friend for many more years. When Glenn got in touch with the idea of recording a bunch of "forgotten" songs, I jumped at the chance. I knew they'd be good. As far as putting the record out on the label, I always assumed Glenn was going to do that with his own label and unique reach. So when he proposed a joint release with an Igloo Catalogue number, I again jumped at the chance because by then I'd heard the songs and they were more than good."
ADEM K, IGLOO RECORDS
LIVE SHOWS
SUNDAY 19 APRIL - RTR FM IN THE PINES - SOMERVILLE AUDITORIUM UWA, CRAWLEY, WA, AUSTRALIA SUNDAY 26 APRIL @6pm - LYRICS UNDERGROUND MAYLANDS, WA, AUSTRALIA - w/ New Phono, Teen Angst, Ruby Pettit & Spotlight Kid 
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS STITCH UP!
The band were recently stitched up when they received what appeared to be a cease and desist letter from a law firm requiring the band to remove images of iconic footballer (and the bands hero) Clive Waterhouse from their single Break My Arm! All was resolved and revealed with the help of ABC Radio Perth!
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CREDITS
Glenn Must0: lead vocals and guitar Chris Havercroft: drums and percussion Adem Kerimofski: guitar, keys and backing vocals Jodie Musto: vocals, piano and percussion Lee Musto: bass guitar and backing vocals Recorded and mixed at Sanctuary of Sentient Beings by Glenn Musto Additional recording at Future Ranch by Adem Kerimofski Produced by Glenn Musto and Showbag! 'All I've Got' video by Glenn Musto |
DIGITAL STREAM
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