Faster and Louder: Snakeheads

Friday, August 29, 2025

Snakeheads - Belconnen Highs

Now this is what I'm talking about! Belconnen Highs is the posthumously released album from Snakeheads, and it's the epitome of thrilling, high energy punk rock from the old school. Snakeheads were formed in 2016 by James Roden and Pete Lusty, who were high school mates in Canberra and friends for over 35 years. The two played together in Morticians and The John Reed Club, and they both went on to great success in the Aussie music scene. Roden was in City Lights, and Lusty founded Ivy League Records in addition to managing bands such as The Vines, Jet, and Empire of the Sun. Roden and Lusty eventually reconnected and again started playing music together — purely for the joy of it. They set out to play the kind of music they loved when they were 15. Lusty died of very aggressive lymphoma in 2020, and Roden decided that the album the two had started working on together needed to be finished. With the help of Kit Warhurst (drums), Graeme Stanley Trewin (drums), and Harry Roden (bass) as well as producers Wayne Connolly and Jason Whalley, Roden has seen the project through over a period of five years. What results is something truly special — and a tremendous tribute.

Belconnen Highs is everything it was intended to be. It's the creation of two kindred spirits who shared a love for The Clash, The Jam, Stiff Little Fingers, The Who, and the classic Aussie garage rock of the 1980s. Roden and Lusty, with all the accomplishments they had had in the world of music, just wanted to take it back to where it had all started at Belconnen High School all those years before. If you remember what it was like to be a kid and discovering punk rock for the first time, this record will give you all the feels. Of course there are still bands who make music in the style of 1977 punk rock, but this feels like the real deal. It's not just that they captured the spirit of pure, unadulterated three-chord punk rock 'n' roll. It's also that the songs are absolutely brilliant, and the production is truly perfect. Sometimes punk groups lose a little of their edge when they go from the stage to the studio, but Belconnen Highs practically explodes from your speakers with a raw energy that's truly infectious. These are songs you can crank loudly as you exuberantly shout along and pogo around the house like a maniac. Tracks like "Smash Hits," "Shit I Don't Have Time For," "Top of the Pops," "Exocet," "Cheap Thrills," and "Love My Friends" are veritable jolts of energy that you will have you fired up to take on the world. This is one of the best punk LPs I've heard in recent years and certainly one of my favorite albums of 2025.

It certainly could not have been easy for Roden to finish this album after Lusty's passing, but his persistence and dedication have culminated in something quite extraordinary. The magic you can hear on Belconnen Highs dates back not just to 2016 but to the early '80s. It's a magnificent tribute to Pete Lusty and a wonderful celebration of friendship, punk rock, and friendships that form because of punk rock. These songs deserved to live on, and now they will. Vinyl is available now from Cassell Records/Impressed Recordings!