How do you grow older and keep that youthful spark alive? For Ben Lee, whose precocious punk spirit launched a 30-year music career at just 14 with his band Noise Addict, that’s the big question these days.
The Australian musician bashed out an entire album on the topic in just three days – straight to tape, no click tracks, no programming, no autotune. “The way we used to do it,” he insists.
The result? Optimistic tracks packed with distorted guitar riffs, big melodies, and lyrics about indie rock spirit, aging, and the joy of falling in love with music as a kid—a feeling he never wants to lose.
Released last week through his own label, Weirder Together (started alongside his wife, Ione Skye), the album’s fittingly titled This One’s for the Old Headz, though Lee says it’s just as much for the young ones, too.
“‘This One’s for the Old Headz’ is a spirited, energetic exploration of getting older while staying true to your punk spirit,” Lee explains. “Three decades into my career I’ve made the power pop record that I was always destined to make. I hope this inspires young artists to believe there is no end to making passionate, electric work. I hope it scares them a little too”.
To celebrate the release, Lee broke down the album tracks for Rolling Stone AU/NZ, which you can check out below.
Ben Lee’s This One’s for the Old Headz is out now via Weirder Together.
This One’s for the Old Headz Track-by-Track:
“The Way We Were”
I was thinking about my own past as a bit of a troublemaker. The natural courage and foolishness of youth and of punk rock. I’m kind of in awe of it now, even though I’ve matured and changed, I still admire the reckless spirit of the young artist. I’m singing to a young friend who has started a band: “I saw you up on stage, yeah baby you destroyed them/ Isn’t that what it’s all about? / You freaked them out / You gotta love the way we were.”
“Heavy Metal”
When I was a kid, I was obsessed with Mötley Crüe. They were my first concert. I was thinking about how they influenced so many of my attitudes about sex, music, drugs, performance, which is kind of crazy. Nonetheless, I was following this train of thought for a minute and then realised I was like an ’80s satanic panic parent, blaming everything on heavy metal! Once I had the line, “Blame it all on heavy metal,” the song wrote itself.
“Positive Energy”
My kid says this is a sad song. I find it joyous. Somewhere in that tension is where my favourite songs live. It’s about choosing to be optimistic and hopeful, while acknowledging how difficult life can be. Being positive as a young person is kinda easy… Getting up after you’ve taken a few hits and remaining positive is not for the faint of heart.
“Less Control”
I’m at a point in my career and creative path where I’ve tried most of the things I wanted to try. I’ve had successes, failures, big experiments. Now I want something different, and I don’t really know what it is. I was to be overtaken by ideas that come out of nowhere. I want to be surprised. I actually want less control. “It’s a magic trick, this thing we call getting it through.” I don’t even know what that means, but it sounds 100% correct to me every time I sing it. That’s the experience I’m looking for.
“So Damn Hard (to Be So Damn Good)”
I’ve joked around with arrogance and ego so much in my life/career that I thought it would be fun to write a song that was the ultimate self-congratulatory ditty, with the obvious premise of being a legimate mess. And it kinda developed a theme about the delusion of self-belief. My sense of humour can be hard to read sometimes, I guess. People come up to me after shows sometimes and say, “I can’t tell whether you are joking or not.” I always respond “Neither can I, anymore.”
“Bad Luck”
This song started with the chorus chords which I stole from Mike Kroll after seeing him open for Superchunk at Pappy & Harriet’s. Luck is a real thing in showbiz. It comes and goes. You can’t fight it. People with long careers learn to surf these vibe shifts. But as zen as you get, its more fun when the phone is ringing than when it isnt! Its more fun to have good luck.
“Don’t Stop Loving Too Much”
This song is a straight up Teenage Fanclub ripoff. Or tribute. Sometimes you just gotta fan out and get closer to the sounds that inspire you. The song itself is about courage and romance. I’ve got a lot of regrets, but vulnerability is not one of them.
“Friends With Freaks”
We threw a party and [I] was sitting around drinking with Shamir, Georgia Maq, and Evan Rachel Wood, all creative, unique, inspiring people who I love very much and I had a moment of profound gratitude. I wrote this song the next morning.
“Lovers”
My wife Ione has been writing her memoir for a couple of years now (Say Everything due out May 2025) so the past has been on our minds. In our conversations. I wanted to write a romantic modern love song about honouring the past of the person you love.
“Gimmie Honey”
This is Meg Washington’s favourite song on the album. I guess it centres itself around the core belief that for me and music fans of my generation, music had something healing to offer. And I don’t think that has changed. Every generation needs music, needs songs, needs the passion of creativity. A song is like a drug in a way. It can take you places that you need to go. I’ve only ever wanted to write songs that are like honey for people. They hopefully add a little sweetness to the difficult experience of getting through the day. And I genuinely marvel that the experience continues.
“Still can’t believe that we made it this far / This one’s for the old headz in the back of the bar / We’ve been through phases, yeah we took some deep dives / Using up every one of our nine lives.” That line’s for me and all the other old headz who refuse to stop believing in the power of rock n roll.
