Sogg are raging against the machine.
When we caught up with the young noise-rock trio for our Ōtepoti Dunedin Scene Report earlier this year, lead vocalist Ollie Kemmett — bassist Noelle Hill and drummer Rue Tulloch join him in the lineup — said, “We’re definitely going to record some more stuff because we’ve been changing [our] sound so much that we need to document it.”
So it is that new single “Argument”, out today, marks an evolution for Sogg, moving slightly away from the short and punchy adrenaline hits of their 2025 debut album, Kill Yr Oppressor.
“Argument” opens with a dirty, drawn-out instrumental, their tight-knight interplay on full display, before Kemmett’s screeching vocals arrive around the one-minute mark.
The dynamic song is almost Fugazi-esque or, much closer to home, reminiscent of High Dependency Unit, the latter of whom unsurprisingly asked Sogg to support them on tour last year.
Sogg’s new drop follows another notable release, a raucous cover of The Clean’s “Point That Thing Somewhere Else” with none other than The Clean’s own David Kilgour featuring as a guest (listen below).
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“Argument” is the lead single from Freezer Thaw, Sogg’s forthcoming EP , which a press release teases features a “deep doomy sound,” not to mention “nu metal” and “doom grunge.”
“The singer spits bad vibes and screams them over head banging rock. Nightmares take monstrous form,” the press release adds. Sign me up.
Freezer Thaw is no ordinary EP: it’s part of 4EPS, the debut release from DUN Records that unites four of Dunedin’s best new bands: Sivle Talk, U-No Juno, Vagina Dry and, of course, Sogg.
4EPS, out in July, follows the wonderful example of Flying Nun’s Dunedin Double EP, which introduced wider Aotearoa to The Chills, Sneaky Feelings, The Stones, and The Verlaines in 1982.
Just like that legendary release, 4EPS is essentially four individual releases packaged together, with each band given one side each. There’s Sivle Talk’s CRYBABY, Song’s aforementioned Freezer Thaw, U-No Juno’s you know, and a self-titled EP by Vagina Dry.
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Befitting the city they hail from, all four bands recorded in true DIY fashion, with Sogg requiring an official week off from high school to record at Southlink Studios, a community space led by engineer/producer Nick Roughan.
The four bands are going to celebrate the release with a run of shows around the best half of Aotearoa, the South Island, kicking off with a special double header in their hometown across July 3rd-4th (see full dates here).
Sogg’s “Argument” is out now. 4EPS is out July 3rd via DUN Records (pre-order here).
