Created in partnership with Mentos
Some things never get old, like indie rock being forged in suburban garages and school rocks bands. Perth five-piece Streetlights are proof of that.
Formed by a group of friends who first started playing covers together in high school, the band are steadily building a reputation for strong storytelling, infectious hooks and energetic, guitar-driven sound.
Drawing inspiration from a variety of familiar favourites, like Talking Heads and Two Door Cinema Club to fellow West Australians Spacey Jane, Streetlights have continued to evolve with each release.
Their latest single, “Radio National”, is among their most personal yet, transforming memories of evacuating during the devastating Wooroloo bushfires into an uplifting, synth-driven indie anthem that showcases both their knack for melody and thoughtful songwriting.
With two WA Song of the Year nominations already under their belts, a new single “Close to Me” coming in September, a second EP on the horizon and plans to take their music beyond Western Australia, the five-piece are entering their biggest chapter yet.
The Mentos Fresh Sounds Class of ’26, curated by Rolling Stone AU/NZ, has officially been unveiled — and now we’re turning the spotlight to even more artists making serious noise. As part of our Up-And-Coming Australian Artists series, we caught up with Streetlights to chat about growing up in Perth, the story behind “Radio National”, and what’s next for the band.
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Rolling Stone AU/NZ: Where are you from?
We’re from Perth, WA! We’re mainly based out of the northern suburbs, we went to school together in a suburb called Ellenbrook and that’s where we really got started playing covers in our high school rock band.
Describe your ‘Fresh Sound’ in three words.
Suburban, upbeat, vibrant.
Name three of your biggest musical influences.
It’s so hard to narrow it down to three! Gun to our heads we’d say Two Door Cinema Club, Talking Heads, and let’s go with our hometown buddies Spacey Jane. It’s a good blend of catchiness and quirkiness which sums us up. Honourable mentions to New Order and Eskimo Joe. There’s five of us in Streetlights, so we all come to the writing process with a really diverse group of influences. It’s a massive cliche, but we really do listen to anything. From Black Sabbath to the Wu Tang Clan… it’s a real mix.
Tell us about your latest release.
Our latest single, “Radio National”, is an ode to the humble wireless radio. Back in 2021, we had to evacuate our houses due to the horrible Wooroloo bushfires. Myself (John) and my brother Pearse ended up in our Nan’s living room, pretty much only with a guitar and a battery powered radio.
The song’s lyrics are all inspired by news stories and headlines that we’d hear come on every hour while we flicked through the different stations. We’ve put these reflective lyrics into a synth/bass driven rock track. It’s a song that took a few different forms over a couple of years before landing where it is now, but it definitely feels like an irreplaceable song in our set now!
If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be?
Geese have absolutely exploded onto the international stage recently and Cameron Winter’s style of writing and lyricism really resonates with our method of storytelling. There would be some interesting music that would come out of a collaboration between us and them, it’d be an interesting indie rock experiment as there are so many parallels between our songwriting and theirs.
What’s your dream venue to play?
We’re hoping to get around to the eastern states late this year/early next year and The Forum in Melbourne looks amazing to play. Back home in WA, the Rechabite has been on our hit list for a little while; it has a colosseum-style vibe to it with its tiered terrace stands. Wembley Stadium would ultimately be the end goal, but isn’t that the case for all of us?
What one thing do you think the Australian music industry needs right now and why?
More venues! It’s obviously a very complex issue with lots of moving parts, but the lack of mid-sized venues that host gigs is something that definitely needs to be addressed. The more healthy venues we have around in the industry means that more bands have the opportunity to share their art with the world!
What’s coming up for you in 2026 and beyond?
We’ve had a fun year so far! We’ve played some really fun shows, and were nominated for two WA Song of the Year Awards – and the back end of 2026 is looking busy! We’ve just finished recording our second EP, so there’ll be at least three more singles this year with a full EP out at the end of this year or the start of 2027.
We’re really excited to get more music out, and we think that these next three singles are our best yet. We’re also in the middle of planning a regional West Australian tour for early 2027, and we’re crossing fingers that we’ll be able to play some shows along the East Coast sometime soon. We’re all really excited for the next few months and beyond!
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A Rolling Stone AU/NZ-backed music launchpad, the inaugural Mentos Fresh Sounds Class of ’26 was created to support the next generation of talent. Head to the Mentos Fresh Sounds Hub to learn more about our official Class of ’26.
