Yes, The Buoys are all women. And, let’s face it, they’re better than the boys.
Led by lightning rod singer and rhythm guitarist Zoe Catterall, the Sydney four-piece packs a lot of punch on stage. And with their debut full-length album from 2024, Lustre, the feature album of the week on triple j following its release, they showed critics everywhere that indie rock, done right, is far from a relic.
Musically, The Buoys step out of a glorious moment in the 1990s, fuelled with freedom, energy and melodies. They completed another national lap in late March, following a run of dates across the UK and Western Europe earlier in 2025, where they treated international crowds to their special brand of energy and raw lyricism.
“We’re a hard-working band,” bass player Courtney Cunningham explained backstage after the band played at Rolling Stone House at SXSW Sydney 2024. She’s not wrong. Recording sessions on a new album are underway. —Lars Brandle
Read an exclusive interview with The Buoys below. Check out the full Future of Music 2025 list here.
Rolling Stone AU/NZ: How was 2024 for you? What were your biggest achievements and favourite moments?
The Buoys: 2024 was absolutely huge for us – we released our debut album Lustre which landed in the ARIA charts and scored itself a triple j Album of the Year nomination. We did our first triple j Like a Version, played a sold-out Australian headline tour (our hometown Sydney show was recorded for triple j’s Live at the Wireless), AND we played our first-ever overseas tour. Just writing that all down still blows our minds.
Our favourite moment would have to be from our time in London during our UK tour. We were introduced to the amazing Lucy, who is Head of Mastering Services at Abbey Road Studios. Lucy spent the morning giving us a tour of Abbey Road Studios, and having worked there for 30 years [she] had so many incredible stories. It was such an inspiring place to visit and it was wild to walk through spaces where iconic bodies of work were created.
Music is an increasingly crowded and competitive field. What’s one thing that makes you stand out from other artists?
Music is often seen as a competitive field, but we don’t really look at it that way too much. One band’s success lifts up another, and for us, it’s all about community. Reality is, festival lineups and industry spaces wouldn’t feel so competitive if they made room for more than just a handful of women, especially all-women and queer bands.
We sound pretty different from other Aussie bands – we write from lived experience, we play with raw energy, and we make space for others to do the same. It’s about making music that connects, giving back to the communities who brought you up, and bringing other bands along for the ride.
What’s coming up for you in 2025 and beyond? Any big shows, notable releases?
We’re currently mid-way through our first headline tour of the UK and Europe taking our debut album for a spin! After playing such a packed sold-out tour for Lustre around Australia, it’s exciting to finally be bringing it over to the UK and Europe.
We’ll be headed back again in September for a spring festival we’ve always wanted to do, among others that we can’t announce yet – so keep an eye out! And as if we weren’t busy enough, we’ve started working on the next album and will take a couple weeks out of this year to get that recorded and prepared for being out in the world! All so exciting!
