Silverchair’s era-defining debut Frogstomp officially turned 30 today, and the anniversary was marked with a sold-out celebration at Sydney’s Metro Social overnight.
The intimate event saw drummer Ben Gillies and bassist Chris Joannou take the stage with triple j’s Richard Kingsmill to revisit the stories behind the album, while rising rockers The Buoys tore through iconic tracks “Pure Massacre” and “Tomorrow” before the record was played in full.
Fans were also treated to a pop-up store filled with nostalgia: the original Frogstomp vinyl, remastered editions, exclusive green marbled pressings, limited edition CD singles of “Tomorrow”, “Shade”, and “Israel’s Son”, and a series of Tony Mott prints from the album era, hand-signed and capped at just 20 copies each.
Originally released on March 27th, 1995, Frogstomp cemented Silverchair as the teenage grunge prodigies of the ’90s. The trio from Newcastle – Daniel Johns, Ben Gillies and Chris Joannou – were just 15-years-old when their breakout single “Tomorrow” hit No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart in late 1994.
By April 1995, Frogstomp debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart—making it the first debut album by an Australian artist to do so. Within a week, it went platinum. By the end of the year, triple platinum. Today, it sits at 6x platinum in Australia and has sold over 10 million copies globally.
Credit: Tony Mott
Internationally, the album made waves when it dropped in the US on June 20th, 1995. “Tomorrow” climbed to the top of both the Billboard Alternative and Rock Airplay charts, Frogstomp cracked the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 and the band soon found themselves selling out US venues while barely old enough to drive.
“These young Aussies are masters of sonic sculpture,” wrote Musician magazine at the time. “Deftly using feedback and distortion to build vast cathedrals of sound of their bar-chord riffs and lean, catchy choruses.”
The legacy of Frogstomp lives on. As Gillies and Joannou reminded fans last night, it’s more than a moment in Australian music history – it’s a coming-of-age soundtrack that defined a generation.
A range of anniversary merch is available now via On Repeat and you can stream Fropgstomp here.
