Bad Neighbour Sign to Ninth Life Records, Drop New Single ‘Snarling’

Brisbane’s rising indie punk outfit Bad Neighbour have become the latest addition to Australia’s newest emo/punk powerhouse, Ninth Life Records, joining the label as its second official signing.

The move marks a major career milestone for the quartet, who’ve spent the last year gaining serious momentum on the back of their debut album Millions and high-profile national supports.

Founded by Tayla Ellerby (Talk Heavy) and Joshua Merriel (Greyscale Records), Ninth Life Records is an artist-run label dedicated to the punk, emo, grunge, and alt-rock scenes. Designed to create pathways for emerging talent both locally and globally, Ninth Life’s ethos—”sad punks helping sad punks”—has already caught the attention of acts ready to carve their space in a post-hardcore-leaning, DIY-loving community.

“Tayla and Josh have been longtime friends of the band, we would often end up in the same rooms together playing with Tayla’s band, Talk Heavy—the greatest band in the world–and we became good friends with Josh on a tour last year,” frontman Cooper Riley told The Music Network. “I think we all have a mutual love of the same music, they reached out about the label and we were ecstatic to jump on board.”

To mark the occasion, Bad Neighbour have released new single “Snarling”, a brooding, emotionally raw anthem that cements their signature blend of vulnerable lyricism and driving indie punk. The track arrives ahead of a national tour this July supporting The Smith Street Band, a pairing that feels full circle for a band who grew up listening to them.

“‘Snarling’ was written after the end of a long relationship,” Riley explains. “I was coming to terms with letting someone down, and how my life had changed… The general theme of it was, I guess, a bleak sense of ‘no one’s coming to help you’ and ‘pull your boot straps up.’

“I write a lot about God and Jesus. etc. because I love to be dramatic and question the entire universe. I felt terribly lost and directionless last year when we began this period of writing and I think most of that was channeled into this song.”

The band—rounded out by Zoe Middleton (lead guitar/vocals), Liam Sumner (bass/vocals) and Jack Parkes (drums)—first gained traction with their emotionally charged debut Millions, which racked up over 150,000 Spotify streams before its official release.

Since then, they’ve toured extensively across the country supporting the likes of Hot Mulligan, Spanish Love Songs, Free Throw, and Badflower, and hit festival stages at Good Things and New Bloom.

Though “Snarling” veers into darker sonic territory than their earlier material, Riley says it’s just one piece of a broader evolution.

“This new song is very dark and maybe a bit left of field for what we have done previously, so it’s not necessarily a portrait of what’s to come,” he shares. “We’ve been creating the best songs that we have ever written, and thematically and sonically they’re all over the place, but we have never liked to be boxed into a genre or a corner. We’ve never been more excited about what’s next.”

With Ninth Life backing their next chapter, Bad Neighbour look poised to make a larger dent in Australia’s alternative space—and maybe further afield. The label’s mission to support emotionally honest, genre-defiant artists is a fitting home for a band that’s making their name doing just that.

Bad Neighbour’s new single “Snarling” is out now via Ninth Life Records. Catch them on tour with The Smith Street Band this July. Tickets on sale now.