Short Stack is back
More than two years since the band’s split and nine months since the release of frontman Shaun Diviney’s solo EP, Short Stack are back and already climbing the iTunes Chart.
Unveiled last night on social media with the hashtag #stackisback, Diviney, Andy Clemmensen and Bradie Webb released new single Television, announced a music video for the track, and two comeback shows in Sydney and Melbourne.
Tickets for the Central Coast trio’s all-ages shows at Melbourne’s Ormond Hall on June 28 and Sydney’s Metro Theatre on July 5 went on sale at 9am this morning, with the Melbourne date already selling out. The hashtag is currently trending at #2 on Twitter and after the servicing of Television to radio last night the single has already hit the Top 10 on iTunes, marking the trio’s first chart entry since their Platinum-selling 2010 single Planets.
Since the band’s inception in 2007, Short Stack have seen two of their records certified Gold, topping the ARIA chart with Stack Is The New Black in 2009, before its follow-up This Is Bat Country reached #6 in 2010. The band sold-out each of their five national tours – and featured as cover stars on TMN’s only 3D magazine (to date).
The trio disbanded on March 30 2012, making room for Diviney to start a solo career and thus stammering production on the band’s third LP Art Vandelay. The album received a quiet release on iTunes without any mention from Short Stack. Shaun Diviney’s solo EP Sex/Games was crowd-funded through Pledge Music last year, the campaign was fulfilled in 24 hours and the title track peaked at #3 on iTunes’ Rock Chart.
Television and Short Stack’s reformation couldn’t have come at a better time; Western Sydney band 5 Seconds Of Summer topped the official charts in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland with their EP She Looks So Perfect and last week the release debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 – pop punk’s mainstream resurgence may finally send Short Stack global.
2DayFM have secured Television’s premiere, they’ll play the track tonight on their show The Bump along with an interview with the band. TMN got a few questions in first, however; read our chat with Shaun Diviney, below.
What prompted the reformation of the band?
More than anything we missed hanging out. When we met up last year and first started talking about this we eventually started making music again. We were genuinely loving what we were creating and that hadn’t happened in a long time.
You surprise-released this new single. Was this a track recorded for your abandoned third album?
No, this is a new track we wrote late last year.
Will that album ever see the light of day? From memory it was quite grand in concept, influenced by Queen and Pink Floyd.
Yeah it was super weird. We weren’t collaborating at all and were never on the same page so the record suffered. There’s a reason it was never released [laughs]. It was cool to experiment but that record sucked. We always want to be a band that betters ourselves and when we assessed that LP it was nowhere near as good as …Bat Country. Now we’re confident we’re making our best music ever.
So, what’s next? You have these shows, any further touring on the cards?
Yeah we’re almost done with album #3! It’s called Homecoming and it’s exactly that. We’re returning to what we grew up with, Foo Fighters and Blink-182 and trying to capture the energy of a live band. We’re stoked to play these shows, I think they’ve almost sold out this morning, and we’re ready to take on the world again [laughs].