Ahead of their European tour later this month renowned Melbourne stalwarts RVG announce two track ‘Don’t Take It Badly / Pet Sematary’ out on August 22nd via Fire Records and Mushroom Music. RVG’s first new music since their 2023 Soundmerch Australian Music Prize winning album ‘Brain Worms’, which also took out the AIR Awards Independent Album of the Year earlier this month.
Recorded at Soundpark Studios with Andrew “Idge” Hehir and mixed by James Trevascus (who produced their award winning album ‘Brain Worms’) ‘Don’t Take It Badly’ is a head-on collision seeing RVG at their most jangly. Of the song, front woman Romy Vager explains “Don’t Take It Badly is a song about how change isn’t always a romantic thing and can sometimes feel pretty ugly. It’s a winter song that I wrote in the summer”.
‘Don’t Take It Badly’ is joined by a euphoric, chiming cover of the Ramones’ ‘Pet Sematary’. “We all love the Ramones” Romy states “And started playing this in rehearsal and it instantly clicked. The lyrics are such an underrated part of Ramones’ songs, there’s a lot of imagery in this song that I love dearly”.
The two track comes ahead of RVG’s first international tour for 2024 in the UK and Europe. The tour kicks off on Thursday 28th August at the Lexington in London. The tour will consist of performances at End of the Road Festival, SMG Festival, Misty Fields and Hop Pop Hop Festival among numerous headline dates. Full tour dates and ticket links can be found below.
The release of ‘Don’t Take It Badly / Pet Sematary’ comes on the heels of RVG’s monumental win of the 2023 Australian Music Prize for their critically acclaimed third studio album ‘Brain Worms’. This is alongside their win at the AIR AWARDS for Independent Album of the Year, the 4x Music Victoria nominations, a J Award nomination and feature album status on Double J, PBS, 3RRR, 2SER and RTRFM.
After a massive 12 months since ‘Brain Worms’ that saw the band showcase at SXSW (Austin, USA) and The Great Escape (Brighton, UK), plus play Golden Plains, Rising Festival, Dark Mofo and Splendour in the Grass, this double A-side is the perfect follow up to their acclaimed ‘Brain Worms’ album, lauded by Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Uncut, FADER, KEXP, MOJO, NME, Louder Than War, Clash, Apple Music 1, and anyone else with ears.
“Forever raw and forever vital… A pulsating return” Clash
2024 Live Dates
28 Aug: The Lexington, London, UK
29 Aug: Crofters Rights, Bristol, UK
30 Aug: End Of The Road, Lamer Tree Gardens, UK
02 Sep: The Hug & Pint, Glasgow, UK
03 Sep: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, UK
04 Sep: The Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham, UK
06 Sep: SMG Festival Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium
07 Sep: Misty Fields Festival, Asten-Heusden, Netherlands
08 Sep: Rotown, Rotterdam, Netherlands
11 Sep: Hasard Ludique, Rotterdam, Netherlands
12 Sep: Ubu, Rennes, France
13 Sep: Rockschool Barbey, Bordeaux, France
14 Sep: Hop Pop Hop, Orleans, France
17 Sep: Bumann & Sohn, Cologne, Germany
18 Sep: Gleiss 22, Munster, Germany
19-21 Sep: Reeperbahn Festival, Hamburg, Germany
