Naarm/Melbourne Post-punk Trio LXRP Share ‘Pinata'; Debut Album Out Friday, May 29 Via Trans-Brunswick Express

Two weeks out from the release of their debut self-titled album (out Friday, May 29 via Simona Castricum’s label, Trans-Brunswick Express), Naarm/Melbourne post-punk trio LXRP share new single 'Pinata'.

Like most great pop songs, 'Pinata’ starts with a scenario that's easy to picture: a birthday party for the child of the one that got away. As the kids bust up a piñata, the song's narrator wonders whether the scraps of paper used to make it might have once been love letters – letters sent, and letters that never were. The song's central image is slight and domestic, but the longing underneath it is enormous; the narrator still caught up on someone they're no longer with, years later. One of the album's standout images – a stray lolly rolling under a couch to collect dust – crystallises the feeling perfectly. "I thought of this on the train," says vocalist Mish Furner of the song's genesis, in keeping with the band's habit of workshopping ideas on commutes.

Furner calls 'Pinata' her personal favourite on the record, and it's easy to see why. It's the most nakedly emotional moment in LXRP's catalogue so far: Heather Jardany's cowbell-led drum machine sits low in the mix while Furner's vocal rides up over it, warm and clear. Amy Rogers and Jardany’s backing vocals give the track a lush, close-knit quality that sets it apart, while Rogers' bass, typically the kinetic engine of an LXRP song, slows to something more searching here.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

'Pinata' is the third single from LXRP's debut self-titled album, due May 29 via Trans-Brunswick Express. The album was recorded in a single day in a home studio in Coburg – Furner, Rogers, and Jardany burning through the whole thing in one session with engineer and collaborator Allison Walker. "We just blitzed through it," Furner recalls. Most tracks needed only one or two takes; the band had spent months playing the songs live across Naarm, and it showed.

The resulting album – nine tracks, just under 40 minutes – moves between the heavy and the cold, the dancefloor and the quietly devastating. Formed in mid-2024, LXRP built their sound around a shared love of the Sydney post-punk scene of the 2010s (Orion, Low Life, Sex Tourists), the classic chorus-pedal tones of Australian post-punk, and the dancier, pop-minded moments of New Order and The Cure. Jardany handles all drum programming via a Polyend tracker, a decision made from the outset that gives the band's rhythms their distinctive mechanical warmth. The album also features 'Artifacting' – the band's debut single from May 2025, which became an early crowd favourite for its cowbell-led beat and infectious guitar lick – and 'Maintenance', released February 2026.

LXRP consists of Amy Rogers (also of The Medicine Women and Restraint) on bass guitar, Heather Jardany (Heather Vomiting God) on electric guitar and drum programming, and Mish Furner on vocals. In just over a year of existence, they've played over thirty shows across Naarm, and will launch the album on June 5 at Bell City alongside Whip!, Clit Split, and Solar Logos Sect.

LXRP’s self-titled debut album is out Friday, May 29 via Trans-Brunswick Express.

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading