The Empty Threats' Exhilarating Second Album, Happy Birthday, Is Out Today

Rising Kaurna land / Adelaide queer rock outfit, The Empty Threats, today release their second album happy birthday, out digitally and on limited-edition 12" vinyl via Anti-Dismal and Short Corner Records.

As the name suggests, happy birthday – the exhilarating sophomore album from the Adelaide band lovingly referred to by fans as "The Empties" – is certainly a celebration. Well, of sorts. It’s the sound of a sweaty, scuzzy house party; full of anxiety, messy social relations, desire, pill-popping and bruised, bopping bodies, which threatens to descend into total chaos. But for all its frenzy and rollicking bliss, it also covers the terrain of a celebration's aftermath – those painful revelations that turn crystalline at the break of dawn. If their 2023 debut Monster Truck Mondays was charged by a queer, radical politic that looked outward, then happy birthday sees the band turning inward, exploring the pleasures and anguish of romance, friendship and one’s own inner life. In a world where the rougher edges of neurodivergence are sanded down and made palatable, happy birthday, recorded and produced by guitarist Matt Schultz, is a sprawling, euphoric garage rock record that positions itself in the muck of this reality, refusing to quieten or reconcile its many ideas or energies.

The album was written during a self-imposed, two-week sequestering in an old sheep ranch, located in the remote, mountainous Flinder’s Ranges, five hours north from Adelaide. The band’s (made up of Stu Patterson (they/them - [vocals / saxophone / clarinet]), Matt Schultz (they/them - [guitars]), Lenny Regione (he/him - [bass guitar]), Michael Bond (he/him - [drums]), Alex Dearman (him/him - [guitar]) and Grace Vandals (she/her - [vocals / guitar / synth] with contributions from former member Venus (they/them- guitar/backing vocals) aim was to lock themselves away and return to the city with a suite of songs. With no internet service and precarious power sources (whenever the band wanted to plug in their amps, they had to run outside and turn on a generator), they emerged with the 15 songs that make up happy birthday. “It really felt like one of those ‘go to the desert and lose your mind’ kind of thing” says Patterson.

Much of the record deals with moments of the mind looping and spiralling. 'micro' begins with a Strokes-swagger, detailing the confusion and grief of seeing an ex from afar. The discordance of the experience is matched with a punk dissonance that grows across the track’s four minutes – the guitars shriek and splutter, and the lyrics are relinquished for a finale of spoken word fury. “It’s got my favourite melody of the whole album. It’s a frustration melody, and sometimes when you're frustrated and tired, you finally just listen to your instincts,” says Patterson. The song was one of the final to be recorded by the band in January of this year.

Wanting to capture the liberating wildness of their live shows, Empties opted to record their new record live, and ran through songs in order, working their way down. “It was about creating space and not taking up too much room between people, letting everyone have their own realm” says Shultz about the recording progress.

Elsewhere, minds are shredded by “brain rot” like on the snarling, short-circuiting ‘phone call’.“ Meanwhile, 'bus stop' is a bracing duet between Patterson and Venus, brimming with cutting riffs and melodic melancholy, exploring disconnection and restlessness, with elliptical, poetic lyrics - “Sitting at the bus stop waiting in the rain all these conversations feel the same / Sitting at the bus stop told me I’ve changed, silent altercations, no-one to blame.” “The song is an ode to the sleepless nights where one's emotions blurs between the lines of sanity and insanity,” says Patterson.

Their time in the Flinder’s Ranges comes into starting view on the slowest song on the record, 'sky's theme' a beautiful, thrashing ode to the unconditional love of canines, inspired by a dog called Sky that roamed the sheep farm, and the death of a beloved pet of Patterson’s.

Since their humble high school origins, and the release of Monster Truck Mondays, The Empty Threats have been lauded both in Australia and abroad. They have won multiple South Australian Music Awards, and received co-signs from Rolling Stone and KEXP. The band’s reputation for unruly live shows has seen them tour relentlessly, including a headline show at the iconic Rough Trade East in London. Their ability to connect with diverse audiences is evident in their impressive list of support slots – they’ve shared the stage with everyone, including indie-pop sensation BENEE, Australian rock icons Jimmy Barnes and ICEHOUSE. They’ve also captivated festival audiences across the globe at The Great Escape, Camp A Low Hum, WOMADelaide and Yours & Owls.

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