Australia continues to produce some of the top bands in their genres and Trophy Eyes continues this tradition with some solid pop-punk music from Down Under. Trophy Eyes is from the small town of Newcastle and consists of vocalist John Floreani; bassist and backing vocalist, Jeremy Winchester; rhythm guitarist, Kevin Cross; lead guitarist, Andrew Hallett and drummer, Blake Caruso.
5. In Return
This is one of Trophy Eyes’ older tracks. You can sense the raw punk style the band had when they started, with some raspy vocals and thrashing guitars that are part of the piece. The band has since progressed but it is still interesting to go back to its roots to see how they have morphed into their own sound. There are some wonderful elements like the slower guitar leads in the intro and Jeremy Winchester’s rhythmic bass guitar pounding away in the background.
‘The two-storey house where we started again. With the flaky white paint on the garage door. Trying to skate in the driveway on a hand-me-down skateboard. I left my skin on the asphalt. The closest to pain that I’d felt. Too young to know what lonely was,’ sings Floreani.

4. Lavender Bay
On the band’s third album, The American Dream, the group opted for a more pop-punk-friendly sound and, on Lavender Bay, they achieve this with absolute perfection. The track has a fantastic beat, with the rhythm guitar leading the way. Together with Floreani’s vocals, they put together a solid song as he sings: ‘Here’s always something else (Can you feel it? Can you feel it?). No, I’m never really happy when I get it, I’m too hard on myself. I’m sorry I left you behind. (Can you feel it? Can you feel it?) Well, you never made it out but you can blame it on me, I don’t mind.’
The chorus is also a banger, with his crowd-friendly vocals getting the best out of this track: ‘I won’t sleep until Sydney knows my name.
I just wanna see, my name light up the streets. Or it was all for nothin’, all, all for nothin’.’ It is immensely catchy and illustrates the band’s shift in sound on ‘Lavender Bay’. The karaoke-style music video adds to the song’s singalong appeal.

3. Friday Forever
‘Don’t you wish it was Friday forever?’
This is the rhetoric question Floreani asks his listeners in this fun track. It looks at the past and how things seemed simple at another time in your life.
The number has a ‘30 Seconds to Mars’ feel with the same spacey effects from start to finish. Some of the aspects include the dual vocals: ‘Is this what the clouds feel like? Never really happy just quiet and polite surrounded and lonely at the same time,’ to create the feeling of unhappiness and a sense of discontent at missing someone and reminiscing on good times.
This track sounds different but it still works and is sure to be a catchy track that makes fans jump up and down in their live shows.

2. Breathe You In
The opening bass, guitar and drum intro creates the perfect foil for Floreani’s dream-like vocals that focus on a couple of reflective issues. It deals with long-term relationships and the battles of longing for a person dear to you.
Floreani’s emotional delivery of the lyrics with the brilliant melody and sultry rhythm makes it one of the band’s best tracks. Caruso’s drumbeat keeps the pace spectacularly and adds a bite to this mellow track that draws the listener in with each listen. It almost has a 90s alternative rock feel and this, in a sense, enhances its appeal.
The lyrics are on point and this is just another example of Floreani’s lyric-writing ability: ‘I can’t leave again. Time is something we don’t have. Lay with me, my friend – Let me breathe you in. If I could, I would stop the whole world to grow old with you and die in this moment.’

1. Chlorine
‘Chlorine’ showcases two profound aspects of Trophy Eyes as a band. They can tell and retell personal stories in detail, with raw emotion as a means of overcoming pain, and their ability to fuse two styles of music. This is especially true of Floreani’s switches between clean and hardcore scream-like vocals that ooze emotion. It may not be for everyone but this, in a sense, gives the band its uniqueness. Floreani’s baritone, mixed with screams, gives it an exciting appeal.
The lyrics focus on Floreani’s experience of almost drowning as a kid and how another person saved him from disaster: ‘Water ran from my body.
‘Crystal clear, chlorinated and sky blue. The icy cold brought life back to my feet, Every breath in was something I owed you.’
The song then switches back to how this person eventually took his own life and the irony behind him saving one life as a child: ‘Tell me why I didn’t die in that swimming pool?
‘When you saved my life, did you know you would take your own?’
Some pretty unique lyrics showcase the band’s ability to put events to paper in a musical sense.