Poison Oak returns with a new single that reads like a love letter to moments we can’t stop replaying, "Replay." As the title suggests, the song is a blast of emotion and nostalgia that stays with you long after the last chord fades away, crying out for, well, a replay.
Heart-on-sleeve performances and electric live energy have seen Poison Oak carving a reputation in the Australian alt-rock scene, sharing stages with Tones and me and illuminating crowds at the Tropic Sounds Festival. The release comes on the heels of their recent output, which includes the 2024 single “Wasted,” the first preview of the band’s highly-anticipated sophomore record with producer Brock Weston (Bugs, Beddy Rays, Dune Rats). With “Replay,” they’ve fine-tuned their sound further, combining raw lyricism with heavenly instrumentation that sits just right.
From the first strum, “Replay” is soaked in that aching, anthemic feel that is his wheelhouse. The song starts with shimmery guitar tones at the surface, then builds to a punchy, spirit-filled chorus made for live singalongs. There’s a push-and-pull in the song’s arrangement taut but savage, laconic but earnest which makes it feel at once epic and personal.
Lyrically, “Replay” is about the cycles of memory, heartbreak, and how humans replay pretty and ugly moments. It’s familiar in a way that smacks you upside the head, with an urgency in the mistakes that reflects the emotional heft of going through the past again. And vocals delivered with grit and vulnerability to match the crashing drums and intercutting guitar riffs stepping on the gas and propelling it forward.
Stream on Spotify.