Eskimo Joe

Formed in 1997 as a mere side project to a more established (and now largely forgotten) band, Perth trio Eskimo Joe cut their teeth with bratty pop-punk before graduating to the more mature rock sound of their 2001 debut album, Girl. A model of consistency, the band have maintained the same creative core all along: singer/bassist Kavyen Temperley, lead guitarist Stuart MacLeod, and drummer (and later rhythm guitarist) Joel Quartermain, augmented at times by additional players. Temperley’s impassioned growl came to define Eskimo Joe’s expansive anthems, especially once the band hit their stride with 2006’s self-produced Black Fingernails, Red Wine. A top 10 hit in Australia, the title track rides high on a dark theatrical uplift, foreshadowing later collaborations with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. After embracing synthesizers on 2013’s Wastelands, Eskimo Joe stepped back from the spotlight until breaking a seven-year drought in studio material with 2020’s soaring, pop-edged single “Say Something.”