The third single from The Finalists‘ debut album First, ‘Hunting Knife’ finds the band digging into a big bright sound that showcases their love of chiming and dreamy guitars, lively drums, melodic bass lines and melancholic hooks aplenty. Across its three minutes, songwriter Mark Tobin sings of a catastrophist who starts smoking again because he believes the world will end before he gets cancer.

All we need’s fresh water 
A magnesium fire starter
A hunting knife 
Marlboro Lights 
And a big box of Amoxicillin

The band’s debut single, ‘Ignore All The Hate (On Your Telephone)‘, which was a featured single of the week on 2ser 107.3FM, is an understated slice of melodic melancholia, draped in acoustic and electric guitars that sparkle and gently jangle. In contrast, their second single ‘Learn To Live Without You‘, whichpremiered on the AU review, is a concise and infectious, garage and jangle-pop guitar nugget, harking back to the golden age of the two and half minute pop song. The track was selected by The Guardian for their Best New Australian Music column and playlist for November 2020.