Some great record stores around the country

June 20, 2024 • Jeb Taylor

This week I’ve been joining Hockey Dad for a bunch of their in store shows around the country and although I’m always aware of the role record stores play in local music communities, it’s great to get out beyond here at Music Farmers and visit some other stores, for this week’s column I decided to highlight some of the stores around the country and some of the other things they do beyond just being a store. There are a lot of great stores in this country, and these are just a handful that featured on this week’s run, there will be a follow up in the coming months to highlight some others stores around the country.

A sample of the unique audio gear at Crosstalk Records.

On Friday I visited Crosstalk Records in Sydney. A relatively new store based in the suburb of Leichhardt. Set up by Josh who had spent time at leading indie distributor Inertia, he’s now jumped behind the counter and set up an incredibly well curated space. They have really stepped up to host regular instores in recent times and have a great, intimate set up for it. The store also does audio repairs and has some amazing vintage and unique audio items on display as well.

Hiss & Crackle, Newcastle

Sunday’s journey took me to Hiss & Crackle in Newcastle, the store has become a regular stop on all our instore runs. Based in the Newcastle suburb of Wallsend, Mitch the owner of the store has really built a solid community around the shop by hosting regular live events. It is set up amazingly well for live music and the couple of times I’ve been there with both Bad//Dreems and Hockey Dad, the store has been packed. The shop itself also has some amazing stock, with seventies psych and some Australian garage rock rarities a specialty. Newcastle locals make sure you are regularly checking the gig guide as there is live music there most weeks, and anyone visiting Newcastle, make sure you drop by.

Badlands Vinyl, Tweed Heads

Yesterday we headed north and the first stop was Badlands Vinyl in Tweed Heads, there wasn’t too many expectations with it happening at midday on a work/school day but we arrived to a solid crowd waiting and built as we were there, with over 100 people there by the time the acoustic set started. The store is relatively new but is already establishing itself as a must visit store. The crew at Badlands were hosting more regular live events but some council regulations put an end to that for the time being, but hopefully they can get back it it more regularly in the future.

Sonic Sherpa supporting the locals

Next up is Sonic Sherpa in Brisbane, a store that I have a long association with. The first time I ever went to Brisbane with a band, Simon and Steve (the owners of Sonic Sherpa) were then running a record store called Skinny’s in central Brisbane. At some point that closed, they took some time away from retail for a while and then re emerged with the new store Sonic Sherpa. It has been a regular in store stop for all of our artists, and Hockey Dad returned to do their first instore there since 2018. The shop is incredibly well stocked with both new and second-hand records, and they do very regular instores, almost weekly. The two guys behind it also do a bunch of other things, Sime has the long running indie label Plus One, while Steve run the fantastic Coolin By Sound label, he is also a fellow Australian Music Prize judge and writes fantastic articles for publications such as The Music.

Oh Jean Records ready to welcome Hockey Dad.

Finally it is Oh Jean Records in Melbourne, I didn’t make it down for this week’s instore but I’ve been there plenty of times in the past and in city that is full of great record stores, it is one of my favourites. As well as being a record store, it also serves up a good coffee (they also own the bar Flipside nearby). With a New Zealand background, Zac who is one of the stores owners leans heavily into that, acting as the Australian representative for the legendary Flying Nun record label and also stocking a wide variety of new releases the country. There is also a lot of other great stock as well, including plenty of stuff from the world, jazz and psych sort of zones alongside your usual alt rock titles.

As I said, there are so many great stores around Australia and the world, I will get back to my Record Stores Of The World features but in the meantime, drop down and check out your local this weekend!

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