Purplene were an indie rock band whose life began in the industrial Australian city of Newcastle

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

 in 1996, culminating in the release the 2004 Purplene LP, then disbanding in the spring of 2005 as one of Sydney's most respected rock groups.

Purplene LP

Recorded in Chicago in 2003 with Steve Albini

Steve Albini

Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...

, Purplene earned high critical praise both locally and internationally. The Australian newspaper said of the LP, "Just when I thought Australian guitar music seemed poised to choke on its own cliché-ridden tail, Purplene release their second album," awarding it 4.5 stars out of 5. Belgian magazine Derives made it their feature release, and Rolling Stone called the album, "The work of a band that's in love with the art of crafting the perfect song...truly impressive."

Their angular guitar music embraced space as often as it did intensity, and the band's infrequent live performances and recording releases invited listeners to join them on a diverse journey of disjointed rhythms, richly layered melodies and intelligent, often haunting lyrical themes.

LPs

Ruining It For Everybody LP (2001 Quietly Suburban - engineer Steve Foster)

Purplene LP (2004 Spunk - engineer Steve Albini)

EPs

SMH Days (1998 Threetrack/MGM - engineer Steve Foster)

All & Sundry (2000 Threetrack - engineer Steve Foster)

Songs From The Marketplace (2003 Quietly Suburban - engineer Steve Foster)

Swords Down (2004 Spunk - engineer Steve Albini)

DVD & Video

These Things Take Time compilation VHS (All & Sundry - Candle Records 2001)

Lines From A Poem longboard surfing DVD (Various Purplene + Ukiyo-e tracks - Nathan Oldfield 2003)

Fuck This, I'm Going To The Annandale compilation DVD (Swords Down live - Reverberation 2005)

7" vinyl
Split with The Rebel Astronauts (2001 Steady Cam - engineer Emma Hoy)

Exclusive tracks
Dead Letter Offers Mess + Noise issue #3 CD (2005 - engineer Steve Albini)

Related projects

Blackman, Jesson and Rossetti all now play in Sydney-based Charge Group.

Jesson and Rossetti are one half of Newcastle-based The Instant (previously Audiophile) - currently taking indefinite hiatus.

Blackman formed Palace of Fire with Chris Ross

Chris Ross

Chris Ross is an Australian musician from Erskineville, New South Wales. Best known for his former role as bassist and keyboardist of hard rock band Wolfmother, Ross was formerly a digital designer and has two children...

 and Myles Heskett

Myles Heskett

Myles Heskett is the former drummer of Australian rock band Wolfmother.Heskett grew up in Sydney's Northern Beaches, attending Barrenjoey High School. His mother was a primary school principal and his father, who died in 2004, was an artist...

 at the close of 2008. He also currently plays drums in Tucker B's

Tucker B's

Tucker B's are an Australian band originally from Perth but have been based in Sydney since 2005.-History:The Tucker B’s were formed at the end of 1994 by Matt Rudas and Andrew Houston, performing their first gig together at the Harbourside in Fremantle. In 1995, with the addition of Sean Pezzali,...

. Blackman has also played drums in Ukiyo-e (1999–2002), contributed to recordings of The Instant, Initials, Firekites, and scored the theme music to award-winning ABC-TV comedy Review with Myles Barlow.

Jesson and Rossetti have also contributed work with Firekites.