Despite being familiar faces around the traps of Melbourne’s garage and punk scenes for the past couple of years, or just as likely to be caught onstage in other projects, Ecosystem still feels like a proper introduction to Finn O’Shea and Timu Raubenheimer. While their earlier bands (2 Stroke and Cloacas respectively) specialise in either elusive or irreverent punk blitzes, Ecosystem feels a little more welcoming - the songwriting a bit warmer, the guitars loose and inviting, the grins lopsided but perhaps a little more sincere.

‘No Idea’, the first track off their forthcoming debut, serves as a perfect starting point to get us tangled up in Ecosystem’s colourful world. Opening with a minimalist guitar lead that coils around Timu’s humble vocals, the track expands slowly but surely - first with some modest drum work that anchors the hiccuping guitar hooks, before the layers blossom and unfurl, with swelling chords and a flowing backbeat.

It’d be inaccurate to call it a slowburner because the track does feel constantly in motion, just in a way that’s not overly urgent. However, when ‘No Idea’ does explode open at the midway point, this quickly changes. Backed by a garage-rock stomp as the guitars clatter fervently, Timu barks “I keep on walking on”, his destination no more apparent but somehow all the more assured.

Speaking about the track, Timu explains: “it was a pretty weird time in our life, we had both just finished a diploma we studied together and were kind of like sitting on the fence, didn’t know what we really wanted to do. I don’t think we had even fully committed to Ecosystem as a project back then. We were both unsure about what to do next, where to go, what to commit time and effort to. We were on a road trip down the East Coast when the lyrics starting coming together and by the time we got back to Melbourne and into Finns bedroom to jam, the lyrics and those first riffs just blended really good with each other.”

It’s interesting then as ‘No Idea’ wrangles itself out before eventually collapsing well past the five minute mark, that we’re hearing the song figuring itself out on the go - its constant twists and turns guiding the way as they happen - and while Ecosystem are still manning the helm as they journey deeper, they seem just as willing to let go of the wheel to see where it takes them. It’s instinctual and equally authentic, and a thrilling introduction to the new band.