On this episode of The Bridge, I hand the mic to the one and only Allegra Pezzullo (Kitty of The Valley and soon, a popstar side project a la Ariana Grande), for a Sydney Rock Special. Despite being sick and delirious (feat coughs throughout, haha) she’s still completely unstoppable. We dug through her likes, her favourites, and a few chaotic tabs to build an hour of 100% real Sydney noise - the kind you can probably hear leaking out of someone’s Marrickville sharehouse window. This episode is truly a fever dream of a playlist that tumbles through the city’s loudest bedrooms and stickiest stages. Think Wollongong guitars, Redfern synths, and tracks that didn’t deserve to stay in someones Google Drive for as long as they did.
We kicked off with Lahgo’s “Black and White Car”, a jangly, sweat-soaked anthem that Allegra wants to have “inject[ed] ~it~ straight into [her] veins.” She talks about catching them live in Gong while playing on the same bill, with some kind of wide-eyed fandom that’s equal parts earnest and unhinged. From there, we slid into Hatchling’s “Shadow of You”, all dreamy melancholy and Australian Gothic atmosphere - it’s like Mazzy Star moved to Penrith and learned pedal steel, with enough haze to soundtrack your next breakdown under the WestConnex overpass. Allegra swears it’s perfect for an Australian Gothic film that doesn’t exist yet. Baz Lurhman, where you at?!
From there, we fangirl over Blair Romance’s “Bruises”, an electro-glam detour that Allegra justified as “rock in spirit” because “attitude is a genre.” She’s right - attitude counts. There’s a growing web of Sydney femme-fronted alt-electronic artists (Cherry Rype, Freddy, Marcella Sunshine, Blair, Sonnet) who are too cool for genre tags, and Allegra’s got tabs on all of them. They’re all coming up together and it’s so sweet to see.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Allegra without a little self-promo - Kitty of the Valley’s “Changes” gets a spin, because “why come on radio if you can’t play your own band?” We stan the honesty. 100% correct. Go buy it on Bandcamp - pay what you feel, like the Newcastle legend who dropped $100 on it after seeing them live or $150 like the legendary Vince (Shout out to Allegra’s dad!)
We also played Soyboy’s “ETA” (Allegra used to follow Jade from the band for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure cosplay - yes, that actually happened and I am doing my research on this JoJo because the only one I know is Siwa and I’m done with her), Airline’s “Hypoxia” for the shoegaze heads, and Creeping Jenny’s “Scabs”, a total ripper from some Wollongong mates.
To round it out: Michael Cera’s “Crooked State”, Ape’s “Shaking Like a Fever”, and the crown jewel, Esha Tewari’s “Train Song”, Allegra’s self-declared Train Song Supremacy anthem. Esha’s now playing Spilt Milk and touring the US, and Allegra’s just sitting there like “yeah, we opened for her once.”
All up, this show is the sound of Sydney right now - fuzzy, earnest, politically awake, and occasionally hilarious if I might say so myself. Allegra’s chaos and selection is the compass, and we’re just along for the ride.