Scared of Sharks is a Punk Rock’n’Roll band Originally hailing from Mogareeka. Formed in 2016 to play the Cobargo folk festival by Taylor Shwifty and brother Jack Malolakis. Moving up to Wollongong in 2017, Scared of Sharks spent the next few years playing gigs around the Illawarra (including one at the now defunct Rad Bar) and not taking things too seriously, finally releasing their first song in 2021, “Beach Wog.” After Jack left to travel in Europe in late 2022, Taylor Roped in Tim Jong Un on Drums and Loui Crouton on Bass and began gigging up and down the east coast of Australia. Doing three independently organized tours where they played in all manner of places, from Port Kembla Festival to Mullumbimby backyard house parties to Melbourne’s famous Cherry bar. Cumulating in releasing their 2nd single, “Yuppie Land,” in November. The Band then released their most recent single Ode to Rose St. in January of this year, with shows in Terrigal and around Wollongong to support. Scared of Sharks is gearing up for more shows & releases in 2024.
Scared of Sharks create an uptempo love ballad on “Stumble.” The chugging arrangement, with its steady yet frantic drum patterns and searing guitar work, creates a rugged canvas for the vivid imagery of the songwriting. The band uses this honed instrumentation to unfurl a story of longing and learning when to move on. Rather than fall in line with our expectations of a punk band, the band uses the looseness of the genre to find a middle ground between the murky tones of garage rock and the bright melodies of surf rock. Their unique brand of rock fusion allowed the narrative of the song to steal the show and give the song a cinematic feeling. “Stumble” captures the moment you realize it is time to move on from your past despite finding solace in the memories. Despite the heartbreaking story, Scared of Sharks used screeching guitars and crashing drums to make the simplicity of the arrangement feel full and colorful. Scared of Sharks’ “Stumble” is an ode to leaving the past where it belongs that evokes the spirit of punk while avoiding its tropes.
“Stumble is one of our favorites to play live and we’re stoked at how it sounds recorded,” explains Shwifty.
