Where were you the first time you heard the timeless banger ‘Untouched’? How many radio plays did it take before you were screaming ALALALALA with your pals in the school yard? You can imagine my righteous indignation when I saw the Good Things line-up had these pillars of Aussie pop relegated to the same rank as Coheed and Cambria. Like, they’re good, but they’re not icons of an era good.
Depending on what stage of life you were at in 2007, The Veronicas were probably a little saucy to be singing along to in public. Speaking for myself, I was a tiny baby who had no clue that ‘feeling so untouched’ and ‘needing someone so much’ had a vaguely sexual implication. But the rebellious, punk-ish lyrics of Hook Me Up (and, of course, the emo aesthetic of the music video) were a formative influence on Aussie teenagers.
The Origliasso twins have made some history-making contributions to the Australian gothic over the decade and a half they’ve been around, but be honest for a sec – do you actually know what they’ve been doing for the last few years?
They’ve never replicated their Noughties commercial success, but they have released a self-titled album and a bunch of singles since their split with Warner Bros and resigning with Sony. Jess’ on-again-off-again relationship with Ruby Rose was probably the only headline you’ve seen about the Veronicas since 2009, but recently they’ve been performing at a number of music festivals and have even said they’ll be doing an MTV reality show in the future.
It’s probably a little dumb to be so judgey about Good Things’ graphic design – after all, it’s not like these things are produced based on nostalgia. A Day To Remember and Simple Plan are both international artists, while Parkway Drive and Violent Soho are a little more prominent currently than The Veronicas are.
But even the lineup itself has been seriously divisive on social media. Folks are either super pumped, or absolutely devastated. Twitter user Jack Lawless probably summed it up best, commenting: “The good things lineup is conflicting me; the good is REALLY good but the bad, of which there are more, is REEEEEEEEEALLY bad.”
It’s basically the dream lineup for a mid-Noughties emo kid, which is probably the exact vibe that the organisers were going for.
The Veronicas mightn’t be front and center, but at least they’ll be there. And you can bet your life I’ll be down there in the moshpit wearing an unhealthy amount of black eyeliner.