The Goon Sax crafts witty, guitar-pop songs filled with dry and biting humor, delivered in a lighthearted, deadpan style. The Brisbane trio was formed in 2013 by then high-school mates Louis Forster (the son of Robert Forster, co-founder of cult indie rock torchbearers The Go-Betweens) and James Harrison, who started writing songs together from Harrison’s bedroom before drummer Riley Jones joined in 2014. With their 2016 debut, Up to Anything, the trio—who split songwriting duties—embrace their youthful whimsy with observational ennui (“Sweaty Hands”) and awkward meet-cutes (“Boyfriend”) while meting out strummy hooks akin to artists on the New Zealand indie label Flying Nun. The band touched on the inevitable pains of becoming adults on their 2018 follow-up We’re Not Talking, all while expanding their instrumental palette with ringing castanets and horns (“Make Time 4 Love”) and speedier, muscular riffs (“She Knows”). And while they each push their distinct personalities even further—often in wildly different approaches—on their quietly ambitious 2021 LP Mirror II, they always steer their sound back to its pop core—breathing new life into their heartfelt songs with goth-tinged synths (“Psychic”) and nervy, atonal folk-pop (“Carpetry”).