The 4-schoolmates from Avalon (Noah Blockley, Harley Wilson, Asher McLean & Tom Partington) are primed for a massive year, emerging from the studio with their strongest music yet. They’ve shown a glimpse of songwriting and musicianship well beyond their years, and after going back-to-back in consecutive Hottest 100 countdowns they’ve set a path to continue their rise with the release of their debut EP ‘Minivan’ (out now).

Featuring crowd favourite ‘Scary Movies’ and latest single ‘Minivan’ (#1 most played on triple j), the EP was recorded in the Byron Bay hinterlands with Producer Chris Collins (Matt Corby, Skeggs, Middle Kids). Of current single ‘Minivan’, the band says “we really wanted this song to reflect the wild spirit of youth, with a sound that would evoke a sense of maturing and growing into the person you want to become”.

After completely selling out their 10-date Scary Movies Tour, the band have announced a huge national EP tour for this Sep-Nov alongside appearances at Grapevine Gathering, Yours & Owls and Electric Avenue (NZ).

Previous single ‘Anakin’ signalled an evolution from the band’s indie rock roots with an assured sense of confidence. The single was immediately added to triple j high rotation, and gained 5-star reviews from the station’s presenters as well as prime playlist placement on New Music Friday (Spotify), Front Left (Spotify) and New Music Daily (Apple Music).

Citing influence from Arctic Monkeys, Dayglow and The Beatles, they’ve carved out their own sound which seems to be connecting with some 15 million streams worldwide across their catalogue which also includes the Unearthed High winning ‘Night Light’, ‘Disassociation’, ‘Sadie’, ‘Head Still Hurts’ and ‘Halfway Out’.

“What a triumph! Only a handful of releases deep and The Rions are sounding like seasoned pros” – triple j

“Song rocks!!! I love the chorus and I am unbiased!” – Dayglow

“I’ve got all The Rions’ merch. I love that band” – Sam Worthington (Avatar)

“a group certainly amongst that one-to-watch list” – Pilerats