After making waves with three electrifying singles this year, Melbourne outfit Bukowski are primed and ready to share their long-awaited debut record I Don’t Wanna Live. I Don’t Wanna Die. on Friday 14th February 2025. Alongside today’s album announcement is their brand new, nostalgia-drenched single ‘What Do You Want Me To Be’, which will be supported by the band’s first headline show since their return at Melbourne’s Nighthawks on November 15.
‘WDYWMTB’ draws lyrical inspiration from the 1994 film Dumb and Dumber, and sonically leans into the nostalgic bliss of the bands that frontman James Karagiozis’ adored in high school. “Lyrically, it also captures all those messy feelings around juggling being a people pleaser and letting yourself be who you are,” says Karagiozis.
Bukowski’s supercharged debut album I Don’t Wanna Live. I Don’t Wanna Die. marks the triumphant end to a challenging few years for the band, as they individually balanced shifting priorities and life’s complexities. The challenges the band faced in bringing the album to life also mirror the record’s central theme of life at a crossroads, as Karagiozis reveals:
“This one is for the quiet little whispers of desperation. The tiny fractures in the quiet that only you can feel. A deep perilous gasp caught, as it tries to implore for the sweet relief of life’s unrelenting cycle. The whispered pleas falling on deaf ears. the battle between holding on or letting go. We stand at the crossroads; I don’t wanna live, I don’t wanna die.”
Bukowski have made quite the statement this year. In April, they ended their three year creative hiatus with the short and sharp belter ‘one hundred seconds’, which was supported by triple j’s Mornings and Short.Fast.Loud, and covered by Wall of Sound, Pilerats, HEAVY Mag, Happy Mag, The Rock Pit and more. Their restrained yet commanding June release ‘Superweak’ has clocked over 150k streams on Spotify, and their fan-favourite follow up ‘Sow’ saw them featured on the cover of Spotify’s All New Rock playlist, land playlisting support across the globe including Japan’s Rock The World and France’s Balec!, plus airplay on BBC Radio 1’s Rock Show and triple j.
Bukowski’s return is just the beginning. The four mates (James Karagiozis – vocals/guitar, Benji Malkin-Adby – guitar, Gerard Dowling – drums, Jamie Rolfe – bass) haven’t lost their bite since their 2017 debut EP Grow Up. Give Up. Let Go., releasing a steady stream of gutsy, emotive and rough-around-the-edges singles leading into 2021’s ‘elevator song’ and sharing the stage with the likes of Knuckle Puck, Trophy Eyes, and Deaf Havana to name a few. After taking a couple of years to work on new music and focus on their personal lives, the self-proclaimed ‘complaint rock n roll’ band have finally found their groove, and are ready to hit the ground running.
SINGLE LAUNCH SHOW
Friday 15th November – Nighthawks – Melbourne, VIC
w/ special guests Grass Stains & Silk Village
