After eight years, a trio of EPs and two albums, one of Melbourne’s most brutal noise proponents True Radical Miracle have called it a day. But not before a round of shows in support of their most recent release Termites.

The four-piece will play dates in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Tasmania, before winding it all up at The Gasometer in Melbourne with a reformed Flesh Vs Venom, Straightjacket Nation and Useless Children on July 14 (pre-sales here).

Forming in Melbourne in 2004, True Radical Miracle are the sum of four distinct parts, as Tim Scott so aptly put it in a 2009 interview: “Guitarist Scotti O’Hara’s long locks and Sonic Youth T-shirt recall a grunge rocker circa 1993. Leith Thomas on bass, who drinks wine straight from the bottle, looks like he wouldn’t be out of place at a rowing regatta. The tomboyish Evelyn Morris [Pikelet] with her studious glasses is an atypical ‘sick’ drummer. And then there’s Grover (Mark Groves), the tall lurching frontman, whose onstage antics are like a Hillside Church preacher channeling The Jesus Lizard’s David Yow.”

The band’s releases include first album Cockroaches and three EPs: Some Songs For Shame, Taste The Rainbow and Roaches Parts 1 & 2.

We spoke briefly to Groves via email about the decision to call time on the band.

Why you guys are calling it quits?
The project was starting to lose steam in some respects, especially in relation to writing new material to follow Termites. Not everyone felt as though they would be capable of contributing in a meaningful way to future compositions, and as the band is also very centred on the individual personalities involved, we decided to call it a day. Not an acrimonious split in any way - we look forward to getting drunk and shooting the shit in each others’ company whenever possible.

What will you be focusing on moving forward?
Each member of the group has always been busy elsewhere. Scott is maintaining involvement in Bitch Prefect, and I'm aware that Evelyn is continuing with the Pikelet band. She's also started playing out solo of late - there's been some great material appearing on her Soundcloud, which I guess bears some relation to what she is doing live. Leith and I are continuing as Dead Boomers, with a couple of NSW dates scheduled for early June. We also have a collaborative project with Dave Coen (Ivens, Whitehorse, etc.) called Hans Harms that will launch a cassette EP in August. Our label Sabbatical continues, with five releases scheduled over the next three months and a large show planned for early August at KIPL [Studios in Melbourne]. Leith has a baby on the way later in August, so I expect there will be a period of inactivity for our shared projects after the new arrival. I'm also involved as a vocalist in a new band called Ratsak, and I've started performing solo as Von Einem. Always plenty happening.

Any parting words?
Over the last couple of years we've received a wealth of support from the good folks at Iron Lung, and we're all very grateful for their assistance.

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True Radical Miracle's final show will be broadcast live on DIY station Radio Valerie.

TRUE RADICAL MIRACLE FINAL SHOWS

Friday, June 22 – Beetle Bar, Brisbane, QLD
Saturday, June 23 – The Square, Sydney, NSW
Sunday, June 24 – Black Wire, Sydney, NSW
Friday, June 29 – The Metro, Adelaide, SA
Saturday, July 7 – The Brisbane Hotel, Hobart, TAS
Saturday, July 14 – The Gasometer, Melbourne, VIC

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