HighSchool, the duo of Rory Trobbiani and Luke Scott, have released their self-titled debut album ‘HighSchool,’ out now via PIAS Australia. Produced by Ben Hillier and Finn Bellingham, and recorded across London, Lewes, and Melbourne, the album delivers a meticulously built blend of 80s post-punk and modern alternative revivalism. Across twelve tracks, the record functions as a coming-of-age document, using the band’s name as both concept and lens, filtering adolescence, memory, and identity through dense guitars and emotionally charged songwriting.
Expanding on the sound first heard on their EPs ‘Forever At Last’ and ‘Accelerator,’ HighSchool draw from a wide pool of influences, from slowcore and alt-rock to hip-hop-adjacent textures, while maintaining a strong emotional throughline rooted in suburban youth. “When you’re young and dumb, everything hits harder… love, hate, boredom, desire. It all feels sacred somehow,” the band share. “Then you grow up and it fades. Maybe that’s why everyone romanticises youth. This album is forty-two minutes of trying to feel that again.” The record moves fluidly between restlessness and reflection, building immersive worlds that elevate everyday teenage moments into something mythic.
Having honed their live presence on the London Windmill circuit and through international touring across Australia, Europe, Japan, and North America, HighSchool have steadily built a reputation for their enveloping wall of sound. ‘HighSchool’ feels like a culmination of those years, leaning into the romanticised imagery of school life seen in film and television while grounding it in lived experience. The album stands as both a nostalgic glance backward and a confident step forward, cementing the duo as a compelling voice in contemporary alternative music.