The Goon Sax are breaking up. The Brisbane indie-pop trio announced their decision in a message on their social media accounts today. The note does not provide a rationale, but it does express gratitude for their nine years playing together. They’re cancelling their upcoming shows, including dates opening for fellow Matador artists Pavement and Interpol/Spoon, but they promise to play “one or two more shows in Australia.” Their takeaway on the disbandment? “For us it feels like a happy ending.”

Here’s the message:

To all friends of the Goon Sax we have some bittersweet news…after nine years of giving it our everything we’ve decided to draw the curtain on this band. It’s taken us places stranger, more beautiful, and far beyond anything we could have imagined, and brought us to meeting and working with so many special and incredibly inspiring people. Our gratitude to everyone who’s been with us and allowed the madness of the last 9 years to happen is far beyond anything we can palpably express. Although this means we won’t be doing our US tour anymore, including the Interpol & Spoon tour and the Pavement shows, we promise we will play one or two more shows in Australia before we finally say goodnight. For us it feels like a happy ending. We love each other and we love you! thank you for everything ♥️♥️♥️✨
Riley, Louis & Jim

After forming as teenagers in 2013, Riley Jones, Louis Forster, and James Harrison developed a stylish, arty form of guitar-pop marked by traces of post-punk, twee indie-pop, and other hip subgenres. Last year they released their third album, Mirror II, which we named Album Of The Week. They were a good band, and I look forward to seeing what the individual members do next.