Rum Jungle are a four-piece out of Newcastle, New South Wales, trading in sun-bleached surf rock, psych-tinged guitars and hooks that stick around for days. Benny McIntyre sings and plays guitar, alongside Josh Giles on guitar, Michael Kolmajer on bass and Frazer McDonald on drums.
Formed in 2017, they got moving quickly with the EPs ‘Crazy Days’ (2017) and ‘Sun & Smoke’ (2018), and spent the next few years doing the hard yards on the Australian live circuit — the kind of band you’d catch at a festival not really knowing who they were and leave having decided they were the best thing you saw all day.
Four EPs in, they finally delivered a debut album with ‘Recency Bias’ in February 2025, followed by ‘Marginalia’ in June 2026. Along the way they’ve picked up a Splendour in the Grass booking and sold out rooms across the UK, Europe and North America, building a genuinely international following without ever losing the loose, salt-air feel of where they started.
Live, they’re all restless energy and easy charm — pop melodies floating over psych guitars and a rhythm section that never lets the groove drop.
At Marksenfest
Rum Jungle headlined Marksenfest 2023 on Saturday 7 October, topping a bill that also featured The Kavs, The Max Headroom, Stormy-Lou and Maisie. The festival announced them as “a serious player in one of the country’s most lively music scenes”, fresh from selling out every show on their ‘Everything is Easy’ tour. They were still a year and a half out from their debut album.
All-inclusive tickets to Marksenfest 2026 cover drinks, food and entertainment.
