Australian indie-rock duo Hockey Dad today share their new single and video “All Hat No Cattle” along with the news of their new EP The Clip out independently on September 12. LISTEN HERE + WATCH HERE + PRE-SAVE EP HERE.

The project of childhood best friends Zach Stephenson and Billy Fleming, Hockey Dad is a band that has set a global standard for modern surf and skate rock. Following their carefully crafted 2024 album Rebuild Repeat, their forthcoming EP The Clip marks a new moment in the band’s history – a six-track collection that sees them return independently for the first time in their tenure. Maintaining their DIY stamp of indie rock, The Clip is built on a long-standing creative foundation, traversing themes of self-reflection and ambivalence with some early sounds heard in previous records Brain Candy (2020) and Blend Inn (2018).

No better is quantified than the EP’s lead single “All Hat No Cattle,” a driving track that expands on a sound written by a younger iteration of the band themselves. Equally nostalgic and invigorating, there are hits of percussion with surf rock guitar, all crafted by a duo that know how to strike a balance with experimentation and familiarity.

Watch: ‘The Clip’ (Official Video)

On the track’s inception, the band share “It’s just one of those sayings that when you hear it you have to write a song about it. A guy pulled into the service station with a Ford Truck the size of a school bus. A comedic sized cowboy hat. Brand new jeans and boots straight from the box. I heard a cheeky old lady mutter under her breath, ‘That boy’s all hat and no cattle.’ I’d heard enough.

Other than a portrait of this fake cowboy, the lyrics might be a dig at myself. I became such a fan of country music throughout the last five or so years. Being a boy from Australia it feels like it’s not in my lane. I’m the fake cowboy who hasn’t worked a day in his life out there on the land.”

Having accumulated over 100 million streams, Hockey Dad have worked with the likes of John Goodmanson (Bikini Kill, Blonde Redhead, Death Cab for Cutie, Los Campesinos!, Sleater-Kinney) and Sparkadia’s Alex Burnett (DJ Snake, Flight Facilities) and boast a touring resume that includes Third Eye Blind, Taking Back Sunday, Mt. Joy, Ultra Q and more. Finding fans worldwide with radio support from BBC Radio 1, triple j, Radio X and NPR Music, they’ve also collected praise across the board at NME, Kerrang, New Noise Magazine among others, with Rolling Stone applauding them as one of Australia’s “most formidable bands” with “sharp, summery melodies and stadium-ready bonanzas” (The Guardian).