THE ANGELS 50th Birthday Celebrations Continue With The Announcement Of New Album, Ninety Nine

This is it, folks, a brand-new Angels album is on the way, a remarkable new record that sits comfortably in the legendary band’s classic catalogue.

Ninety Nine – The Angels’ first studio album in 10 years – coincides with the 50 Not Out  tour, celebrating the band’s 50^th anniversary. As the book The 100 Best Australian Albums declared, “The Angels can lay claim to being Australia’s longest-lasting band.”

Most bands would mark a major milestone with a victory lap, content to trade on past glories. Not The Angels. When thinking about how they should mark their 50^th birthday, they decided: “Why don’t we go for broke?”

Ninety Nine is classic Angels, from the intriguing title to the cover artwork, which depicts Rick Brewster’s predilection for collecting old phone boxes. Then there’s the songs, filled with mystery and menace and riffs that are a rallying cry to rock fans around the world. 

The record rages with the energy of a new band just starting out. “There was a lot of spontaneity with this album,” John Brewster points out. “If someone had an idea, we recorded it.”

Introducing the album is the hard-hitting first single – Ninety Nine (Go For Broke), an opening salvo that’s both an instant Angels classic and a savage statement on the state of the world. “It refers to the fact that 99 per cent of us have to accept our lot, while the one per cent take the lion’s share,” explains singer Nick Norton, who wrote the song with bass player Sam Brewster. “The super-rich are richer than they’ve ever been.” 

“Only choice for the ninety-nine,” Nick Norton sings, “is to cut and bleed.”

Ian McFarlane, the author of The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop, noted: “The Angels helped re-define the Australian pub rock tradition.” And now John Brewster, Rick Brewster, Sam Brewster, Tom Brewster and Nick Norton are giving it another twist.

“I haven’t been this excited about anything we’ve done in the studio for many, many years,” Angels guitarist and founding member John Brewster says. “I’m proud of everything this band has done, but we have what I call ‘benchmark albums’, particularly Face to Face, No Exit and Dark Room.

“This, to me, is a benchmark album.”

“We’ve found a new energy,” Sam Brewster says. “And I think you can hear that on this record.”

Re-energised, revitalised, renewed … The Angels’ 14^th studio album is alive on arrival.

“It’s a good feeling,” Rick Brewster says. “We got what we set out to achieve. This is The Angels 2024.”

To celebrate the new album and following the sold-out success of The Angels – 50 Years In The Making national tour last year, the band will embark on a series of shows celebrating this milestone anniversary with a new tour: 50 Not Out.

“We were blown away by the reaction to last year’s shows,” John Brewster says. “The fans have really embraced Nick Norton out front of the band and I have to say they were some of the most enjoyable shows of our career.”

“We were so energised by the reaction, we wanted to do more shows – and give the fans more,” adds co-founder Rick Brewster.

When you’ve got 50 years of songs to draw on – songs ingrained in the hearts of every Australian rock fan, such as Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again, Take A Long Line, No Secrets, Shadow Boxer, Marseilles, I Ain’t The One, Comin’ Down, Mr Damage, After The Rain, Night Attack, Dogs Are Talking, Let The Night Roll On and We Gotta Get Out Of This Place – the biggest challenge is coming up with a set list.

“The 50 NOT OUT tour will give us the chance to celebrate the entire history of The Angels, and share our new material also,” Rick says.

Ninety Nine will be available to purchase at all shows on the upcoming tour, with 50 NOT OUT kicking off on album release day. With The Angels playing a massive set, it’s the chance to see the band dig deep into their classic catalogue and deliver some rarities and surprises. No wonder the legendary American critic David Fricke called The Angels “a guaranteed great time anywhere”.