There’s something knowingly tongue-in-cheek about titling your debut album Greatest Hits, but for Naarm/Melbourne trio Billy Cart, the joke lands because the songs already feel lived-in. Out March 5th, the nine-track collection distills the band’s knack for turning small, everyday details into fuzzy, heart-on-sleeve anthems, threading together ‘90s alt-rock crunch, scrappy grunge textures, and a disarming strain of lo-fi slacker pop.
Billy Cart’s strength has always been its ability to elevate the mundane. Their songwriting lingers on quiet anxieties, passing observations, and the emotional residue of ordinary life, delivered with a mix of dry humor and unguarded sincerity. It’s a quality that has helped cultivate a loyal following, with listeners often seeing their own stories reflected back at them. Greatest Hits pulls those scattered snapshots into focus, shaping them into a cohesive statement that captures the band’s early creative arc.
The album was tracked in 2023 under a cloud of uncertainty. Frontperson Billy Raffin—who handles singing, drumming, and guitar—was preparing to relocate to the U.S. for a year, while bandmate Jamie was also heading overseas. With the group’s immediate future unclear, there was an urgency to bottle the songs exactly as they were: raw, immediate, and unpolished in all the right ways. As it turned out, the hiatus was temporary. Reuniting back home in 2025, Billy Cart quickly picked up where they left off, dropping a string of standout singles that reaffirmed the chemistry at the heart of Greatest Hits and hinted that the band’s story is only just beginning.
Today, Glide is excited to offer an exclusive premiere of Greatest Hits. From the powerful opening track “Train Lady” with its punchy post-punk-meets-indie-cool swagger, it’s clear that Billy Cart is yet another impressive act to emerge from Melbourne’s vibrant and eclectic music scene. Thick bass lines, a stomping beat, bright and jagged guitars, and snappy harmonies give the song a momentum that continues straight through the rest of this collection. Across these tunes, we see this band’s ability and talent for conjuring up energetic rock and roll that makes you dance as much as it makes you think. There are tender and thoughtful moments contrasted with upbeat and breezy material that bounces along with cheerful abandon. Of course, you can hear similarities to peers like Courtney Barnett in the at times deadpan vocal delivery and occasional focus on life’s mundane moments, but Billy Cart also transcends this comparison to carve out the kind of expansive rock sound that feels destined for large venues. Listen to Greatest Hits straight through, and you will almost certainly find that not only does the music live up to the album title, but that we should expect to hear a whole lot more from Billy Cart in the coming months.
Billy Raffin describes the inspiration and process behind the album:
“It’s a collection of songs we’ve written through the years. I (Billy) started learning guitar at the same time that this band started, so the way we switch instruments in songs through the album kind of tracks that journey too, and the changing sounds through the album also signal what is to come. I would say the over arching themes in the songs I write are really just about everyday, seemingly mundane stories (usually about people and human interaction) that stick with me for whatever reason. They are usually funny, awkward, or silly in some way. These stories end up being relatable for lots of people. There’s an observational element to the stories I am interested that I think make them relatable too. Also, our humour is also encapsulated in the title of the album. It’s our first batch of songs but they’re also our Greatest Hits, so far at least.
It is something I am proud of. We recorded the album in 2023, right before I went and lived in the US for a year. At the time, it was really important to capture the songs in this formation because we didn’t know when or if we’d be together again. Jamie was also moving overseas, so it was all very uncertain. Destiny brought us all back together again in 2025, and we’ve been burning rubber ever since. I think we have all learned so much through the recording of this album. I’ve loved working with Dale through the mixing process, and I feel proud of the work he’s done. I think this is just a launching pad for more to come, and better each time. I am grateful to be able to do this.”
LISTEN:
