🐸 froomy's must-try band, podcast & pasta

Top Hat Tips: Fifth Edition

Mar 19, 2025

Good evening all,

If you were perchance offline yesterday, you may have missed the dancing segment on my Instagram Story. You see, after spending the morning preparing for a speaking engagement, I was at a loose end. Pent-up energy coursed through every fibre of my being. There was only one way to get it out.

And that was to record and post videos of myself online, dancing not unlike the rambunctious monkey a young Tones and I warned us about.

I couldn’t believe how good the above move was. Like are you serious? No training. And I maintained the signature dancer’s smile. No mean feat as an asthmatic under cardiovascular duress.

Thanks to all those who love heart reacted. Now onto tonight.

There’s so much to say in this newsletter. Firstly, that since turning thirty, I’ve felt an urgent and overwhelming need to behave like a child high on Ribena and Rolls Ups.

my sole fruit intake, circa 2000-2008

Cartwheeling, playing frisbee, swinging on ropes into bodies of water, dancing around the house in slippery socks. It’s all on the table.

It may sound carefree and twee but I believe it is sinister… I think I’m rebelling against the ever-more obvious passing of time. Never have I been so aware of my mortality, and simultaneously so happy.

Alas. I came here tonight to share three wonderful consumables. A pasta, a band and a podcast.

They are all objectively excellent. I’m just excited to tell you about them. Redirecting your time, energy and money (buying fennel seeds, as you’ll soon see…) into something new is a risk. Given our aforementioned mortality, I don’t take the task of sheparding an employee onto new pastures lightly. I really do feel in my soul that you’ll enjoy what is on offer tonight.

So sit back, relax, and let’s get to it. This is the fifth edition of FROOMY’S TOP HAT TIPS.

A BAND: FLOODLIGHTS

floodlights___

A post shared by @floodlights___

Floodlights are a rock band, from Melbourne no less.

They formed in 2018. Their first album came out in 2020. Their second, Painting Of My Time, came out in 2023. They performed at Meredith that year, with The Age calling their act “outstanding”. They’ve since toured globally.

I’ve seen them live four times – my friends and I have made a habit of seeing them when they come to Sydney. Their shows attract a respectful but excitable, enthusiastic and lowkey sexy crowd – there is no unnecessary boisterousness or argy-bargy. Everyone gets into it, regardless of gender or age. I think this is owing to the energy of the band – there isn’t ego or something. Throw in perfect use of the harmonica and trumpet and you’re in for a biblical experience.

The Age likened them to Hunters and Collectors. I’m always conscious of comparing one musician or artist to another – everyone is different. I guess what they have in common is that they are Australian, and their lyrics oftentimes reflect that experience. There’s no pastiche about it though, no playing up of what it’s like to live in the ‘great southern land’.

Their new album, Underneath, comes out tomorrow of all days. I am ravenous. Here’s the clip for one of their songs, Buoyant. I legit almost cried upon hearing the first note lol. I feeeeeeeeeeeeel it. Someone in the YouTube comments wrote “Magic has been made. That doesn't happen often.”

I was having a conversation with someone last week, about how it feels like there is a shift in media and entertainment, especially over the last two years. It feels like the fog of internet marination and lazy nostalgia is lifting. People of all ages are making new and fantastic things. I feel very strongly that Floodlights is part of that movement.

You can buy tickets to see them in your town here. You best believe I’ll be making it my fifth. It ought to be as rousing as always.

floodlights___

A post shared by @floodlights___

A PASTA: DATE NIGHT RIGATONI

What if I told you that I have made a showstopping pasta… that is not of Recipe Tin Eats fame?

I would be shocked. And if this date night rigatoni with sausage and kale weren’t so delicious, I’d be appalled.

I made it on Monday night and ate it while watching White Lotus. I invited two friends over, both recovering from what was a raucous Saturday evening in Manly of all places. This pasta may have been solely responsible for replenishing their serotonin this side of the bridge. I went back for a second bowl that night and I’m eating the leftovers as we speak.

It provides me with the same energy as this picture – eating wings in the bath, warm, happy and content within a moment in time.

hardposes

A post shared by @hardposes

A PODCAST: THE CURIOUS HISTORY OF YOUR HOME

And finally! Should you have no desire to leave the house, I have a podcast you can listen to from the comfort of your own four-poster bed.

It’s called The Curious History of Your Home and yes, it is a history podcast. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had any interest in history, modern or otherwise. For a long time I thought the Roman Empire happened in Greece. If that sounds like I’m trying to flex, I’m not – my lack of interest amazes me in hindsight (derogatory). I was closed off to a whole other world.

Everyone from every age and demographic could get something out of this podcast. It takes everyday objects we take for granted or know nothing about – like wallpaper or bread – and uncovers their history, using them as jumping off points to explore what it was like to live during different times of humanity (sometimes all the way back to a 300,000 years ago). For instance with ovens, she’ll trace how an emperor in Mughal India brought his tandoor oven with him everywhere, even in a vicious cross-country battle with his own son.

Ruth Goodman, the host of this podcast, is a revered British historian. I didn’t know much about her before listening to this, but my sister is a massive fan and has devoured all of her work. She has a rather posh accent – pronouncing ‘issue’ like ‘is-sew’. This belies the childlike curiosity that is a signature of this podcast. I look forward to tucking up in my bed (there’s an episode on the history of those too) to listen.

She doesn’t gloss over the ugly parts of history either. Strangely, this robust account of the past makes the issues of today’s society feel less like a collective moral failing. It also makes me more appreciative of the fact we have flushing toilets, central heating and fast food lol.

Thank you Ruth!

And just like that, we’re done. Weeeee’re done.