THE DOG TRACKERS 'Sendai Gold' 7"

** This is a pre-order item - shipping from July 10th **

The Dog Trackers are an Aboriginal-fronted multicultural punk rock/boss reggae band from Brisbane.

Van Badham is an award-winning journalist and playwright from the Shire.

'Sendai Gold' is their collaborative tribute to some of the lesser-known aspects of travel in Japan. 

The Dog Trackers formed in 2016. Their history in the Brisbane punk scene stretches back as far as the late 80s, with members having done time in the likes of Blowhard, Dreamkillers, Anger In Motion and Godnose.

2024 saw the band undertake a Japanese tour, clocking up shows in Tokyo, Yokohama, Atami and Machida. Tour highlights included reconnecting with bands who shared the stage with Blowhard in Tokyo in 1996, and participating in a free-jazz jam with a sax-playing  chef for the benefit of the local yacht club commodore and Geisha Guild president.

Van Badham is a regular visitor to the Land of the Rising Sun. Mutual friends and a shared interest in social justice saw Badham and the Trackers convene a joint recording session at the end of 2025. It quickly emerged that their respective Japanese travels had taken both parties to similar locations (not least of all the "punk tapas bar" El Puente in Yokohama).

Common ground thus established, the result became 'Sendai Gold', a side-splitting recounting of Badham's bizarre first Japanese visit reinforced by The Dog Trackers' heavy reggae-funk backing.


The outcome surpasses the sum of its parts. Badham's hilarious observational narrative is as sharp as the Soviet sickle, while The Dog Trackers' Blockheads-inspired heavy groove is as weighty as the hammer that crosses it.

'Sendai Gold' (b/w 'Have You Ever' and 'Teppanyaki Rocky Roll') is currently being pressed onto "very retro" 7-inch vinyl for release on storied Brisbane label Splurt Records. Listen out for 'Sendai Gold' on 4zzzfm and other likeminded community stations in the coming weeks, and expect a formal launch date for the vinyl later in 2026.