Established in 2005 To help fuel the virus that was started by the bands The Ghost Computer!! and Don’t Blame Me I Voted For The Penguin.
IN 2019, Rookie allen acquired The Happy Leper brand and merged it into the Enter Starplanet Family as an imprint to platform new and classic Neo-Trash & Hackore.

…YOUR DONATIONS KEEP THE MUSIC COMING…

-HISTORY OF NEO-TRASH/HACKORE-
In 2004, a small band from Newcastle, Australia, was born in the back room of a rented house in Mayfield. Their vision? To predict the sound of punk and hardcore in the futuristic, dystopian world of Neo-Tokyo, inspired by the classic Japanese anime film Akira. After ten minutes of repeatedly translating their original band name into Japanese and back into English, they settled on The Ghost Computer!!

A few months after forming, The Ghost Computer!! recorded a series of raw, high-energy demos that found their way into the hands of Newcastle’s underground experimental music scene. Demand quickly grew, and soon, they were in the studio recording their first EP.

Through Newcastle’s thriving experimental scene, they connected with the chaotic, all-female Sydney band Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for the Penguin, whose sound and energy mirrored their own. The two bands became close, rehearsing together at an unlikely venue—EDI Rail Cardiff, where Ghost Computer!! frontman Rookie Allen worked. Inside this train-building workshop was a massive lunchroom with a stage, which they transformed into a practice space.

Before long, their late-night rehearsals evolved into underground shows. Recognizing that continued use of the lunchroom could cause irreparable damage—and expose their secret—they relocated their infamous Neo-trash gatherings to an abandoned building at the back of the EDI site, lovingly dubbed “The Doghouse.”

By mid-2005, founding members Spang Green, Drew Turner, and Stand Rosenberg left the band due to work commitments. But The Ghost Computer!! pushed forward, keeping their weekly underground shows alive alongside Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for the Penguin and the newly formed Old Bold Pilot.

Determined to take their sound to the next level, the band entered the studio in late 2005—just a week after This Killed JonBenet released Hot Sisters Make Hot Threesomes. On November 30, 2005, they emerged with their now-iconic debut album, I Am The Black Box.

Within hours, the album was uploaded to the Happy Leper file-sharing network, spreading like wildfire across the growing Neo-trash community. Fans immediately began sending fuel money through PayPal, requesting live performances along Australia’s East Coast. With their van gassed up, The Ghost Computer!! hit the road, establishing a DIY tour circuit that became the backbone of the Neo-trash movement.

From The Doghouse (Newcastle) to Genosha Farm (Byron Bay), The Basement (Coffs Harbour), The Junkyard (Canberra), and The Hall of Trash (Sydney), The Ghost Computer!! cultivated an underground scene that thrived on chaos, raw energy, and pure passion.

By the end of 2006, the movement had outgrown its humble beginnings. Rookie Allen, exhausted from years of DIY touring, took a break to focus on his side project, Galileo’s Ghost. The band went into semi-retirement, with members branching into new projects like Million Eels, The Brute Approaches, and Glamour.

In mid-2007, after a brief stint playing with Galileo’s Ghost, Rookie Allen reignited The Ghost Computer!! They returned to the studio and emerged with a new EP, The Director’s Cut. Once again, the album spread rapidly through the Neo-trash scene, and within hours, their PayPal was flooded with fuel funds. The Ghost Computer!! was officially back on the road.

With the closure of The Doghouse, the band added a new stop to their underground circuit—The Watch Tower in Newcastle. As always, their live shows remained a relentless assault of chaotic energy, with bone-crushing intensity that left crowds reeling.

By late 2008, The Ghost Computer!! had toured Japan and was gearing up for a 2009 release. But upon returning home, they were hit with devastating news—Happy Leper Records had folded, and their label owner had disappeared, taking the band’s earnings with him. Disheartened, The Ghost Computer!! went on indefinite hiatus, emerging only for select shows.

In 2012, they announced their final performance at the legendary Genosha Farm, Byron Bay. At that show, Rookie Allen revealed a new vision: Starplanet, a home for Neo-trash, ensuring the scene would live on. His final words encapsulated the spirit of the movement:

“There’s no cash in Neo-trash. Only passion in the trashing… thank you.”

 

Though their time was brief, The Ghost Computer!! left an indelible mark on Australia’s underground punk and experimental music scenes. Their DIY ethos, relentless energy, and boundary-pushing sound helped shape the Neo-trash movement, a secret society of sonic chaos that still resonates today.

For those who remember the days of illegal warehouse shows, sweat-drenched mosh pits, and a scene that spread like a virus, The Ghost Computer!! remains a legend.

…YOUR DONATIONS KEEP THE MUSIC COMING…