The Buoys were formed in 2016, initially as a three-piece, by Zoe Catterall on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, Sophie Moroney on drums and Emily Jane on bass guitar hoping for more female musicians in their hometown,
Cronulla, New South Wales. They played their first show with
Ruby Fields ( Stay at Home Mum). Their five-track debut extended play,
Soft Boy, appeared in November 2017. It was described by Dave McCarthy of
Laundry Echo as a "furious debut five track from our new favourite queens of four to the floor punk songs." McCarthy felt their debut single, "Liar Liar", displayed "an unrelenting onslaught of fuzzy guitars and bouncing drums that build a platform for nonchalant vocals to sound fed-up and fierce in equal measure upon." which Catterall described as about "being left completely in the dark about someone’s intentions." Their following singles, "Arm Wrestle" (August) and "Make It Clear" (October) were stand-alone singles. The Buoys had intended to release a second EP,
Split Lip, but had a change of musical direction. The group released two singles in 2019, "Inside Outside" (April) and "Gold" (July). before setting off on the 2019/2020 Australian festival circuit, playing at the likes of Fairgrounds, Farmer and the Owl and Festival of the Sun. In February 2020, the Buoys played at the last-ever
Party in the Paddock festival. They performed as support to
Violent Soho at the Lansdowne Hotel. They were described by
NMEs David James Young as "a band that has been asserting themselves as one of Sydney's great indie-rock hopes." The group were signed to Spunk! Records and issued their seventh single, "Wah", in April. Young observed, "[it] is one of the shortest and fastest songs the band has ever released – a throwback to mid-90s riot-grrrl and 80s punk." They launched it with two sold-out shows at the Lansdowne Hotel in August 2020. They followed with a third EP,
Unsolicited Advice for Your DIY Disaster, in October 2021. Chanel Issa of
Hysteria Magazine highlighted the tracks, "Car Park", "Lie to Me Again" and "Drive Me Home" as stand-outs. In that year the Buoys playing "I Want You" was used in an ad for Fox League's coverage of
NRLW. Band members announced in May 2024 that their debut album,
Lustre, was due to be released in July. Simultaneously they issued another single, "Check Mate", which is a collaboration with alternative rocker,
Alex Lahey.
Lustre, which includes previously released singles, was recorded with
Chris Collins in
Northern Rivers, New South Wales. ==Band members==