Child’s Play is the debut EP from 15-year-old Australian rock prodigy Maple’s Pet Dinosaur, a collision of heavy ’90s alt-metal riffs, soaring, emotive vocals, serrated wordplay, and a warped VHS-horror aesthetic that peels back the plastic to reveal something raw, real, and raucous. 

It’s easy to forget that Maple’s meteoric rise has unfolded in under nine months. In August 2025, a zero-budget music video, shot on a Ring doorbell camera, turned her debut single “lego” into the most-viewed Instagram Reel ever by an Australian-born artist, amassing over 55 million views on the platform alone, alongside more than 1 million likes on TikTok. The industry came knocking. Rather than exhausting the viral momentum with her follow-up single “chorus,” Maple made a different call, doubling down on her live show and using the release to land gigs. 

From her third-ever performance at SXSW Sydney to becoming the youngest artist to play Australia’s premier alternative festival, Good Things, sharing stages with heavyweights like Tool and Weezer, Maple’s Pet Dinosaur has rapidly built a reputation as a must-see live act. With rave reviews rolling in, including multiple Rolling Stone features, she’s since been added to Groovin’ The Moo’s anticipated return, Darwin Festival’s iconic Bass In The Grass, and Australia’s premier metal cruise, Hellbound. 

Alongside “lego” and “chorus,” the EP, led by its title track “Child’s Play” introduces three new songs. “Play This At Your Funeral” captures Maple at her most playful and biting, written in a burst of inspiration while listening to early Incubus and Faith No More. Featuring an elastic, Beastie Boys-inspired flow, it’s built to detonate live. 

Closing track “Ice Cream Truck”, already a fan favourite on stage, leans into Melvins-style grind and swagger. Built around the line, “I’ll never chase a boy like an ice cream truck,” the track transforms a maths-class daydream into a sharp-tongued anthem about refusing to chase validation… especially from fuckboys. 

“Child’s Play is a playful rewind to the past, but with a blood-soaked machete pointing to the future,” she says. “I made this EP to tell everyone that I’m here to play, but I’m deadly serious.”