Premiere/Interview: Psychedelic Porn Crumpets tease new album with first single, Buzz

Words by Bob Gordon.

By any measure, 2016 has been a very good year for Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, with bold advances being followed up by periods of creative consolidation.

“I was mentioning to the guys the other day that last New Year’s we got offered to play at a fire station down in Bunbury and this year we’re the main support for Pond,” ponders singer/guitarist, Jack McEwan. “That’s still a bit hard to comprehend."

The band released their debut album, High Visceral {Part 1}, in March and though they were at that stage only a year old as a band, there was a notable anticipation for the LP, which was duly met. An already busy gigging schedule was suddenly boosted by a national album tour. “It was pure insanity at times,” McEwan recalls. “An incredible trip exploring hidden Queensland waterfalls, laughing from city to city sharing spacey chats with some of Australia’s finest.

“Those types of moments help us evolve as a band and you will hear once we release Part 2 how everything from the writing, production and individual instrumentation is tenfold from the previous album.”

That’s High Visceral {Part 2} to give it its full name. Further proof that PPC aren’t ones to sit back and smell the wild roses, and powered by a force that McEwan likens to “being thrust forward with this energetic optimistic momentum,” the album is well into production and its first blast, a mind-altering single called Buzz, is premiered right here and launched this Friday at Jack Rabbit Slim’s (click the image down the bottom for more info).

“Buzz is our fast hitting scum funk, Japanese-futurist, overly theatrical single that has the colourful details of Wes Anderson mixed with the unnecessary gore and absurdness of a post 2010 Tarantino blood bath,” says McEwan, revealing no clear insight into the matter whatsoever.

“The lyrics are about experiencing Earth from an alien perspective and working things out for yourself, while the music is ‘60s folk colliding with 2000’s metal that flourishes with some neo-jazz chords for a fresh bite.”

While Buzz is an inviting doorway to the forthcoming album, much more clearly awaits behind that door. While some of the themes and philosophies aired on Part 1 are continued, every experience since that album’s release have played their part in the creation of Part 2.

“Everything is far more intricate,” McEwan states. ”The guitars have a lot of harmonies rather than riff-over-chords; the bass is emphasising some ridiculous notes. Drums are steam engines. The strings resemble a 1920’s French café the way they glide effortlessly and have a pretentious charm that enthrals the listener. We added arpeggiated synths this time ‘round to underscore some of the plucked guitar patterns, got a bit more creative with vocal melodies and harmonies and have aimed for the highest level of production possible.

“The theme of the album still continues from Part 1’s questioning life, how the universe works and our place amongst it all, but feels more grown up now. It’s all a tad more sophisticated and you can hear the evolution of us as individual players shine through.”

Psychedelic Porn Crumpets have another single launch booked at Badlands in February with a national tour hitting its straps when the album is released in late April. In the meantime, 2016’s worth celebrating.

“We’re playing with Pond for New Year’s Eve at the Rosemount so I can imagine we’ll be pretty merry come the first ,” McEwan reiterates with suitable festive cheer, before pondering further activities. “I’ve been talking about doing a space opera for Fringe which I think will go down a treat, so I might get cracking on with that if I get a bit of free time. But I can imagine I’ll be having recording withdrawals, so a third album is always on the cards.”

BUZZ SINGLE LAUNCH:

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