Psychedelic Porn Crumpets To Play Desert Daze / Release “Hymn For A Droid” Audio

There was a time in the not-so-distant past where the subject of Australian music, outside of “the land down under,” typically only generated a handful of names in conversation.  At the top of the list is AC/DC. In hipper circles, Nick Cave.  In even hipper circles, you might hear reference to Cave associates, The Dirty Three, but that’s not a name escaping the lips of most folks.  In a slightly older crowd, you might see INXS included fondly.  In more mainstream circles, names like Kylie Minogue, Natalie Imbruglia, or even Olivia Newton John may get a nod.  SIA is Australian, but I’m not sure how many people are fully aware of that, since her career really began to take off once she moved to London and, later on, settled in New York — she eventually, even relocated to Palm Springs.  Then you have the massive names like Keith Urban and Iggy Azalea that gained worldwide celebrity status by appropriating the culture and styles of artists from the American South.  But within all of this, you mostly see isolated cases of a singular name pushing their way through onto the global stage.  The country has their boy band: 5 Seconds Of Summer.  They had their young 90s grunge act: Silver Chair.  They have their 2000s-era garage rock outfit: Wolfmother (maybe even Jet).  Electronic acts — if not electronic hybrids — have done admirably for themselves, though.  These names include The Avalanches, Flume, Empire Of The Sun, and Cut Copy.  In more recent years, however, we’ve begun to see a more cohesive wave of young Aussies really beginning to put their stamp on the music industry, getting their names out there, and earning some well deserved and widespread critical acclaim.  One genre at the forefront of all of this is psych rock and, firmly embedded within that scene is a 4-piece calling themselves Psychedelic Porn Crumpets.

Artists like Courtney Barnett, Aldous Harding, Alex Cameron, and Julia Jacklin have rapidly gained steam over the last few years and their appeal shows no signs of waning.  Seeing a steady stream of musicians from the region continue to knock it out of the park signals that there is a legitimate pool of talent over there, rather than the random anomalies we’ve historically been presented with.  But while that particular wave has gained their accolades under their given names and established themselves as songwriters, musicians, and vocalists, there is another scene of slightly wilder day-glo crazies with band names that seem to align more with those of sixties outfits that embraced nonsensical titles like the Neapolitan flavored Strawberry Alarm Clock, The Chocolate Watch Band, and Vanilla Fudge, or vine ripened psych units The Electric Prunes and Moby Grape.

Much like their highly prolific Southern California/Bay Area counterparts drawing on the legacy of the music showcased on the influential 1972 Nuggets comp (13th Floor Elevators, The Seeds, etc), these Aussies have conjured up a thriving garage-psych movement in their own right.  While the John Dwyer (Thee Oh Sees, Coachwhips, etc) founded Castle Face Records has done US pressings of Australia‘s King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard releases, alongside titles by Ty Segall or White Fence, the Aussies have labels like Flightless, started by King Gizz‘s Eric Moore to release their own material, as well as output by cohorts like The Murlocs and ORB.  But while a “movement” focuses more on the collective than the individual, any movement that’s worth a shit is actually better for the whole, and the region at large, than having a single national act hogging all of the limelight.  If it can sustain itself, we’ll eventually become aware of any acts within it that actually have something to offer.

The Psychedelic Porn Crumpets have opened for King Gizzard, as well as American acts like Black Mountain, but it’s their own high energy live shows that have gained them a following beyond any potential outside associates.  Their band name is arguably terrible, but I can overlook that, if for no other reason than it’s also fairly effective in the sense that it provides a good idea of what you’re getting yourself into.  Most importantly, their brand of neo-psychedelia is being offered without any pretentious bullshit attached.  They’re going to turn things up, throw in some bugged out effects, and ride it out until it crashes.  Most importantly, they’re going to do it all while making sure that they enjoy themselves.  Of course, to really get anywhere with this formula, that all has to translate into a great live show, and the Porn Crumpets seem to be making an impact and picking up followers through their consistent touring and noteworthy SXSW appearances.  I’m not completely familiar with their catalog, but what I’ve heard seems to place them sonically between the the driving tempos and twisting guitar work associated with much of King Gizz‘s work, and the spacey ethereal aspects and reverb drenched vocals of fellow Perth natives, Tame Impala.

This Friday, May 31st, PPC will drop their third studio album and their first for London‘s Marathon Artists label and management, which works with fellow countrymen (and women) like Pond, Courtney Barnett, Jen Cloher, Hazel English, and Jagwar Ma.  With an album title as absurd as their band name, And Now For The Whatchamacallit is claimed to be “a culmination of experiences lived on the road and influences stemming from the last few years of evolution and refinement for the band.”  The group clearly feels as if they have honed their sound further from previous efforts and promise a more sonically diverse product with this new release.  That’s one thing that is hard not to respect in this Aussie psych scene, the fact that the heavy hitters like Tame Impala, Pond, and King Gizzard are continuously trying something new and moving their sound forward.  It’s something that’s not only encouraged, but almost a requirement for anyone that’s even considering trying to stay afloat in those waters.

Today PPC have announced that they will be joining the increasingly impressive lineup of this October’s Desert Daze festival. They have also released the audio to “Hymn For A Droid,” a new track from their upcoming LP, which you can listen to below.

If you’re feeling these jams, you can head to the band’s official website now and pre-order And Now For The Whatchamacallit in a couple of pretty sweet looking variants.  Make sure to check out a full list of North American tour dates, after the jump.