The Psychedelic Porn Crumpets return with a colourful new album - INTERVIEW
Australian Psych punk rockers, The Psychedelic Porn Crumpets have returned with their latest record, “SHYGA! The Sunlight Mound” as they continue to build upon a strong back catalogue of music.
Recorded in their hometown of Perth after what they describe as endless touring, the Crumpets latest album strips back the lyricism whilst very much rooting the foundation of the sound in early 70s psychomania.
Ungrained Writer, Wes Sukh, had the opportunity to catch up with the gang just prior to the album release and chat with the band about their process and the challenge of making music in a COVID world…
Hey guys! Firstly thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today, how are things, did you enjoy your hottest 100 day?
Yeah good thanks, just cracking on with lockdown. I think I was playing golf, trying to break 300.
Listening to your newest single, Pukebox – a massive track by the way – its interesting to hear the sound of the band develop, the single, if indicative of the album, suggests that the sound will really lean into your psychedelic roots, was this intentional or did it sort of naturally progress?
Cheers, yeah there was a bit more of a concept to this record. We made sure to include lots of glitched out guitars, loads of strange artificial melodies while keeping it all fairly themed in a 70's production style. Pukebox was the track where the idea blossomed from, it felt like there was something more I could work with that I could develop into a strong characteristic flavour for the whole record.
Could you tell us a little about the recording process on this one, did it differ at all from your past projects?
It was pretty much the same, apart from this time we were forced to stay home which I wasn't too bothered about. It gave me time to keep working on the album, making sure it flowed well and had a nice pace. Danny still recorded his drums in a studio at Tone City with Sam Ford, I got carried away recording in my bedroom and then we handed it all over to Jelly who did a great job mixing the record.
You (Jack) talked about the single through two perspectives, one as yourself sitting at home drinking moonshine whilst the other, this outward character who keeps waking up hungover in random cities and how their stories intertwine through daily repetition. This story is massively introspective, is this something we can expect throughout the whole album?
Yeah definitely, I wanted to theme the lyrics together a bit more with this record, give it a bit more of a narrative. When we arrived back from tour it felt like I hadn't been home for years, Perth was different, a load of new bars had opened up and it was exciting to head out again. Then COVID hit and we were back in isolation. So I wrote what I knew about, taking the highs and lows of touring life, scrambled that with adjusting back into WA and then started to fit together nicely, kinda like a non-linear diary.
Was this a project that was still being worked on during COVID, did this change the direction of the album at all?
Yeah massively. We were supposed to have a finished record mixed and mastered by April 2020. With COVID it allowed me to keep working on tracks, write more songs, blend them all together and figure out the most enjoyable way of fitting them all together. It was the first time in yonks I felt like I was back on my terms, stress free and flowing naturally.
I love that you’re touring with Ocean Alley later in the year, and I was super fortunate to catch your splendour set the year before last. You guys owned the crowd and it was great fun – can we expect any solo shows in the near future?
Hopefully very soon! Perth's had a minor blip but I'm sure we'll be back on the road later in the year. We can't wait to get back on the road.
To finish on a slightly unrelated note, I just wanted to say that I, like most of Australia, adored your like a version last year. Is there a connection for you to the jungle book or was it more for fun?!
Haha thanks! My sister, Ava recommended we should do it. I didn't really think too much of it until we started playing Mundungus live and seeing the crowd reactions from the skiffle swing beats, it seemed like a good segue into a heavy cover of a big band track, so I owe her one!
Listen to SHYGA! The Sunlight Mound on Spotify. Psychedelic Porn Crumpets · Album · 2021 · 14 songs.