Gathered around a table at Brisbane’s The Elephant Hotel, psychedelic rockers Psychedelic Porn Crumpets were readying themselves for shenanigans at BIGSOUND. Much like their name, the conversation with the Perth quartet was weird and caused a lot of laughs, beginning with them learning controversial mining magnate/politician Clive Palmer placed an ad mocking radio host Ray Hadley before their music video for ‘Cornflake’.
“That’s amazing!” says guitarist Luke Parish. “Clive Palmer endorses us. Just like his mint sauce.” [He might mean mint slice, which Palmer wrote poetry about.] “He’s actually going to have us play in his dinosaur park,” jokes bassist Luke Reynolds.
The band – featuring the two Lukes, singer/guitarist Jack McEwan and drummer Danny Caddy – have released heavy nuggets of psychedelic rock since 2016, when they released their debut album Highly Visceral Part One. They’ve since followed it up with two more volumes in that series. In August, they released their massive new single ‘Social Candy’, which will feature on their upcoming album. “The working title at the moment is called Every Place We’ve Ever Been At Once,” McEwan reveals. “That’s giving away too much information,” Parish interrupts. “[Pointing at me] He’s going to be assassinated.”
McEwan explained their intentions were to make a concept album. “The idea of it would be to go through genres, ideas, bits and pieces, and time. Sort of like you’re going back from the 60’s and then all the way through to the future. Like, that was the original idea. We’ve sort of gone back more into what we can achieve.”
‘Social Candy’ is the only completed song so far. As the band explains, their songwriting occurs while they record. “I think we come up with the songs in the recording process. They’re not finished songs until we’ve finished recording them,” says Cuddy. “And half the time they’re too difficult to play because we need a 10-piece band in it,” adds Parish.
It might be a different process to what many other artists have described, but it has led to fascinating results. As McEwan explains, it also leads to more collaboration:
“When we come up with a song and when we’re actually working together or working something out, it’s like even when we’re in the studio recording we’re listening back to it rather than say this is how it goes because if you say ‘This is how it goes’ then you’re not going to care. You’re doing this for your part or what the drums sound like or what the bass sounds like. But if you’re recording for the song, everyone’s working as a collective piece and trying to get that thing; honing in on the overall idea.”
What they’ve described sounds like an ambitious undertaking, especially with the amount of touring they’ll be doing. The band will be spending the rest of September touring the UK and Europe, before returning to tour Australia in October. Whenever the new album does finally arrive, fans can expect more heavy riffing and other oddities.
‘Social Candy’ is available now. Follow Psychedelic Porn Crumpets on Facebook HERE
See Psychedelic Porn Crumpets on tour:
29-30 Sep: Yours And Owls Festival, Wollongong NSW
4th Oct: Oxford Art Factory, Sydney NSW
5th Oct: The Zoo, Brisbane QLD
6th Oct: The Solbar, Maroochydore QLD
7th Oct: Miami Marketta, Gold Coast QLD
11 Oct: Karova Lounge, Ballarat VIC
12th Oct: Corner Hotel, Melbourne VIC
13th Oct: Uni Bar, Adelaide SA
19th Oct: Rosemount Hotel, Perth WA
26th Oct: Settlers Tavern, Margaret River WA
28-31 Dec: Lost Paradise, Sydney NSW
30 Dec-1st Jan: NYE On The Hill, Melbourne VIC
