Melbourne’s Househats have been continuing to carve a spot for themselves within the local indie scene by staging some impressive live shows down the east coast off the back of “All Together” and “Stop” – two tracks that have garnered decent attention on radio and in the embraces of their growing fanbase.
As they continue to work towards the release of their debut album Running Out of Time, Househats continue to churn out the goods, the latest being in their new single “I’ve Been Broken”. For vocalist/drummer Joshua De Laurentiis, “I’ve Been Broken” channels feelings of insomnia and dread, a melancholic thread that is brought brilliantly to life on record.
“That underlying feeling of meaningless and dread bubbles over more than I’d care to admit, and this song sits right in that pocket. It’s 9am after you’ve been awake for 24-hours straight and you’re thinking, ‘Do I have a coffee…or a Bloody Mary?’”
Ahead of the band’s launch shows at the end of June and through into July, De Laurentiis has shared some inspirations behind “I’ve Been Broken” in this playlist, below!
Parquet Courts “Wide Awake”
Both this song and the band’s Danger Mouse-produced album of the same title add a bold new string to the Parquet Courts already impressive bow. Early Parquet recordings were reasonably raw, but their 2018 release echoes a goal we had with our album, which was to add a fair slab of production value to a genre which normally relishes in a far more minimalist approach. On “I’ve Been Broken”, we added some acoustic guitar and percussion elements even though we’re a pretty standard post-punk three-piece band who wouldn’t be able to replicate that recording live without at least one additional musician.
Stealers Wheel “Stuck In The Middle With You”
I’ve always wanted to have cowbell on a song,and “Stuck In The Middle With You” has to be one of the best cowbell songs ever committed to tape. I guess I’ve never be brave enough until “I’ve Been Broken” to sign off on a cowbell part, which is one of the many reasons we enlisted our good friend and producer Alex Markwell – his production on The Delta Riggs’ music is absolutely lit, and he isn’t afraid to take risks, and we really wanted to push the envelope immediately from our debut album. I’d say that “I’ve Been Broken” is the best example from our forthcoming album of us going “Full Markwell”.
Beck “Jack-Ass”
Beck is just such an iconic musician, and his influence can be heard in countless bands and songs. While none of us were really listening to Beck as a direct influence on “I’ve Been Broken,” once it was done I could hear it. There’s just certain chords and a kind of laid back feel that reminds me of Beck, and I’m absolutely okay with that!
Courtney Barnett “City Looks Pretty”
Obviously this wasn’t released when we wrote “I’ve Been Broken” I think late last year, but I can’t see how you can be a Melbourne musician in our vague genre pool and without being hugely influenced by Barnsey. She, along with Parquet Courts, make us strive to be better with our lyrics, and Freddy had to work hard to fix my initial verse lyrics that were really just a placeholder that held no meaning. After he fixed it the song came together and I’m really happy with how it turned out.
HOUSEHATS LIVE SHOWS
June 30th | Northcote Social Club, MELBOURNE
July 7th | Waywards, SYDNEY
July 8th | The Cambridge Hotel, NEWCASTLE
———-
