Between winning over Melbourne audiences onstage, Spiral Perm have spent the last few years steadily dropping bite sized garage-rock gems, and they've been at it again, recently putting out their sixth release Greatest Hits. Although naming the EP Greatest Hits is likely to be a joke amongst the band, it isn’t all gags - this EP plays as be Spiral Perm’s most realised release so far.

Greatest Hits bursts open with ‘Egg Boy’, and Spiral Perm instantly get stuck into it - although the term no-frills rock n roll might get thrown around a bit, it’s refreshing to hear a band feel as raw and immediate as this. We’re quickly immersed in waves of jangling chords while a study rhythm section rumbles behind, and as vocalist/guitarist Ali Edmonds voice switches between sounding sunny or threatening, we’re struck by Spiral Perm’s ability to sound both playful and volatile at once. Up next, ’Hometime’ keeps this theme going, cooling the mood with a simmering groove and hypnotic, restless hooks, just to erupt open moments later into a sprawl of fuzzed-out guitars over a punchy backbeat.

‘No Bones’ picks up the pace with a thumping groove and buoyant guitars, but soon drifts into a blur of frenzied noise, and ‘Disco // Taco’ brings on the EP’s most turbulent moment, directed by a manic drumbeat that perfectly pairs with the scuzzy guitars and sharp vocal hooks. Finally, we’re hit with ‘Fixed Licks’, a blast of urgent garage-punk tune led by a grimy bass chug and an angular guitar lead, that serves as a striking reminder that Spiral Perm are just as comfortable laying into their raucous energy as they are taking it cool.

To find out a little more, we had Spiral Perm talk us through each of tracks on the new EP.

Egg Boy

Named after the legend himself. We wanted to write a song for the infamous Egg Boy, who smashed an egg on the head of that racist idiot Fraser Anning. Lyrically, it has a general focus on calling out people who ignore facts, who jump to conclusions and who choose to remain ignorant when anything different comes their way - Egg Boy's actions on that day will forever live on in the spirit of this track.

Hometime

One word, one intention - if you feel like going home, then go home. Don't feel pressure to stay. There's a million scenes that can play out in life. This is the single from the EP, we love it because it feels like a nice soporific lay in the warm sun and having a snooze. There is also a bit of a nod to Skyhooks' 'Horror Movie' in there because, why not?

No Bones

The lyrics were written on the last day of recording the EP. They're essentially about the scepticism among society. Sometimes you have to roll the dice and take a chance, look up, look in the eyes of other human beings, and have micro-interactions. They could also be about gambling. Shanna Watson laid down the trippy guitar parts at the end, which made the song what it is!

Disco // Taco

Kate come up with the drum part and we took it from there. It’s a winding track with a nice psychedelic ending. We actually finished writing it when we were recording some old songs down in Phillip Island, it had to be done because we kept playing it live without actually it being complete. The song is about living in shit share houses. The naming convention for this track references a track from Warpaint's last album - guess which one. 

Fixed Licks

Funnily enough, Kate and Ali wrote this song without Rita, but with the bass totally at the front of mind. It was nicknamed ‘Bass Banger’, we knew Rita would love how bass heavy it was, it’s a bit brattier than some of the other tracks. Rita took charge and wrote the lyrics in about 20 minutes and nailed the vocals in one shot. Always rough and ready!