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Track by Track:
Circle Pit - Wicked Wicked Time
Circle Pit - Wicked Wicked Time
Following the unexpected re-emergence of cult scum-rockers Circle Pit earlier this year, with an unearthed EP made up of tracks recorded almost a decade ago, we had Jack Mannix, one half of the Sydney duo, unravel the chaos that is Wicked Wicked Time.
Recorded in the midst of a big night while on a US tour in 2010, Wicked Wicked Time has Circle Pit less concerned with nailing their performances than creating a muggy and disorientating atmosphere for listeners to step into - one that presumably mimics the band’s own indulgences during the recording session. Described as “downer-glam-boogie”, over these four tracks the band (led by Jack Mannix and Angela Bermuda, and backed by Harriet Hudson, Al Haddock and Owen Penglis) grapple with an array of different rock ’n’ roll styles in their rebelliously uncooperative way, which means the outcome is a collection of unhinged punk that highlights Circle Pit’s chaotic charisma while also hinting at their impulsive, and ultimately, destructive tendencies.
Opening with the title track, we’re instantly submerged by mayhem. Dangerously kaleidoscopic, wobbly guitars blur with lethargic, pre-occupied dual vocals, while unruly percussion rattles in the background. Although there’s not all that much to grip onto as the soundscape swirls around us, it’s confusingly compelling - the sonic equivalent of a hot mess. Next up, ‘Come To The Beach’ stumbles in with a drunken swagger, and this time it’s not so murky that we can’t make out the occasional hook. Backed by a stomping groove, volatile guitars tangle with almost sunny melodies, and by the track’s end, its seasick sway has us feeling giddy.
‘Neon Idol’ is a bold change of pace with a driving beatbeat and zigzagging guitars, yet despite its muscular riffs and classic rock leadlines, avoids feeling derivative thanks to its irreverent vocals. Finally, Wicked Wicked Time wraps up with ‘Winning Streak’, a hazy country-fried track covered in grime, that lilts with crusty open chords and a stumbling groove, before a disorderly guitar solo takes over from Jack and Angie’s rambling vocals to ride the song into the sunset. For a band that was so associated with excess and glammy debauchery, it’s a subdued way to round out their first release in a decade - but it’s one that waywardly hints that there may be more from Circle Pit still to come.
To dig a little deeper into Wicked Wicked Time, we had Jack talk us through each of the EP's four tracks.
Opening with the title track, we’re instantly submerged by mayhem. Dangerously kaleidoscopic, wobbly guitars blur with lethargic, pre-occupied dual vocals, while unruly percussion rattles in the background. Although there’s not all that much to grip onto as the soundscape swirls around us, it’s confusingly compelling - the sonic equivalent of a hot mess. Next up, ‘Come To The Beach’ stumbles in with a drunken swagger, and this time it’s not so murky that we can’t make out the occasional hook. Backed by a stomping groove, volatile guitars tangle with almost sunny melodies, and by the track’s end, its seasick sway has us feeling giddy.
‘Neon Idol’ is a bold change of pace with a driving beatbeat and zigzagging guitars, yet despite its muscular riffs and classic rock leadlines, avoids feeling derivative thanks to its irreverent vocals. Finally, Wicked Wicked Time wraps up with ‘Winning Streak’, a hazy country-fried track covered in grime, that lilts with crusty open chords and a stumbling groove, before a disorderly guitar solo takes over from Jack and Angie’s rambling vocals to ride the song into the sunset. For a band that was so associated with excess and glammy debauchery, it’s a subdued way to round out their first release in a decade - but it’s one that waywardly hints that there may be more from Circle Pit still to come.
To dig a little deeper into Wicked Wicked Time, we had Jack talk us through each of the EP's four tracks.
Wicked Wicked Time
This was the first song I ever wrote on guitar when I was 18, an indecipherable blues song that's completely unhinged and blown-out. We forgot almost all the lyrics to the song just before we recorded it and had to re-write them in a daze - this is the only song on the EP that's just me and Angie, and was the first song that we ever wrote as a duo. It's about constant accidental injury, dead friends, chemical conspiracy theories and the wilderness of the mind. Mississippi swamp with too many pharmaceuticals and too much alcohol. "Paradise in Hell" - recorded on my 22nd birthday in 2010 (which was also Thanksgiving) with Matt from Psychedelic Horseshit in Columbus, Ohio. The loosest we've ever been and probably ever will be, as we lay in the gutter, staring up at the stadiums.
Come To The Beach
A psychedelic southern fried boogie rock anthem, inspired by Creedence, Skynyrd, Royal Trux and the undeniable magic of the ocean which beckons spray on tanners and wild punks alike. The song is about beach culture as seen through the eyes of pale, unhealthy, wastoid freaks. Despite the content of the lyrics however, the NSW government has insisted that we AVOID the beach, that the cops are IN SIGHT and that arrest is IMMINENT!!!
Neon Idol
Our demented blown-out attempt at hair metal. Shooting for arena rock but landing closer to punk - kind of like listening to Mötley Crüe on a bad connection. This song is about desperate living and sacrificing yourself to a chemical overlord. "Neon Idol, you're my hero, take me to your dealer" - an alien drug anthem for all the drop-outs of society who refuse to pay for Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy tickets and prefer to get loose in the carpark outside to the distant thud of sell-out counterculture.
Winning Streak
Often our lyrics are prophetic - as if we write and manifest our futures accidentally. Another one of our early tunes, we wrote this about an imagined friend/lover losing the plot or dying in some freak accident. Sadly this came true of many people in our lives after the fact. Doo-wop James Dean/Twin Peaks romantic energy with a snarl. We have survived, adapted and thrived though, and many of us who did go off the deep end have since come back stronger and tougher than ever. We lived through our own end times before the virus hit. If we're still alive, you can be too.
This was the first song I ever wrote on guitar when I was 18, an indecipherable blues song that's completely unhinged and blown-out. We forgot almost all the lyrics to the song just before we recorded it and had to re-write them in a daze - this is the only song on the EP that's just me and Angie, and was the first song that we ever wrote as a duo. It's about constant accidental injury, dead friends, chemical conspiracy theories and the wilderness of the mind. Mississippi swamp with too many pharmaceuticals and too much alcohol. "Paradise in Hell" - recorded on my 22nd birthday in 2010 (which was also Thanksgiving) with Matt from Psychedelic Horseshit in Columbus, Ohio. The loosest we've ever been and probably ever will be, as we lay in the gutter, staring up at the stadiums.
Come To The Beach
A psychedelic southern fried boogie rock anthem, inspired by Creedence, Skynyrd, Royal Trux and the undeniable magic of the ocean which beckons spray on tanners and wild punks alike. The song is about beach culture as seen through the eyes of pale, unhealthy, wastoid freaks. Despite the content of the lyrics however, the NSW government has insisted that we AVOID the beach, that the cops are IN SIGHT and that arrest is IMMINENT!!!
Neon Idol
Our demented blown-out attempt at hair metal. Shooting for arena rock but landing closer to punk - kind of like listening to Mötley Crüe on a bad connection. This song is about desperate living and sacrificing yourself to a chemical overlord. "Neon Idol, you're my hero, take me to your dealer" - an alien drug anthem for all the drop-outs of society who refuse to pay for Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy tickets and prefer to get loose in the carpark outside to the distant thud of sell-out counterculture.
Winning Streak
Often our lyrics are prophetic - as if we write and manifest our futures accidentally. Another one of our early tunes, we wrote this about an imagined friend/lover losing the plot or dying in some freak accident. Sadly this came true of many people in our lives after the fact. Doo-wop James Dean/Twin Peaks romantic energy with a snarl. We have survived, adapted and thrived though, and many of us who did go off the deep end have since come back stronger and tougher than ever. We lived through our own end times before the virus hit. If we're still alive, you can be too.
Wicked Wicked Time is out now via Dero Arcade - head to Bandcamp to purchase the EP on 12" vinyl.
