No strangers to the Melbourne music scene, Bollard have spent the last few years establishing themselves amongst their compatriots, thanks to their thrilling take on noisey post-punk, covered over their debut album Trawlers and last year’s Beware the atto fox EP. However, with the band’s audience growing, ‘Ziggurat’ presents itself as a shift in direction from Bollard’s previous oeuvre, as they trade their signature explosions of chaos for something a little more subtle and dynamic.

Powered by a tight rhythm section that maintains a consistent driving force throughout the track, ‘Ziggurat’ quickly establishes a volatile and moody atmosphere, and with bursts of frenetic energy only occasionally interrupting the chugging instrumentation, we’re kept in a state of suspense as the song gradually expands. A contrast to Bollard’s more sonically immersive and abrasive music, ‘Ziggurat’ is far more attitude-driven - frontman Tom Walsh’s sung-spoken vocals dripping with cynicism and ennui, as they cut through the tangle of stuttering guitars and restless bass. However, thanks to the band’s dynamic energy paired with the mesmerising groove that ebbs for the track’s duration, the listener becomes completely captivating as it stretches out before fading away.

In a way that feels appropriate to the state of the world right now, the band explain that ‘Ziggurat’s “pseudo-spoken lyrics” purposely blur between optimism and pessimistic, to “deal with collective consequences and the boundaries we set for our own responsibility”. Like existential dread on a motorbike, the result is as cool as it is unsettling.