Music / Premieres
Premiere:
Eggy - HAL 9000
Eggy - HAL 9000
Ahead of the release of Bravo! next week, their forthcoming debut album out through Spoilsport Records, we’ve been treated to one more taste of Eggy’s signature garage-pop whimsy with the exuberant ‘HAL 9000’.
The band with simultaneously the best and most off-putting name in Melbourne have returned with another slice of their idiosyncratic surreal pop, ‘HAL 9000’. It’s the third single to be taken from Bravo!, following the excellent pair ‘Johnny Whoop’ and ‘Absentia’. This time round, the five-piece - Lucy Packham (vocals/keys), Charlie Wolstenholme (drums), Zoe Monk (vocals/guitar), Dom Moore (bass/yelps), and Sam Lyons (guitar/sax) - are examining the barriers to intellectual analysis in the internet age (it shares a lot of the same concerns as ‘Machine Communication’, from last year’s Billy EP); the sheer deluge of information that overcomes our senses even through merely scrolling twitter for a few hours is virtually incompatible with true understanding.
The band have always incorporated pop culture references into their music. The lead single from Bravo!, ‘Johnny Whoop’, took its name from the children’s hand game of the same name; last year’s record Billy came from Billy Brownless, Geelong’s powerful footy player from the 80’s and 90’s; their early song ‘52 AFLW Players’ was, of course, about the Australian footy league for women. Now it’s a film character’s turn to be cited, ‘HAL 9000’ named after the murderous artificial intelligence system from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Eggy’s sound bears no resemblance to HAL’s cold and austere efficiency though - their music is too warm and whirring, possessed off too much colourful whimsy. And while the film has inspired numerous cinematic sci-fi works, the only thing Eggy’s song has in common are the pinging synths that traverse the track. Their off-kilter pop is as scrambled as the eggs the band presumably eats before every practice session.
Moore takes the lead on ‘HAL 9000’, unleashing a pop culture-heavy monologue. “‘HAL 9000’ is an exploration of the catch-22 that exists between trying to thoughtfully engage with bigger ideas in an age where information is as easily accessible as it is expendable,” he noted. “Pop culture’s killing me,” is his repeated weary refrain; after he’s done, the track splatters into a frenzied breakdown of fizzing guitars and rattling drums.
Bravo! was recorded by Fabian Hunter and mixed and mastered by Mikey Young, and is only one week out from its full release on November 13th via Spoilsport Records. Bravo? Judging by the standards of the record’s first three singles, that word might not be a premature reaction to its overall quality.
The band have always incorporated pop culture references into their music. The lead single from Bravo!, ‘Johnny Whoop’, took its name from the children’s hand game of the same name; last year’s record Billy came from Billy Brownless, Geelong’s powerful footy player from the 80’s and 90’s; their early song ‘52 AFLW Players’ was, of course, about the Australian footy league for women. Now it’s a film character’s turn to be cited, ‘HAL 9000’ named after the murderous artificial intelligence system from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Eggy’s sound bears no resemblance to HAL’s cold and austere efficiency though - their music is too warm and whirring, possessed off too much colourful whimsy. And while the film has inspired numerous cinematic sci-fi works, the only thing Eggy’s song has in common are the pinging synths that traverse the track. Their off-kilter pop is as scrambled as the eggs the band presumably eats before every practice session.
Moore takes the lead on ‘HAL 9000’, unleashing a pop culture-heavy monologue. “‘HAL 9000’ is an exploration of the catch-22 that exists between trying to thoughtfully engage with bigger ideas in an age where information is as easily accessible as it is expendable,” he noted. “Pop culture’s killing me,” is his repeated weary refrain; after he’s done, the track splatters into a frenzied breakdown of fizzing guitars and rattling drums.
Bravo! was recorded by Fabian Hunter and mixed and mastered by Mikey Young, and is only one week out from its full release on November 13th via Spoilsport Records. Bravo? Judging by the standards of the record’s first three singles, that word might not be a premature reaction to its overall quality.
Bravo! is out on Friday November 13th through Spoilsport Records - head to eggyband.bandcamp.com to grab the album on limited vinyl.
