Music / Premieres
Premiere:
Tommy Dynamite & The Explosions -
A Current Despair
Tommy Dynamite & The Explosions -
A Current Despair
Just like the rest of us, Tommy Dynamite & The Explosions have weathered a tumultuous year of pandemic paranoia and state-mandated loneliness while social injustice runs rampant and anti-science rhetoric reaches fever pitch. Unlike most of us, they’ve channeled their rage and frustration into an excellent debut EP.
Today, Trouble Juice is thrilled to premiere Tommy Dynamite’s rip-roaring three-track anti-establishment garage-punk masterclass, an experience best summarised by the band’s own presser: “A Current Despair makes no effort to hide its disdain for a prejudiced political system that has only profited from the pandemic - but it'll give you something to dance to while we burn it all down.”
Tommy Dynamite & The Explosions formed earlier in 2021, comprised of Ebony and the Dilemmas bandmates Tom Walker and Ambrose De Lima alongside BIFF’s Tom Lutrov and Conor Walkeden. The Explosions have gigged relentlessly since their inception, even selling out a couple of shows (including Old Bar on their very first live appearance). In the absence of live music, they’ve turned to their recorded output, teaming up with legendary Melbourne engineer Paul Maybury (King Gizzard, Cable Ties) for A Current Despair.
‘Blood Spit Roast’ opens the EP, with an incongruously theatrical intro of harmonised vocals and rolling drums preceding a tightly-played blast of upbeat guitar-driven garage rock and Walker’s signature wry delivery. On ‘Scummo’, our darling prime minister is in the firing line, with Walker lambasting the political climate in which creating jobs and saving the economy can be used to justify all manner of policies which serve only the elite, while in the face of perhaps the biggest crisis in human history our leaders turn their backs on scientific evidence and common sense in favour of lining their pockets. Brimming with clever quips and catchy guitar pop, The Explosions put an okka spin on Idles.
New track ‘Tie Me Up’ rounds out the EP, a frenetic outburst of frustration and anxiety which takes a sharp left turn around the halfway mark, dive bombing into a monologue which takes no prisoners in its damning assessment of the political class: “who gives a fuck if the planet falls apart if we can afford another holiday in Hawaii?”
A Current Despair is out on all platforms today, and should be considered essential listening for anyone in need of a bit of catharsis. There’s no news thus far of an EP launch, but keep an eye out on their socials once things start looking a bit more normal - I, for one, definitely will be.
Tommy Dynamite & The Explosions formed earlier in 2021, comprised of Ebony and the Dilemmas bandmates Tom Walker and Ambrose De Lima alongside BIFF’s Tom Lutrov and Conor Walkeden. The Explosions have gigged relentlessly since their inception, even selling out a couple of shows (including Old Bar on their very first live appearance). In the absence of live music, they’ve turned to their recorded output, teaming up with legendary Melbourne engineer Paul Maybury (King Gizzard, Cable Ties) for A Current Despair.
‘Blood Spit Roast’ opens the EP, with an incongruously theatrical intro of harmonised vocals and rolling drums preceding a tightly-played blast of upbeat guitar-driven garage rock and Walker’s signature wry delivery. On ‘Scummo’, our darling prime minister is in the firing line, with Walker lambasting the political climate in which creating jobs and saving the economy can be used to justify all manner of policies which serve only the elite, while in the face of perhaps the biggest crisis in human history our leaders turn their backs on scientific evidence and common sense in favour of lining their pockets. Brimming with clever quips and catchy guitar pop, The Explosions put an okka spin on Idles.
New track ‘Tie Me Up’ rounds out the EP, a frenetic outburst of frustration and anxiety which takes a sharp left turn around the halfway mark, dive bombing into a monologue which takes no prisoners in its damning assessment of the political class: “who gives a fuck if the planet falls apart if we can afford another holiday in Hawaii?”
A Current Despair is out on all platforms today, and should be considered essential listening for anyone in need of a bit of catharsis. There’s no news thus far of an EP launch, but keep an eye out on their socials once things start looking a bit more normal - I, for one, definitely will be.
A Current Despair is out everywhere today.
