Hot on the trail of their debut EP That Slack Garage Sh*t, Kooyong are back with a new single ‘Hit the Piss’, a sprawling mess of lo-fi goodness. Opening with some blistered guitar chords, the track quickly kicks in with charmingly loose performances and frontman Michael Conti’s raucous yelp on top. By the time the chorus kicks in everything’s at full throttle, and by the song’s end we’ve been treated to roaring guitars, pounding grooves and some cheeky cowbell for good measure. Fresh off a support slot with Kingswood and lining up for another with The Cherry Dolls, we caught up with drummer James Rennison to find about the new single and which piss we should be hitting.

TJ: For a relatively new band, things have been happening pretty quickly for Kooyong. What's the story?

JR: Well, it's nothing too amazing - me and Micheal spent a solid two months as a real sloppy two-piece in my bungalow, coming up with riffs and utter gibberish, and it only started taking shape and sounding somewhat tolerable after adding other people.
Will's got music in his blood, with his dad and sister both playing bass, so it came naturally to him and Crombie has always been known as the whiz kid on guitar. You gotta watch him to believe; his solo in 'Nitro Lover' knocks me out every time. I'm used to being up the front shaking my arse, now I'm watching Michael do it from behind the kit. And let me tell you, it's a good arse.

Like any band, it took a while to figure out how everyone operates, but I reckon we're at that stage now where it comes almost second nature. We've been just in the right place at the wrong time to land a gig with Kingswood and one with The Cherry Dolls, which keeps us striving to make quality riffs and push on.


Tell us about your new single ‘Hit the Piss’.

As Australians, there's no doubt that we all love getting absolutely hammered from time to time. It's an ode to that lifestyle. The song starts out with our hero waking up from a big night. As we all know, there is only one cure for a hangover: Hair of the Dog. He eventually finds himself in hospital, and the doctor tells our protagonist to cut the drinking or consider yourself dead. Like the realist he is, our hero wanders on down to the nearest pub and the cycle continues.
The track itself has a real hypnotic R&B groove underneath the slashing chords of the guitars. It's easily a song you can dance and get pie-eyed to.


What's Kooyong’s drink of choice?

If you ask anyone, I am a big advocate for Melbourne Bitter. Will loves a jack & coke like all the greats. Michael, being the typical Italian, loves a vino in the arvo. And Billy cannot resist a good pub squash.


And if you could hit the piss with anyone, who would it be?

Probably Alice Cooper. He was a full blown alcoholic by the end of it. To replace his habit, he ended up playing golf and became almost good enough to go pro. I reckon with his help (and inbetween a couple of slabs, some advice on the rock business and general banter) I could get a handicap of 18.


What's up next for Kooyong?

We've got our single launch at the Worker’s Club on July 24th, and a gig at Yah Yah's on the 28th for The Cherry Dolls' new album. Will's in Italy at the moment soaking up some rays. Once he gets back, it's a gig here and there, while we come up with some more four chord goodness for the people.