EGGY WITH GUSTO Album Reviews by Bryget Chrisfield A sample of a Swiss children’s orchestra – resplendent with choir and accordion – opens With Gusto and, if not forewarned, you could be forgiven for suspecting your Bluetooth speaker’s been hijacked. Then – just in case you’re not already familiar with Eggy’s wild-and-woolly sonic aesthetic – ‘Begin At The End’ is attacked by sax before multiple instruments reintroduce synchronised, syncopated grooves to bring it home.
Wait, did we just hear humans barking like dogs to open ‘Gold And/Or Silver’? Shouldn’t be at all surprised, really, since this quintet traditionally laugh in the face of convention. ‘Magic 8 Ball’ opens with what sounds like a UFO hovering overhead. Then enter a sample of an astrological reading (for Geminis), feedback squall, jaunty drumming, limber, hypnotic bass – all within the song’s first 15 seconds or so!
Lead single ‘A Toast To Your Good Health’ derails from the get-go, but really flies its freak flag around the halfway mark when the arrangement strips right back to just cabasa accents: “Go to the party/ Get dressed up” – these fun-activity
You’ve quite possibly clocked some of Eggy’s players cross-pollinating in the various other local outfits of interest: Dominic Moore also contributes to Kosmetika’s fuzz-soaked indie stylings, Zoe Monk is one of The Stroppies and you may recognise Sam Lyons from House Deposit (which is a lousy band name to Google, BTW) .
suggestions, repeated in robotic fashion, soon become unwelcome commands. Percussive panting enlivens ‘Fill In The Blanks’ and this song’s outro – which conjures gremlins trashing the studio – is just about as madcap as Eggy gets. “Off to the shops with a hop-and-skipand-jump...” – ‘The Luckiest Girl In The World’ calls to mind a hapless victim in a fairytale, blissfully unaware of their impending doom. That is until a flurry of strings swarm the scene, like an unprovoked bee attack.
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If you find yourself scratching your noggin wondering, ‘WTF?’ after giving With Gusto a spin, then you’re certainly not alone. But also, something tells me this out-there Melbourne collective wouldn’t have it any other way. Eggy aim to “forge a sound that is at once fascinating and disconcerting”. Mission accomplished then, legends! More playful than self-indulgent, With Gusto intrigues at every turn and you simply cannot argue with that. Or the irrefutable fact that there ain’t nothing beige about Eggy. Label: Flightless Records Release date: 22 July
Phil Jamieson
Somebody Else Having fronted Grinspoon since they first formed back in 1995, when he was just 18, Phil Jamieson finally releases his debut solo record – which he’s playfully labelled “dad pop” – and serves up some food for thought in the opening title track: “If you could be somebody else/ Would you turn back time?” Some of these songs predate his stint playing St. Jimmy in Green Day’s musical ‘American Idiot’ (2017). And Jamieson’s solo journey began with ‘Kapow!’, which expertly bottles the buzz of a spontaneous getaway (“Let’s run away together/ To a village by the sea”). Jamieson has actually performed this Stereophonics-esque lead single during live sets for about a year now and claims he’s already been “DM’d on socials” about the “mystery song in the set”. There’s an abundance of thrilling ‘ooooooh shiiiiiit!’ arrangement twists throughout killer second single ‘Trouble’ (co-written/co-produced by You Am I’s Davey Lane). Those gnarly riffs are so unexpectedly sexy and Jamieson flexes the upper reaches of his singable compass here (“...THIIIIIIINGS I’VE DONE!) – such a showoff. ‘YCBM’ (You Could Be Mine) struts in with cowboy swagger and what sounds like slinky güiro accents “You could be mine/ If I could find the time”. Jamieson channels the debonair Alex Turner here; just one of the various new sonic identities he tries on, across this LP’s eight tracks, while transforming from Grinspoon’s frontman into Somebody Else entirely. Label: Cheersquad Records & Tapes Release date: 27 July
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