It’s been over three decades since Aussie punk legends Cosmic Psychos first formed, but the trio show no signs of slowing down.
The band has a reputation for hard partying and wild shows, so it’s no wonder their highly-anticipated tour has been selling-out. “Last time we played in Adelaide, I was talking to a couple of blokes drinking scotch and orange juice,” recounts vocalist/ bassist Ross Knight.
“It was the only thing the bar had left. I was going: ‘Why are you drinking scotch and orange juice?’ And they said: ‘Well, we’ve run out of everything else.' I think that’s a sign of a reasonably good night,” he laughs.
The tour is in support of new single ‘Better In The Shed’, a filthy blast of grunge and tongue-in-cheek lyrics.
It’s also the first taste from their next album, which Ross hopes will be released early 2018. “It’s funny ‘cos it was a song that was never meant to be because it was probably the last thing we recorded when we did the new album,” Ross says.
“We’d written it, then never played it again, and we’re all bloody trying to learn it and play it. And then when it come to do the lyrics, it was just me and the producer [Mick Deslandes] left. He said: 'Alright, lyrics time.' And I said: 'Oh, I haven’t got any. It’s a c#$% of a riff and the words don’t fit.'
"Then I went: ‘Oh, well there’s the lyrics done.' So that was easy. It’s turned out pretty funny, but the last song and the one I hated the most turned out to be the that come out first.”
Most of the album was written in the shed in beer-fuelled sessions, where Ross believes all their music sounds best. “I do all me [sic] songwriting in the shed,” he says.
“Get up there and have a couple of beers and everything sounds better in the shed. Then Macka’s and Dean’s [songs], I’m not sure if they wrote them in their sheds or not.
"We don’t get deep and meaningful with each other when we get together. Dean might’ve written his by the tranquillity of solitude lake somewhere. He’s just here. 'Hey, Dean! Where’d you write your tune? Was it by the Lake Of Tranquility?' It was in Hobart, he reckons.”
The band have promised more tours after the album is released, including regional shows and a European tour. But even with more shows planned, a Psychos show is an unmissable event.
It might sound like a lot of work for these old-timers, but they feel lucky to keep playing and sinking a few free beers too.
“It’s not a full-time profession; it’s the best hobby in the world. Believe it or not, we actually do have fun. I challenge any stamp collector that has as much fun as us.”
