They may still be trying to find their sound, but music enthusiasts haven’t had trouble finding them.
“Unorganised blues and psych-rock” is what punters can expect from The Murlocs when they tour the east coast later this month, says band member Ambrose Kenny-Smith. The garage blues act from Geelong are set to release their debut LP, ‘Loopholes’, next week.
“It sort of goes through a few little ups and downs,” Ambrose says. “It starts off with a bit of a dance vibe [then moves] to sort of slow dark jams to upbeat again. The title track at the end smooths things out to a psychedelic kind of vibe.”
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the band, with a stolen laptop disrupting the album making process. “At the end of the day it was kind of a good outcome that we changed songs for the better, but timing wise [it] probably took too long to umm and ah about some things. Maybe we should have been just getting down to the nitty gritty and getting them all sorted.”
Back in 2012, the band scored an opening slot at Harvest Festival thanks to Triple J. They’ve also played with bands like Oh Thee Sees and Graveyard Train. “It was good playing with those kinds of bands that have made their own way [via] cult followings and not due to things like radio and other mainstream outlets. So it gave us good inspiration to not worry too much about what we're doing, but just to focus on making music that we think is good.”
Apart from their distorted brand of soulful R&B sounds, Ambrose believes the group’s “lack of motivation and general unsureness about what we're going to do with ourselves at the end of the day” contributes to what sets them apart from other bands.
“We kind of all, like, bum around and are in and out of jobs constantly. I guess we're sort of similar in that way to most bands... but I guess the music itself has got an olden day vibe and yet it seems to resonate with more and more young people, rather than just our grandparents and whatnot.”
Written by Lexi McKee
The Murlocs Tour Dates
Thu Apr 17 — Black Bear Lodge (Brisbane) (w/ Babe Rainbow & Junkyard Diamonds)Sat Apr 19 — Factory Floor (Sydney) (w/ Spirit Valley & The Friendsters)
Fri Apr 25 — Howler (Melbourne) (w/ Teeth & Tongue & The Frowning Clouds)
