Label: Marathon Artists
Released: 5th February 2021
On their follow up to 2019’s intricate and scuzzy ‘And Now for the Whatchamacallit’, it seems as though Perth-based psychonauts Psychedelic Porn Crumpets are coming for King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s crown as the kings of oddity. ‘SHYGA! The Sunlight Mound’ fits neatly into the realms that was created by its predecessor, but serves as a refined and cohesive progression to the band’s eclectic sound.
It’s an album that vocalist/guitarist Jack McEwan describes as being made with the intent to be akin to the feeling you get when ingesting a certain Class A drug, and with that in mind, it doesn’t disappoint. On the one hand, it’s a shot straight to the bloodstream; fleeting from aqueous, kaleidoscopic psychedelia to bombastic post-punk cacophony. On the other, it’s fragmented and chaotic, like trying to piece together what happened the morning after the night before.
All of this revelry is surmised in the album’s finale, ‘The Tale of Gurney Gridman’, which comes as the sonic embodiment of frantically chasing the highs and languorously riding the wave until you come out the other end in a haze of reflection and badinage. “That felt pretty good, right there, hey? That felt fucking great!” comes the final statement from the band, and if we’re honest, we’re inclined to agree.
