Thirty Days of Yes is a subscription mixtape that will release a song a day over 30 days. Developed in response to the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, to drive the ‘Yes’ message and show support for the LGBTQI+ community, particularly the youth community who don’t have a voice in this public debate. 100% of the profits will go to LGBTQI+ youth organisations, Minus18 and Twenty10.
The project brings together artists such as Beaches, Body Type, Cub Sport, Courtney Barnett, DARTS, Fortunes., Hockey Dad, Jen Cloher, Jess Ribeiro, Laura Jean, Leah Senior, Lucianblomkamp, Marcus Whale, Oisima, Rainbow Chan, Shining Bird, Sui Zhen, The Murlocs, Terry, Twerps, Two Steps on the Water, and more to be revealed.
Thirty Days of Yes is made possible by 37 Adventures, Aarght Records, Barely Dressed, Chapter Music, Farmer & The Owl, Flightless, Future Classic, Good Manners, Inertia Music, Milk! Records, [PIAS], Remote Control Records, Rice Is Nice Records, Spunk Records, Stop Start, & more. Thirty Days of Yes is supported by Heaps Gay.
Put on a good set of headphones, hit play on The Murlocs sophomore album“Young Blindness”, make sure to turn it up loud to flesh out every detail, and go for a long walk to let the sounds wash right over you without distraction.
More than just a clichéd doppelganger of the psych-blues inspirations from where their sound originates, Young Blindness is an orgy of 60’s and 70’s drug-drenched sounds mixed with newer indie-rock sensibilities. Drawing heavily from such genres is a tricky thing; lean too far towards blues and you’ll sound like an unoriginal cover band, go too far towards psychedelic rock and you’ll likely fade into the mass of indistinguishable psych/garage bands who have more guitar pedals than song-writing ability.
The Murlocs hit that spot in the middle, weaving together all their blues drenched instruments in such a way creating a texture of warm, drifting melodies and catchy guitar hooks. Their expertly crafted songs are indicative of front-man Ambrose Kenny-Smith’s experience in songwriting – and there are definite comparisons with his other venture, the much-lauded King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard– but The Murlocs provide him with an avenue for more carefully constructed and direct songs.”
The album starts off on an upbeat note with the wondrous Happy Face and title track Young Blindness before shifting to a brooding middle section, where the pace is slowed down and the melodies are the focus, before things come full circle towards the end of the album, returning to a high-spirited mood. Such is the strength of each and every track on Young Blindness, that picking singles based on their merit as individual songs would surely prove impossible.
Take the muffled drawl and looping melodies of Rolling On, the mind-warping and entrancing Wolf Creek, or the bluesy Adolescence that permit the band to show off their moody side. Young Blindness is simply one of those records on which you struggle to find a weak track.
The band releases a great debut, declaring to the world their arrival on the music scene . Then comes the follow-up; they’ve got to maintain the original sound of the first album, yet grow to remain interesting. This kind of pressure can kill a band. Yet this five-piece manage to stay as fresh as ever, producing an album full of consistently stand-out tracks while sticking to their signature sound of swampy bass, harmonious drumming, fuzzed out guitar interplay, that strident drawl of a voice, and well-utilised harmonica sounds of tasty garage blues-rock .
Through Young Blindness, The Murlocs have crafted a tighter older sibling of their debut LP, demonstrated how to do an excellent follow-up album and proven that they’re much more than just a side-project.
Geelong lads The Murlocs cover the Hot Chocolate classic ‘Every 1’s A Winner’ for Like A Version on triple j. Like A Version is a segment on Australian radio station triple j. Every Friday morning a musician or band comes into the studio to play one of their own songs and a cover of a song they love. Just what constitutes a great Like AVersion. Some say it’s all about the performance itself, others say it’s all about how well the band or artist succeeded in making the song their own, meanwhile others think it’s all about how different the rendition is from the original.
Like A Version is supposed to be fun, and if a band or artist can have fun whilst totally owning a famous song, that’s about perfect.
Case in point, The Murlocs hit the triple j studios this morning to take on Hot Chocolate’s ‘Every 1’s a Winner’. The Melbourne psych outfit not only owned the tune, transmuting the 1978 funk classic into a garagey epic, they clearly had a lot of fun doing it.
Since 2004, many artists have participated, including Lorde, Arctic Monkeys, Tame Impala, Dirty Projectors, Ben Folds, The Temper Trap, Alt-J, Regina Spektor, Bon Iver, The Kooks and Hilltop Hoods
Melbourne five piece The Murlocsare in the midst of perhaps their biggest year yet. From the earlier release of their breakthrough single “Adolescence”, the band toured the country, bringing their bluesy-psych rock tunes with them. Admittedly, I listened because of their connections with King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, but from the first song I heard any comparison in my mind was dismissed immediately.
The band have supported Ty Segall, Mac DeMarco and of course their brethern King Gizz, and their live show has grown into an all out jam you can’t help but dance to. From their earnest and relatable lyrics, blues sensibilities and lead singer Ambrose Kenny-Smith’s attention grabbing voice and second to none harmonica skills, they have quickly become a force to be reckoned with in Australia, and one of my favourite bands to try and catch live.
Whilst the Murlocs were on their Adolescencetour, the quintet dropped in at our Bedlam Records to do a live take of the track, and now have the first look at that performance! Considering they’re now taking a bit of time off until the end of the year after performing at each leg of King Gizzard’s Gizzfest, the live video is even more special. jump on their album Loopholes out now and keep your eyes firmly fixed on The Murlocs – I am predicting even bigger things to come!
Australian band the Murlocs, The trio – harmonica player and vocalist Ambrose Smith, guitarist Callum Shortal and drummer Matt Blach had known each other since their school days. “Matt and I had played in a band together when we were at primary school – we called ourselves Blu Tac,” Smith recalls. “We played a bunch of weird covers, and we only had one gig, at an old people’s home, which was actually pretty good,” he laughs. some years later Smith, Shortal and Blach reconvened in the psychedelic-blues outfit The Murlocs. Smith, the son of Australian songwriter, performer and founding member of The Dingoes Broderick Smith, had grown up surrounded by music, particularly his father’s blues influences. I used to brainwash myself with his blues stuff,” Smith says. While many of his contemporaries gravitated to guitar and drums, Smith’s interest was drawn to the harmonica. “I really wanted to play harp because I was really into that sound,” Smith says. Smith says his now sharp harmonica skills are “largely self-taught.” I gradually realised how to hold and bend a note, and one day I finally got it.” Initially The Murlocs built on the rudimentary jam sessions between Smith and Shortal. “These days it’s a bit different,” Smith says. “I try and play rhythm guitar against Cal’s guitar. They released their debut EP earlier this year with negligible fanfare, and a second EP made up songs left over from the band’s initial songwriting efforts has just been released. “When we did the first EP we put down the five tracks in just one afternoon, and we did those songs because we were comfortable with them,” Smith says. “The songs that are on the new EP we just wanted to get rid of them before we get sick of playing them. One of the tracks on the new EP, “Bogan Grove”, has an obvious local reference point. Smith, who was born in country Victoria before moving to the city, and then down to the surf coast says the idyllic beaches – The new EP was recorded at Smith’s grandmother’s 1950s house in the leafy suburb of Ivanhoe. “I’d been living there with my mum and my sister, and I wanted to record there before it was too late,” Smith says. “It’s a really nice house, and it hasn’t been renovated into some five story bullshit place. We did the recording out in the spare room out the back where my twisted aunty was living for a while. It was a really cool setting – we thought it suited the vibe.” After spending seven years living on the surf coast, Smith has now moved up to Melbourne permanently, though The Murlocs can still be found regularly playing alongside surf coast contemporaries The Frowning Clouds, The Living Eyes and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. “I always wanted to play harp in a band, and Gizzard is a great fun rock band,” he says. “I’ve been balancing both – it’s been busy, but it works out.” Earlier this year The Murlocs achieved arguably the band’s highest career moment so far when it was invited to play on the bill at the inaugural Dig It Up! festival. “That was really cool,” Smith says. “I think one of the guys in the HoodooGurus chose us. We’d already been looking at getting tickets to see bands like The Sonics who were on the bill, but then we didn’t have to.Not surprisingly, The Murlocs haven’t drawn up a five-year strategic plan towards success.
Five skinny kids with roots firmly placed in their own blown-out, distorted brand of soulful RnB.
Formed in early 2011 by harp player Ambrose Kenny-Smith, The Murlocs have already played alongside Thee Oh Sees, Graveyard Train and Dave Graney. Their up-tempo snare cracks and noisy doom guitar – accompanied by Ambrose’s vocal screech – has been described as a mesmerising demented dance party.
It’s the Australian invasion these days, and The Murlocs are a welcome addition. Favorite track: Paranoid Joy.
This small independent Record Label based in Melbourne Australia with some great Psychedelica,Garage, Rock bands on their roster including the Babe Rainbow, King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard, The Murlocs and Sagamore.
The Fat Angel Sings 