Psychedelic Porn Crumpets (PPC) are a band that demand your attention, and not just because of their provocative name. Almost within the space of twelve months, PPC released their debut album ‘High Visceral Part One’, and their sophomore album ‘High Visceral Part Two’. Concluding the High Visceral series, the band now gifts us with the B sides, entitled ‘Old News For New People’.
At first you may presume that the boys just chucked together a few leftovers and pressed some records for easy money, but these songs are both deliberate and deserving. There is a strong conviction behind everything that PPC does. Frontman Jack McEwan provides some insight into the band’s process.
“We were initially planning on releasing them like five or ten years down the track. They were still only ideas and not finished songs three months ago so we practically recorded, mixed and mastered eight tracks that we eventually cut down to six so they could be ready for this tour. So there’s B-Side B-sides, but we’re really happy with the final work.”
The boys are taking their B sides around the country, their first tour since joining the 123 Agency roster. Each show has a carefully crafted line up, hand picked by the band themselves.
“We made that a bit of a prerequisite when joining 123 Agency as we want our shows to feel connected, make it exciting from the first band. We’re thrilled with this tour as we’ve got Hideous Sun Demon supporting us in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. For me they’re one of the greatest live acts in Australia, if not the world (I’ll need to travel a bit more but there in contention).”
While PPC’s sound is undoubtedly mature, they are still fairly fresh to the scene. They’re flying to Tassie early next year to play Party in the Paddock, which will be the band’s inaugural festival.
“It’s really exciting as we’ve been playing pubs for 18 months making our way up and now we’ve been given the opportunity to bring our set to the big stage, can’t wait to hear the difference.”
Continuing the notion of exotic names, PPC are putting on a festival in their hometown of Perth; ‘Dr Noggin Floggin & The Cosmic Toothbrush’. Once again, the’ve curated the line up themselves, showcasing some of Western Australia’s more unique talent. The festival was an idea that was brought up as a laugh, a dream that’s too big to admit to yourself, but one thing lead to another and here they are.
Falling even deeper into the DIY scene, they’ve recently created their own label ‘What Reality? Records’. The band’s independent nature could be compared to the likes of King Gizzard, but PPC are playing their own game. They’re constantly challenging themselves and morphing for creation’s sake. It’s almost refreshing to see a band that’s genuine out of habit, and not merely putting on an act. Eventually they hope to expand their record label and sign other bands, concreting their love of music.
“At the moment it would financially cripple us as we’re just getting by ourselves but it’s a gamble that if we do well enough we’ve already got a label, studio, a great team of music lovers and the right connections that can get bands the exposure they deserve.”
A lot of the band’s genius stems from their surrounding. Every artist I’ve spoken to from W.A speaks so fondly and proudly of their home, as if it’s part of their identity. Jack is no exception.
“Nic Allbrook did a great essay on this topic and he raised a couple of good points, it’s well worth a read. I think it’s partly due to the fact we’re so far away from the rest of the world, that you really need to be different to be heard. We can’t just go on tour or play in another city without going broke. Our first two national tours we made zilch but had a mad time and believed in what we were creating and saved every penny to head back. Perth is a green dot on the edge of an orange expanse and for some reason that isolation is great for creativity.”
Like most creatives, PPC are constantly working on projects. While the B sides will resolve the High Visceral series, we can anticipate more music soon.
“The third album has been in production for a while now! It’s sounding great and I’m more excited to release the infamous third. It’s a challenge, the audience is bigger, more critics and in some way the breakout one. I love that challenge. I’d love to tell you more but it’s shaping out nicely.”