Just over a month ago, Illawarra rockers The Pinheads released their latest album, Is This Real, the stunning follow-up to their self-titled 2017 debut.
A mesmerising listen, Is This Real shows the band at their absolute best, dishing up a collection of songs borne out of heartbreak, confusion, and fear, and setting themselves apart as one of the most exciting bands on the scene today.
With the group having just wrapped up a series of European tour dates, The Pinheads’ vocalist Jez Player gave us a track-by-track run-through of their latest album, explaining all of the blood, sweat, and tears that went into each and every track on the record.
Check out Jez’s comments below, and be sure to catch The Pinheads when they head out on the road for an Aussie tour next month, visiting Sydney, Newcastle, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Byron Bay.
The Pinheads talk Is This Real
In writing this, I took my first listen back to the album in what feels like years. Retrospectively, it’s almost as if another person had written it. In ways it’s somewhat conceptual, in others deeply personal.
These elements are almost contradictory, arising from what I believe to be a general state of confusion, of internal and external conflict, a cocktail of things out of one’s grasp. In listening to this album you’ll find hope and fear, agony and ecstasy and triumph and tribulation littered throughout. And you may come out with more questions than answers.
This album was extremely therapeutic for myself and I believe the band to make. Our lives had changed for better or for worse, we had been touring extensively for a few years, things inward and outwards had come and gone and we’d fought battles within, it was time to move forth and step up our song writing game.
The context of Is This Real can’t be overstated, as that seems to be the hotbed from which the album was birthed.
The first proponent that birthed Is This Real was the social and political climate of the time. Just like the album, being a young person in 2018 seemed somewhat contradictory. Societies here and far were, and are in states of turmoil and turbulence both internally and against one another.
The people at the forefront of these societies seem almost oppositional to the younger generations, and those to come. A sense of helplessness has permeated the youth as we witness the generations of old use and abuse our world, and in doing so, our future.
The contradiction lies in the generation of young inheriting the mess from people that seem almost enemy, to right the wrongs so to speak.
The second proponent that ingrained itself in the making of this album was the deteriorating health of myself and Luke’s [brother, guitarist] father. This deterioration seemed to have struck stark parallels with the state of affairs in the outside world, the same feeling of hopelessness, that even if one would like to change or fix things one could not.
In hindsight, the influence these things had on this album are at once compelling, beautiful and terrifying to me.
I hope you enjoy it.
Check out ‘Feel It Now’ by The Pinheads:
‘Pure Hate’
Looking back at this track, I have no real recollection as to what it means and how it came to be. It’d come from a four-chord progression Luke and Al [guitarists] were playing off; I was banging along on a floor tom and screaming atop (as per usual). That night, in a frenzy I wrote out a strange poem sort of thing and it turned out to fit the song.
This one is sort of a grand entrance for the shape of things to come throughout the album, arisen from a cocktail of fear, confusion and paranoia around the state of affairs in the world, as well as the darkness ingrained in humanity.
‘Feel It Now’
This one is a sort of a smack back into reality from the hypnotic drone and groove of ‘Pure Hate’. It is a character’s sudden realisation of the type of world they’re living in, and their place within, an existential crisis if you will.
The monotony of everyday life and the themes of ‘Pure Hate’ hit the individual, and they hit hard. This one was lingering in someone’s mobile phone for months before we realised it had potential, an upside to the usual pitfalls of the information age.
Check out ‘No Time’ by The Pinheads:
‘For A While’
The second stage of grief is denial, the character found in ‘Feel It Now’ has had their sense of reality pulled from under them and as with so many in turmoil, they take a hedonistic path of self medication, for a sense of escapism from the problems they face.
In Australian culture, or lack thereof; there seems to be a sort of camaraderie associated with this mindset that I wanted to touch on. The song talks of an evening on the town with the down and out, collectively finding solace in one another’s downward spiral.
This was probably the fastest song we’ve ever written, done and dusted in about an hour just days before we recorded the album.
‘No Time’
The flip-side to the ‘Pure Hate’ mentioned earlier. An antagonistic character emerges, seemingly driven by power and profit. This character is not necessarily literal, but more an essence found littered in the everyday, and throughout the album; a toxic combination of egomania, masculinity and bigotry.
The initial character found in the album is seen as just another number, with their personal plight belittled by the powers that be. ‘No Time’ was largely inspired by the overarching steel and coal industries resided in our home town of Wollongong, Luke [brother, guitarist] describes his solo as “a spaceship plummeting into an unknown planet- seconds before it explodes on impact.”
Check out ‘Innocent Crime’ by The Pinheads:
‘Satisfied’
The belittling from higher powers found in ‘No Time’ permeate themselves in this one, as the pressure’s of them seep down into the everyday.
I’m very interested in how experiences, pressures and societal norms affect an individual in their pure form; of how these things shape a person and the norms of the mass. Here we are looking for a sort of truth amongst the madness.
‘Innocent Crime’
Here the search for truth ensues to a stage of anger. A call to arms is made for outcasts alike to band together; not only for change for the greater good, but for a sense of solace and community.
Revolution seems a far cry in this day and age but we certainly find elements of revolt here, ‘Innocent Crime’ is almost a slogan, designed to be a sort of chant for the youthful exuberance in thinking you can change the world or find some form of utopia.
This one was written in the thick of the New South Wales’ government putting pressure on Sydney’s nightlife culture, which affected us as a band and countless others in and out of the music industry.
‘Not Like You’
‘Not Like You’ comes from that same place of youthful exuberance, of wide-eyed innocence. The heady rebellion of ‘Innocent Crime’ leads into our character straying from the pack in search of a sort of self-righteousness. ‘Not Like You’ is super charged with arrogance; it is a tale of reckless abandon. Luke says of it ‘An angular but perfect power pop song. One of the most intricately structured songs on the album but I seem to remember it came together very quickly- maybe a couple of hours’.
Check out ‘Not Like You’ by The Pinheads:
‘So Alone’
‘So Alone’ is the comedown to ‘Not Like You’s sneering high. The bid for individualism leads to ostracisation and feelings of isolation as our character is left to fend for themselves, although a sense of pride runs too high to turn back at this point, a plea is made for a kindred spirit.
‘On & On’
After the comedown comes reality, the daze has drifted and you’re left with more questions than answers. This song stems from what I feel is a decline in civilisation. On one hand we have revolutionary thinking and technology moving us forward, and on the other we have ourselves as a primordial beings.
It poses the question as to whether our advancements are beneficial or even necessary for us as animals on planet Earth, or if they’re hindrances. In all this I feel humans as a whole are actually taking steps backwards, some might say devolution, as we lose touch of the physical, the spiritual and of purpose. Will you see it out or will it see you out?
‘Is This Real’
A sobering realisation of the shape of things at present and to come. ‘Is This Real’ follows on from themes found in ‘On & On’, focusing on human superiority and how that’s led to our downfall in ways, particularly in our treatment of planet Earth.
Global warming, overpopulation and the using and abusing of the Earth are big ones here, and with that comes the scepticism and ignorance to these problems at large. ‘Is This Real’ poses the question “will you shut down your mind?” or “will you get with the times?”, a fight or flight response in the face of a fierce truth.
Luke has this to say about ‘Is This Real’ – “Perfect song to fly to the moon to as the Earth slowly implodes behind you.”
‘Don’t Have A Home’
A song that draws lines between inner and outer turmoils and finding your way out of them, the individual’s path to taming, or succumbing to the darkness inside and out, in its many manifestations. This is a final call out to all the lost and fearful souls, to relinquish pain and start anew.
‘Spread Your Love’
The bookend to ‘Pure Hate’s droning entrance. This is a resolution of sorts, designed to be a lullaby to see off the days of old and find a new dawn ahead, to find a state of acceptance and inner peace. As Luke describes; “Feels like blissful eternal sleep, or rebirth?.”
We recorded this song separately from the rest, just days after Luke and I’s fathers passed away. The closing mantra “Don’t you cry, keep it cool”, are the last words I remember hearing from him.
This is for you dad.
Check out Is This Real by The Pinheads:
The Pinheads Is This Real Album Tour
Saturday, August 10th
Marrickville Bowlo, Sydney, NSW
Friday, August 16th
Cambridge Warehouse, Newcastle, NSW
Saturday, August 24th
The Tote, Melbourne, VIC
Friday, August 30th
The Foundry, Brisbane, QLD
Saturday, August 31st
The Northern, Byron Bay, NSW
Tickets on sale now through the band’s website
