It must be something in the (psychedelic) water. The fertile Perth music scene that spawned the psychelicious sounds of Tame Impala, whose two members went on to form the off-shoot Pond, has got yet another side-project to bliss yourself out to.
While Tame Impala have been dropping several tabs tastes of their highly anticipated sophomore, Lonerism rolling towards their upcoming tour as part of Parklife, and Pond have been touring their wares on their own national tour – having lit up the stage at Fat As Butter in Newcastle before being announced for Laneway 2013 (be sure to check our dummies guide to the lineup) – Jay Watson, who is a member of both bands, has found time to launch his own solo project.
Entitled GUM (which may or may not be stylised as ‘gguumm’), the drummer has unveiled the first taste of his new project, via management label Spinning Top, in the form of ‘Delorean Highway’.
The lead cut and title track of GUM’s debut album, ‘Delorean Highway’ was “inspired by a dream Gum had of driving through the desert in the silver car from Back To The Future, before taking off into the night. In real life Gum can’t drive, but he has seen Back To The Future and does look a little bit like the Doc.”
What does that translate to sonically, well – if you’re a fan of either of Watson’s other bands, you’ll kind of know what to expect. Namely, opening with a slow languid beat with watery vocals and a distinct love for 60s organs and production, before a droning chord at the 2 minute mark signals a dramatic shift.
A droning guitar that sounds like a plane nose-diving grinds over barrelling toms before ‘Delorean Highway’ hits the proverbial 88mph and crashes into his climactic finale.
The album is expected to be released through Spinning Top in late 2012/early 2013 – presumably to give Jay Watson enough time to deal with the new records from his other projects.
That’s right records – plural – because while Tame Impala have Lonerism ready for release on October 5, Pond bassist Joe Ryan recently revealed in an interview with Tone Deaf, that a second Pond record was also in the can.
“We went to [Wasteland Studios] in Fremantle owned by the guys from Eskimo Joe and we did it in three nights,” explains Ryan. “We think it’s going to have eight tracks in the end” with the tentative title of Hobo Rocket. “We’ve got this album finished, the next album written and ready to rock in the studio, and we’re just going to keep on trucking.”
Ryan describes Hobo Rocket as being “a pretty sonic album with a lot of feedback and crazy shit,” and we can expect many tracks to be “heavier; more like Earth or one of those kinds of bands.”
How GUM is going to juggle commitments between Tame Impala and Pond is anyone’s guess, but whatever sacrifices made to Jay Watson’s life is the music world’s gain.
Have a chew of GUM and take a trip down ‘Delorean Highway’ below:
