Service Station Flowers is the debut album of indie supergroup Joeys Coop. The collective is of Brett Myers (guitarist of legendary Aussies Died Pretty) and Mark Roxburgh (singer of critically acclaimed ’80s indie band Decline of the Reptiles) alongside Matt Galvin on guitar (Eva Trout, Perry Keyes, Loose Pills), Andy Newman on bass (The Soul Movers, The Deniz Tek Group) and Lloyd Gyi (Perry Keyes, The Atlantics, Dave Warner) on drums and vocals.
In their first full length collaborative effort, Station Flowers tells tales of fractured family, loss, the oddities of 21st century life, the burdens of overleveraged real estate, mid life existential angst, memories of landscape lost and mediations on the lives of friends gone wrong.
To celebrate the release of the record, the crew have penned a track by track look inside of the record which you can check out below (along with the LP stream). Give it a listen and if you like what you’re hearing pop by the band’s Facebook for more info.
Choke A Horse
One of the first songs Brett and Mark knocked up in the back shed and one of the first Joeys Coop jammed on with Lloyd on their first date out with him. It’s a dumb-arse alt country number about the joys of wage slavery and over-leveraged negatively geared property debt.
Dancing
The subsonic bastard offspring of dumb grinding rock and ’70s Eurotrash dance music – think Kraftwerk being buggered by the Stooges with Bowie looking on from a distance. It is a tale of surprise and of things turning out for the best despite the efforts of a life of excess and hanging around with the moderately unhinged.
Weight of the World
Showcasing the impeccable guitar work of Matt Galvin, this marks something of a stylistic departure in the songwriting of Brett Myers in that it hints at ’70s Californian country rock. A haunting and moody tune that underpins a sense of longing and desire for change.
Service Station Flowers
An upbeat and poignant little grower that celebrates the cluelessness of blokes who are good at doing stuff but hopeless when it comes to the art of relationships. If you’ve purchased flowers at the servo for the missus on the way home from work for her birthday or bought her a Bamix for an anniversary present then this song is for you bozo. Recorded after only two or three public outings this is one of the bands current favourite babies.
A Management Plan
The ultimate stoner tune that sounds perfect blasting from the speakers while cruising the hills behind Byron Bay with the sun in your face and the wind in what’s left of your hair. The title is a reference to what Mark’s wife calls the renovation jobs she throws at him to manage his slightly high maintenance disposition. It features twin guitar leads from Matt and Brett that evoke what Ron Ashton and James Williamson might have done together had things been different.
Look Out Now
Everyone’s had this friend at some point – they rock up on your doorstep at inconvenient times in unfortunate states, they see the world differently and it kinda hurts. With a Stones-ish swagger and guitars that ring and bright shimmer – hinting at the sound of the beauty of madness – this is an ode to them.
Don’t Call Me
One of the earliest tunes from the Joeys Coop songbook this one gets ’em dancing in the aisles with its driving soul beat. Worked and reworked through several incarnations it finally found its true form during post-production to reveal the sharp little gem inside the stone.
Broken Bike
Broken Bike lifts the lid on the ups and downs of inner city living in 1980s Sydney where CPR lessons learned from Quincy M.E. could save lives. Lloyd doesn’t know this but his snare at the start of the song is the 1am knocking on the door that started this real life drama. The resemblance between characters in this song and real people is not coincidental.
Everything’s Alright
Apparently AccaDacca drop acid and try their hand at psychedelia in this crowd favourite. A song of defiance and striking out on ones own. This is what it sounds like inside the head of a man hanging on through the existential madness of a mid life crisis.
Streets Of Newtown
20 years out the window and your world’s upside down. You miss your kids and your old hometown. This bittersweet (more sweet than bitter) alt country pop rock number is ultimately an uplifting tale of the euphoric power of love and good memories outweighing the bad. Oh and constant driving.
