New kids on the block Us The Band have just dropped their killer new EP titled But Where Do They Go via Rice is Nice Records, and so we thought it’s time to get a little further aquatinted with the garage pop duo.
Comprising of Jesse Bayley and Nick Mabbitt, the Sydney duo are sonically inspired by maniac guitar rockers like Cloud Nothings and Thee Oh Sees. In their short life span they’ve already wowed folks at BIGSOUND, have been spun by Henry Rollins on his KCRW show and also featured on our recent cassette Rice Is Nice Mixtape Vol.3.
To celebrate their new EP, Jesse Bayley has kindly penned for us a track by track run down of the record which you can check out below. Give is a spin and if you like what you’re hearing (and reading) pop by the band’s Facebook page for more info on upcoming shows and releases.
HelterMan
This is obviously an ‘intro track’. Up until a few weeks ago I think it was still even called Intro. We toyed around with actual lyrics but they muddied the melody the guitar was doing. So it just ended up with a few “woos”.
I love a good intro song, sets the mood for the rest of the tracks. Every time we play this live I start the song in the wrong key, it’s a real problem I have. But since I’m the only guitarist and our EP is only out now, people probably wouldn’t have noticed. I’ll need to tighten up on that going forward. Nick called it ‘HelterMan’, I have no idea why but I couldn’t really disagree.
There I Go
This is the song that started out from our other band. Back then it was a bit more upbeat and had more going on dynamically, but it was still the same basic song. Not 100% sure why it didn’t work in its original setting, but it didn’t. Anyway, I think I destroyed an amp recording one of the guitar takes. It can only produce that heavily distorted sound now.
Even without pedals. I feel kind of bad cause it wasn’t my amp. Nick wrote some of the lyrics to this cause he’s a multi talented drummer. We disagree on what the song is referring to though. He reckons there’s sexual undertones, unfit for print, whereas I think it’s just about a person trying to enjoy a Fanta.
Obviously inspired by ‘Give It Away’ by the Chili Peppers.
Joiner Group
This is another one that actually started out with our other band, but it wasn’t as far along as There I Go.
The working title was called Batman cause the guitar in the verse, when played isolated, goes like na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-bat-maaaan. A prime example of how shit band in-jokes are. But it’s all about the choruses in this song. Owen (Penglis, the producer) mixed the shit out of this song.
Ghoul
This was one of the last songs we wrote/recorded. In my opinion it sounds the most like a song. I think it pushes the 3 minute mark. Unbelievable.
(Nicks Note: it doesn’t push 3 minutes. It’s 2 minutes and 33 seconds. And has a fade out.)
There’s a lot of lyrics in this one but I don’t think they’re telling a cohesive story, definitely nothing specific. It’d probably be considered libellous if they were made any more specific. So it’s basically just vague and frustrated complaints. Which is probably the running theme of the EP.
I technically named this one, but really Nick provided me with 3 choices and I had to pick. Again, I couldn’t disagree.
Fallout
Nick and I have been arguing about whether this song was actually the first song we wrote. I think it was the first one we finished, so it was first past the post. That’s the voting system Singapore uses, so I think it’s good enough to settle a band argument.
Lyrically, it’s another song where I just complain about my frustration for a couple of minutes in vague terms so I don’t offend anyone. The music came together pretty quickly, the only thing we had to do was work on was toning down Nick’s drum fills. I regret that immensely.
Harcher
We tried recording this song twice, over two sessions. The first time was horrible. None of the lyrics were written, the melody was made up on the spot. We forced something and it was just awful.
It bothered me. A waste of tape. So we worked on it and made it a bit better. Couldn’t do anything about the length though, or a ‘proper’ chorus. Still, it’s a sweet little minute of a song. AND we reused the tape. So it was a win-win. I think this is named after Peter Harcher, the political editor of the Herald.
His curt writing style and stern photo are really symbolic of what the song is about. I imagine he also has a similar approach to writing an op-ed piece – at first he forces something just cause he’s in the office and doesn’t want to waste time and money, but then he realises he can take some time and work on it, ultimately ending up with something pretty good, although a little on the short side. But Nick named it, so I might be mistaken.
And I Will
This is probably my favourite song, I really like how it chugs along. Some of the lyrics are lifted from the poetry of our good friend Alan Lackey. He’s a hero. Nick spent weeks trying to figure out what I was singing.
He swears there’s references to Iraqis in it. But I’m not so sure. Owen did a really good mixing job on this track too. The demo version we had originally sounded like pure tin. Nothing but treble.
We quickly realised the song couldn’t stay like that so put a bit of an emphasis on the lower end. Not to the extent that we’d need an actual bassist, just some neck pickup action. We did a fun video clip for it too. We got to change outfits.
