Hey, everyone. My name is Giggens, and I'm here today to chat about the rock and new album from everyone's favorite crumpets, the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, with their new album, Carpe Diem, Moonman.

Perth natives, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, have not only established themselves as one of the best psych rock groups in Australia, but they're definitely one of the best groups in the world doing this stuff right now, keeping that rock and roll flame alive. Definitely inspired by groups like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Tame Impala, and I would say even other Australian peers like King Gizz.

On their seventh full-length LP here, the Crumpets are absolutely proving themselves to be a much more dynamic band than they've been in the past. It's still infusing crazy good rock and roll riffs and the crashing bombastic energy that they're known for, but infusing a developing depth of melody and an insatiable desire to create the craziest riffs you've ever heard. Like I've said, their songs have an incredible knack for ripping, which will keep your head bobbing, but for as heavy as they are, they're digestible and they're catchy and they're memorable and their musicianship.

It's just there's layers upon layers in these songs. The more you go back to them, the more you hear things you missed the first time around. I was going back to these songs time after time after time and being like, Oh, there's some guitar sweeping happening there. Oh, there's a splash symbol that sounds like a hardcore song. This album reveals itself over and over and over again, which makes repeated listens amazing.

The first song on the record, "Another Reincarnation", literally falls into the album. It just starts. There's no lead up, there's no build up. It falls right in. It is a blistering amount of rock and roll guitar frenzy with more riffs than a Guitar Center on a Saturday afternoon. This one crashes and bashes and scratches all the itches. You get the catchy hooks, you get the tension building, you get a bridge that disguises itself as a hardcore song. Everything you want from rock and roll: groove, texture, melody, all combined into one absolutely pulsating track. Lyrically, I'm feeling this song is potentially about being abducted by aliens.

"March On for Pax Ramona" is probably one of my favorite songs they've ever done, let alone this year in terms of rock. But the talk-singing during the verses is the perfect choice to fill in the empty spaces. When it gets to that chorus, it's one of the most euphoric, explosive choruses I've heard in a rock song in a very long time. The riff itself sounds like it's ready for a fight. It sounds like it's about to take off or explode the whole time. Pax Ramona itself was a time of cultural revolution in ancient Rome, and it was where ideas flourished and books, literature and art and music and design, architecture, where all these things were flourishing during this really tiny period of time where this cultural significance, this era of peace, like they say in the song, "I got a good time if you want to march on for Pax Ramona." You're marching for peace. Let's keep this thing going.

Easily, one of one of the best rock songs of the year. If you're going to hear one song from this album, put on "March for Pax Ramona". It's going to shred your wig.

"Qwik Maff" follows that one up next. I love the really rubbery bendy guitars on this one. It almost sounds like a Midwest emo feel, which is such a juxtaposition from the last two songs, but it's really beautiful. It creates some dreamy textures. The drums are snappy, they complement the clean guitar tones. Lyrically, I feel like it's about finding solitude and the deep peace that can come from within. Where you're reading works, you're loving where you live, you're planning adventures, you're planning journeys. It's about the mental gymnastics, both physical and mental, that you go through and hoping to find that inner peace.

We jump back into the crazy rock and roll riffs on "Weird World Awoke". Love the fuzziness on this one, especially the big buildups, the huge chugging guitars, the shouty choruses. We've built up a dizzying amount of anxiety for ourselves that we now consider normal. We're run by numbers, we're wondering how the old heads did it back in the day, with a different context of hardships and how we're supposed to navigate that space in this modern digital world, if you want.

"As the Hummingbird Hovers" is one of my favorite tracks on the album, a much more chill moment for the record. I like when they take a back seat from the craziness and let the songs breathe a little bit and take a break from the rock and roll riffs for themselves. This is one of those tracks where they show off their gift of melody, and the whole song sounds like a glowing, glistening, psychedelic wave washing over you or lapping against rocks, against an ocean, just politely. A loving place to escape the mundane, just float together, be with your special someone, a stop and smell the roses track.

The next couple of tracks on the record, "Scapegoat" and "Incubator (V2000)", for me, seamlessly transition into each other, but they also feel like they're a little older. I know "Incubator" is a song they've had floating around for a while. The immediacy that comes with the rest of the songs, even in the more chill ones, I feel like there's a presence and a mindset said that a lot of these songs might be newer, and some of the older stuff just doesn't blend in as seamlessly as the new stuff does because it just feels like the other songs of the album were from a more cohesive space. And this one is a bit of an outlier, having been around for so long. And for me, it's a cool song, but it's definitely one of the weaker moments on the album.

Same with "Scapegoat", like I said before. I love the wobbly guitars on this one, and there's some cool lyrics. It's like there's a plan set for us, but do we just control the car? Do we drive the car? Is the road already made for us? Lyrically, I like what they're doing, but musically, I'm not sure if this is one of the newer songs or another older one, but it feels like a little bit of an outlier compared to the rest of the album.

"Winter in Parachutes" is up next on the record, and it's more of a pop tune. I really enjoy the reverb on the vocals on this one. The guitar picking is nice. The heavily strummed acoustics sound wonderful. It's got the catchiest pop chorus on the LP, if you will, but there's a great line in this song, "Take it in / Have the world by your side / If there's meaning in there / Maybe someday you'll find it clearer then." That's a really thoughtful, loving line.

"Out the Universe Pours". Here we go, back to rock and roll. Heavy, chugging powerhouse of a rocker. Killer sweeping guitars in the background, phaser effects. But eventually it finds peace. It calms down. And in those moments, it's like you look forward to the more rocking bits again. Lyrically, it's either about a spiritual awakening or a drug trip or something. But either way, whatever is happening to the protagonist here is having a rather profound effect on their view of the world.

Then "Concrete and Cola" is the last track on the record. I think a really wonderful way to sum up the record. It's about looking back to when you were a kid and things were easier and all you had to worry about was running around with your friends drinking soda and not worrying about anything. I love the melody on this track. I love the backward sound effects. I love the harmony guitars on this one, and the way it just jams into infinity.

So, yeah, to sum it up, I really do enjoy this record. I think it's the best thing they've done so far in terms of dynamics and textures and showing that they can do more than just the big, loud, fuzzy rock guitars that... I mean, they've always had quite a lot of moments on their records, but this one in particular, the melodies here just feel richer and more in tune and more heartfelt.

The middle bit of the album with "Scapegoat" and "Incubator". again, I dig those songs, but they definitely have a little bit of a dip in terms of, like I said before, the immediacy. They feel like they weren't a part of the other songs' gestation period, if you will.

That being said, it's a highly enjoyable record. If you're looking for something that's absolutely going to rock out and have more riffs than you can count. Great crashing drums, excellent smooth, rubbery bass. The vocals are so wonderful because they could be very beautiful and light and lilting, but they could also be screaming their heads off. Fun record. Highly enjoy it. I'm feeling a strong seven on this one.

Sleepthony Sleeptano. Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. Forever.