Hey, everyone. Giggens here, your favorite content creator's favorite content creator. We're back with another album from the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, their second of this year of 2025, Pogo Rodeo.

The Aussie guitar shredders are back. I loved Carpe Diem, Moon Man, which came out earlier this year. That thing, again, was a rift frenzy, fantastic rock and roll album. And this thing, I would feel, is an even better follow-up to that record. Not only does this record feature, again, a crazy assault of amazing guitar riffage, there's a lot of ambient breakdowns and moments of reflection and some moodier pieces that blend more perfectly together than I thought they did on Moon Man. And because of that slight roller coaster that you're on, it makes for a more cohesive feeling sequence.

I mean, to start things off, you get "Salsa Verde," which is an incredible opener, and you're right off the bat just sent into the riffage here. Guitars are turned up to 11, the drums are smashing and crashing along, and you get these big, shouty gang vocals. It's not just crazy riffs the entire time. There's a beautiful amount of guitar texture layered into these tracks.

But when you are treated to a total assault on your ears of straight up riffs, you get this middle bit breakdown, which is almost like a hardcore metal breakdown that references The Beatles' "Come Together". And using those lines on top of this insanely tough, hard, crashing bit, it's just so fun to listen to. Because not only is it familiar, it's also refreshing, and it's just a bit of a change up from the rest of the song. The guitar solo that comes up next is almost, I would say, very Jack White style. It's got a very sharp, crisp, angular delivery, and the way that they hang on those notes is a very Jack White trait. It sounds like something from Icky Thump.

Lyrically, I'm wondering if this song is a sci-fi journey about this opulent world, and there's this rogue dude who's trying to escape it all, and they're trying to come after him. It's a three-minute jammer that will melt your face off. An excellent opener.

"Born in the A.D's" comes up next, and this is a fascinating song, and I've deconstructed this one as being like... you're aware that you have an ancestral past. There were people in your lineage in your line that you'll never know, but they somehow got through their day-to-day stuff, their hardships. Going way back, like hunter-gatherer times, where you had to constantly look for food or a place to sleep. And I think he's having this juxtaposition or existential crisis of wondering, "Where did we come from and who am I now? And how is this the same bloodline?" Musically, this song is tension-filled and anxious, and I think that complement to those lyrics is a wonderful balance.

"Manny's Ready to Roll" comes up next. This one, for me, riff-wise, is almost a Led Zeppelin type song. And I'm trying to figure out exactly what this one's about. Is Manny a politician? Is Manny someone who wants to be in politics or change the world in some way? There's moments where the lyrics talk about turning green into gold or into yellow. Is it the Earth becoming money? What's going on with Manny here? Either way, it's an absolute headbanger with wonderful guitar steps throughout and really great punchy drums that build up through a super exciting chorus.

"The Real Contra Band" comes up next, and the guitar tone on this one sounds like early Muse, which is really cool. There's an almost call-and-response between the riffs and the vocals on this one, and I love how the drums just punch along so well and add a perfect amount of cymbal for a crazy amount of tension building. Lyrically on this one, I'm figuring it's about normalcy, everyday life, and getting through the day in Australia.

Entering into the second half of this record, the songs take on a more ambient approach. They still have their rock moments, of course, but they're a little bit more reflective, a little bit more moody, and sometimes up in the clouds. For instance, the song "Japan", one of my favorites on the record, has almost a watery atmosphere sound to it. It floats along like a groovy dream, and I love the joyous, peppy chorus. It's almost as if Gorillaz wanted to add big rock guitars, but they weren't super expressively loud. They're just enough to add texture to their already dream-like sequencing. It's just a really cool song to hear the Crumpets do something that's still exciting, but in a much more laid back way. Lyrically, it seems to be about someone who just has what they need and doesn't need much else. They got their dogs, they live in a quiet seaside area, starting by trees. Sounds nice.

"Unconventional Daze" follows that one up next, and the dreamy vibes continue on this one, but the bass is an absolute standout as it travels all over the neck on this song, making for a really cool grounding experience. Loving the acoustic guitar is buried in the mix on this one as well. Lyrically, it's about not being able to go back to sleep, and instead of figuring out that mystery, just being too tired to care about it, you just go about your day. Maybe you go for a walk down to the beach. Maybe you just enjoy getting comfy with an old movie and some ice cream. There's nothing wrong with that. You're having an unconventional day.

"Texas Rangers" follows that one up next. It's a very early Wolfmother vibe for me, especially with that guitar tone. But these twirling, swirling guitar phrases interplaying with each other are very reminiscent of that era of rock and roll. I feel like there's a tension waiting to explode in this song. When it finally gets to this epic, classic rock style solo with this almost slightly murky production, that payoff is wonderful.

"Looniversal" is a really cool song about touring, and it's kind of like looking into the future and then looking back from there being like, "I think we did the right thing by working super hard or being on the road all the time." It's a cool song about traveling around, getting on planes, having beers, doing this, doing that, playing shows, and it rocks the whole way through. There were moments when I first heard this song where it sounded like The Music Machine's "Talk Talk", but the more I hear, I'm losing that. But there was something punchy about those guitars that felt like very garage rock '60s to me at that moment.

"Watermelon", for me, lyrically, I feel like it's a song about not wasting your life, appreciating the smaller moments. It sounds like there's an electric sitar in the background, which is an excellent bit of texture. "Bowling with Tim" comes up next, this track is really fascinating because I think lyrically, it juxtaposes this magical feeling of being with somebody and the cool things you can get into with that person. But musically, it sounds like it's a little lost or a little sad. I'm almost getting hints of "Haunt You Every Day" by Weezer in sort of the guitar phrases. (Don't get mad at me for saying that.)

"Heading to Fringe" wraps up the album, and I really appreciate the prominent use of the acoustic guitar on this one because not only do we know them as being the shredders that they are, they're really good at taking their time and building something with the acoustic guitars. I love the reverb drenched vocals on this thing. The way that it takes its time, it kind of like, groovily plods along. It's not like a sad waiting for something to happen. You're locked in the hypnotic groove of this one. I feel like lyrically this one's about letting good times happen and being okay with them happening after probably an era or a period where maybe good times weren't so easy to come by, but this time you're cool with it. Musically, in this one, it sounds like something from The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger/Sean Lennon vibes. I'm really digging this ending here.

Overall, on this record, I'm digging it more than Carpe Diem, Moon Man. I feel like this one's more cohesive and more solid, and the parts where they aren't doing crazy riffs and exploring more ambient features and more dream-like sequences, I feel like they pull that off much more comfortably. It just comes much more naturally to them. Those moments on Carpe Diem, I feel like, not like they were forced, but I feel like they were stuck into the tracklist. They didn't feel as blendy as this album feels.

I will say I wish some of the vocals were mixed higher in the mix. A lot of the vocals on this record are buried underneath the guitar. You can't even hear a lot of the words sometimes. I've listened to this album on a few different systems – my car, some speakers, my high-end audio speaker system – and you still have a hard time hearing some of the words. Maybe that was done on purpose, of course, but I like to sing along. And there's some songs where you hear the words and the lyrics completely perfectly clear. But there's a lot of songs where you don't hear them perfectly clear and you're having to read the words to figure out what's going on. I mean, yeah, it's part of the experience. That's cool. But that's the biggest gripe I can think of is raise the vocals up a little bit.

I love how this album can totally rock. It can get nice and chill. It's a wonderful balanced breakfast of psychedelia, hard rock, garage rock, and experimentation. It rounds out their 2025 really, really well. They've been on a roll this year. Manny's on a roll. I'm feeling a very strong 7 on this one.

Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. Thanks for watching, and see you guys next time.