The crowd response quickly evolved from confusion to delight when The Murlocs dropped into the classic ‘70s track. “I think people were a bit stunned the first few times we did it, but then by the time we got the hang of it people started to love it, and they were messaging us afterwards and going on Facebook to ask if we were going to record it.”
In a tragically coincidental turn of events, only a couple of months later, Hot Chocolate lead singer Errol Brown – he of the polished cranium, porn star moustache and tight white trousers – died at the age of 71. “Yeah, that was so weird and spooky,” Kenny-Smith says.
Kenny-Smith has just got back from a trip to New York with his other band King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, and jumped straight into a national tour to support The Murlocs’ new single, Rolling On, from the band’s as-yet-unnamed second album. Initially proposed for release by the middle of this year, the new album has been delayed until early 2016.
“We’ve been finished since about February, and then we did that tour for the single. We were planning to do this tour as the album tour, but we’ve been pushing back. Trying to get it released overseas has been a bit of a pickle,” Kenny-Smith says.
Kenny-Smith still hopes the band can arrange an overseas release to coincide with the local release of the album – in his Gizzard travels he’s noticed interest and awareness in The Murlocs. However, it’s a case of finding the right deal that fits the band.
“We’ve had a few options but nothing has really tickled the fancy too much. So we’ll release it early next year – we’re not sure if anything’s going to happen with [the overseas release], but regardless we’ll put it out [in Australia] early next year.”
The songwriting for the new album was divided between Kenny-Smith and Shortal, with Kenny-Smith paying tribute to the precocious talents of the band’s guitarist. “I think this album has a lot more of my songs that I’ve written on guitar, then we figure the rest of it out, and then Shortal will come up with a nice little lick to put over it. I think there’s about three or so songs that are Callum’s, which I reckon are the stand outs.”
In contrast to The Murlocs’ more overtly garage-styled material, Rolling On reflects the band’s soul influences, like Otis Redding and Nina Simone. “Rolling On is one of Shortal’s numbers. That was one of the first songs that we jammed and I wrote the lyrics on the spot. We do have a fair few slow songs on the record – they’re my favourites that we’ve done,” Kenny-Smith says.
The psychedelic aspect of the band, while always present, isn’t intended to be a defining attribute, and Kenny-Smith is adamant The Murlocs are not a ‘60s revival band. “All of my musical idols are before [the late-‘60s], in the late-‘50s and early-‘60s, and from then on to the early-‘70s,” he says. “Even today a lot of our influences come from our friends. I guess a lot of people are reviving the ‘60s, but I’d like for us to spread out a bit – I think it’s time to explore.”
BY PATRICK EMERY
