Brisbane’s Ball Park Music are back after a two-year break with the release of their sixth studio album, Ball Park Music.
Not only do Ball Park Music have the weight of their expansive back catalogue to carry, but they’ve added another accolade to their load by releasing their new album on their own record label, Prawn Records.
Fans were introduced to Ball Park Music back in March with the release of the first single off the record, ‘Spark Up!’. Standing as the album’s opener, the track is adorned with warped guitar moments and ominous yet exciting bass lines.
The rest of the A-side is full of fuzzy rhythms and a classic, summery Australian rock sound, especially on ‘Head Like A Sieve’ and ‘I Feel Nothing’. It’s reminiscent of a mix between Thirsty Merc and Hoodoo Gurus, with Ball Park Music’s signature psychedelic rock vibrations underlying the tracks.
The interlude, ‘Katkit’, serves as a critical signpost for the change of pace, with the B-side delving more into the lyrical and melancholic side of frontman Sam Cromack, throwing back to circa 2012 with the long-awaited ‘Bad Taste Blues (Part III)’.
The scene is well and truly set for the arrival of ‘Cherub’, the latest single released from Ball Park Music, as the Beatles-esque beginning shortly erupts into an anthemic track, reminding fans of the sheer versatility of Ball Park Music.
‘Turning Zero’, presumably about the birth of Cromack’s first child, signifies the sound of a new beginning and new life just as the album comes to a close, with band members joining in unison to sing, “My baby comes from the moon”.
Ball Park Music has arrived at a turbulent time where people look to music for excitement, comfort, and nostalgia, all of which exist at some stage of the record. For those looking upwards to the stars – or perhaps the moon, in this case – solace can be found here, confirming Ball Park Music’s self-appointed status as Australia’s loveliest band.
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Ball Park Music is out via Prawn Records on Friday October 23.
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