“For this EP we have gotten quite aggressive. On the first EP, there were six tracks and it was an amalgamation of songs that were based around our favourite artists – a lot of them Australian. You’ve got Bird Blobs, My Disco and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and anything just really punk or aggressive. But on Cosmic Hood we have taken it a step further,” says Plinte.
The title track from Cosmic Hood is a fine example of this step towards aggressive and sheering music. Plinte’s reference to Melbourne band Bird Blobs (circa 2000-2004) is fitting for the song Cosmic Hood as this track shares the same unrelenting brutal drums and guitar angles that led to the Bird Blobs supporting Nine Inch Nails and being selected for the inaugural All Tomorrow’s Parties. Plinte explains that this song is both a phenomenon and a road map to Ali and Plinte.
“If you look at the artwork it is a bunch of hands together like a hive or a hood of bees and the song has both Tim and I, simultaneously screaming down the barrel of a mic [and] if you look at lyrics I guess it is about breaking out of unity or conformity.”
So, if you will, the Cosmic Hood that ensconces the Clavians’ collective heads is actually freeing their minds by allowing Plinte and Ali to truly explore the spaces within. Unsurprisingly, this analogy is not easily accessible to an outsider, with a friend of the band inferring that the EP’s title and the other song titles were actually a preoccupation with male genitalia.
“I had a friend of mine who looked at all the song titles the other day and the titles are The Grind, Skins, Cosmic Hood and Body Grip and she said, ‘It is a very sexually frustrated EP’,” laughs the softly-spoken Plinte.
Having formed back late in late 2009, Clavians initially sounded somewhat softer than they do now with many a layman observer comparing them to the world’s most famous two-piece, The Black Keys. For anyone who has heard Cosmic Hood, this interpretation of Clavians’ sound is hard to believe but Plinte, very honestly, explores where this misguided parallel came from in the band’s early days.
“When we came together there was a kind of natural shift to that bluesy rock sound but then, yeah, I suppose it just transgressed and got more aggressive,” states Plinte before directly addressing those Black Keys’ comparisons, “I suppose when people see a two-piece rock band [and are seeking to describe it] they can get a bit lazy.”
As mentioned earlier Cosmic Hood is, sonically, where the band wants to be but this more brutal sonic aesthetic has been around since 2011 when Clavians released Skins. Despite the song being two-years-old, Plinte explains why it had to be on this EP. “It’s still part of the sets and still a strong song. I guess we launched Skins then Tim went travelling so it has stayed in the sets and it made sense to put it on this EP.”
Another very strong song from the EP is track one, The Grind. This song feels like a B-side from influential proto-punk band At The Drive-In’s album from 1998 In Casino Out. The song is driven by Plinte’s pleading vocals and also a guitar line that seems to switch from dark to light like the morning’s flickering light. Plinte, a certified music instrument boffin, talks about the simple yet effective technology behind Clavians’ sound.
“I have two peddles, one’s a line splitter because I actually go through a guitar amp and bass amp at the same time to thicken that bass sound out, and when I play both guitar and bass licks simultaneously while the drums are playing to fill it out. So I will do a baseline with my thumb and then a lead or rhythm with my fingers,” explains the informed Plinte.
Finally, Plinte talks about this Friday’s Cosmic Hood launch at The Old Bar. “Playing with us is a darker pop punk duo called Sinking Teeth then an amazing instrumental band called On Sierra, also a guy by the name of Solaires who plays with all these hardware synths and drum-machines and also DJ Nth Wheel who is an artist in his own right and is going to spin a bunch of garage and local tunes.” An excited Plinte adds, “We really wanted to make an eclectic lineup rather then just the regular scenario of similar rock bands and punk bands.”
BY DAN WATT
