“I think we were about to tee off on the second hole when suddenly my phone started ringing off the hook,” laughs Selak. “I don’t think we even thought we’d get into the Hottest 200. It was such a thrill, even just to know that the hard work that we had put in meant that people outside of our friends and families had been listening to us and were getting behind the band.”
The Bennies formed in 2009 under the name Madonna. The original lineup comprised Selak, vocalist/keyboardist Horgan and drummer Beaumont, who soon changed their name to The Bennies. They released their debut album, Party! Party! Party!, in 2011 and Rozenbergs, a former axe-wielder in The Gun Runners, joined on guitar and vocals a year later. The lineup has stayed solid, releasing two EPs (2013’s Better Off Dread and 2014’s Heavy Disco) and an album, Rainbows in Space. Now, the band – who skid between reggae, ska, punk, rock, pop and hair metal – are on the cusp on their most ambitious LP to date.
“We’ve never worked as hard on anything as we have this record,” says Selak. “We wanted to try something really conceptual, which was a big deciding factor in what songs made it onto the record. We ended up writing 22 songs for this album, as far back as after we finished Heavy Disco. So once we had the idea behind Wisdom Machine it was much clearer as to what songs we were going to include. I think that we wanted this to be a record of freedom – it’s an album where we took the liberty of doing everything that we’ve ever wanted to do on one of our albums. Nothing’s forced on this album. Everything you hear is just us going about exploring what we’re able to do as a band. We were focused, primarily, on doing whatever came naturally to us.”
Fans have already heard three singles from the record: the aforementioned Party Machine, a nod to Sublime, Legalise (But Don’t Tax), and the pun-slinging skate punk tune Detroit Rock Ciggies. There’s plenty more where that came from too, as Wisdom Machine sees The Bennies coming good on their liberated agenda. Corruption, for instance, is one of the slowest and heaviest tracks the band have ever committed to wax, stemming from two vastly different musical influences.
“Even back when we were Madonna, we’d always had this idea of doing a song like Rage Against the Machine,” says Selak. “They have the same set-up as us – vocals, one guitar, bass, drums. Their songs are angry and punchy, but they’ve got so much groove to them. Though, it’s a different groove. You can say the same thing about Black Sabbath, who I’ve always loved. That’s kind of where the idea behind that song came from – doing something really heavy, but then switching it up with kind of a reggae feel.”
Wisdom Machine also features both the shortest and the longest Bennies songs yet. West Memphis Three Paper is all over in 21 seconds, while closer O Brother, Where Art Thou? clocks in around the ten-minute mark. Selak is particularly emphatic about people hearing the latter, which he says is the song that means the most to the band.
“I honestly think it’s the best song we have ever recorded. It’s a really personal one – especially for Anty, who wrote all of the lyrics himself about his brother. We were both working on our separate things – we were formulating what would become the song itself, and Anty was working away on the story that he wanted to tell. The one thing we knew we couldn’t do was hold back – when it came together finally, it was such a huge moment for all of us.”
The excitement for the first new batch of Bennies bangers in nearly two years has been considerably high – pardon the pun – to the point where pre-sales on the first run of vinyl are nearly sold out. “It’s honestly so humbling,” says Selak. “It’s been difficult just sitting on this album for so long. Usually, once we’re done recording, it’s all out within a month.
“One of the benefits, though, has definitely been getting the word out there about the record and having time to do something really interesting for the pre-sale packages. We’ve got flags and picture-discs and other really cool shit in there. Taking our time with it means there’s a bit more of a payoff for everyone.”
The record’s exquisite artwork is a collaboration between Geoffrey Horgan, Anty’s dad, and Smith Street Band drummer Chris Cowburn. Horgan painted the psychedelic cover image, while Cowburn implemented the design and typography. “Our jaws just dropped when we saw that for the first time,” says Selak. “They just both completely went above and beyond for this album. Anty’s dad just paints as a hobby, and we loved the style that he paints in. It’s got that real Renaissance-period feel to it, but it doesn’t carry any real religious connotations. When we were putting together the concept behind Wisdom Machine, we realised that he would be the best guy for the job. He was with us every step of the way, and he really made the idea his own.”
Fans will have another chance to see The Bennies live when they head out on a national tour later this month. The tour includes some of their biggest headlining shows yet, and it’ll be the first time many tracks from Wisdom Machine have been played live. Joining them will be Adelaide punks Hightime – whose last album, Mother Crab, features Horgan on one of its tracks – as well as Minnesota’s premier punk exports Off with Their Heads. For the latter, it’s a long-awaited return to Australia and Selak explains how the two bands crossed paths.
“We were touring through America – it might have been the very first time that we did, actually. We were playing in Long Beach about two years ago, and there was this guy… he was literally the only one in the entire venue that was paying any attention to us. If we’d have known we’d just be playing to one person, we’d have pulled out in an instant – we were so hungover and dusty. Still, we didn’t think too much of it – I mean, what can you do, really – and just treated it like a bit of a jam session or rehearsal. We were just laughing and having fun, like we always do. After we were done, this guy came up to us and had four beers waiting for us. He was like, ‘That was the best show I’ve seen in years. You guys are my new favourite band.’ We were all like, ‘Who the fuck are you, dude?’ It turned out to be Ryan Young, the lead singer of Off with Their Heads.
“We ended up having a bunch of beers with him and made sure to stay in contact. A few years down the track, they wanted to come back to Australia – and here we are.”
The moral of the story? “Rock every show that you play,” laughs Selak. “You never know who might be watching.”
