Review: GUM & Ambrose Kenny-Smith’s Ill Times

GUM & Ambrose Kenny-Smith
Ill Times
p(doom) records

Jay Watson aka GUM (Pond, Tame Impala) and Ambrose Kenny-Smith (King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, The Murlocs) have come out of the Australian psych multiverse once again with the existential space-rocker, Ill Times.

Opening with an extraterrestrial sounding synth riff, like a UFO landing on a strange planet, fuzz guitars and driving drums bring the riff down to earth and are sure to get the heads of Hobo Rocket-era Pond fans nodding rhythmically.

The verse, while a radical and sudden dynamic shift musically, maintains desperation in its sparse synths and Ambrose’s haunting voice, turning to a rally cry for the chorus and the return of that apocalyptic riff, backed by triplets rolling around the drumkit. Even with a dreamy bridge seamlessly thrown in, the track remains a bombastic rocker.

Along with 2023’s Minor Setback, the title track from the duo’s forthcoming album shows a combination of vast musical minds. Since their first meeting at a Tame Impala gig in 2009, Watson and Kenny-Smith seem to have brought out the depths of each other’s musical influences. Finally, the psychedelic pairing we need to make sense of this crazy era has arrived.

AJ MAHAR