EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING Underneath the colours

Eddy Current Suppression Ring bring their brand of garage rock to Amplifier on Friday, June 20, and the Norfolk Basement on Saturday, June 21. PATRICK EMERY reports.

If there’s a word that captures Eddy Current Suppression Ring, it’s unpretentious.

Conceived in the inebriated aftermath at a Corduroy Records Christmas party at the end of 2004, Eddy Current Suppression Ring has grown to become one of Australia’s most renowned garage rock bands.

Having started out playing to a couple of dozen close friends at small venues in Melbourne, Eddy Current Suppression Ring is a near-sure bet to sell out any gig it’s headlining – and a few that it’s not.

The band’s recording evolution has been no less impressive. After a spate of 7” singles – possibly still the band’s preferred recording medium – Eddy Current Suppression Ring’s debut album was released in 2006 to a lavish critical and popular reception.

But now comes the critical time in any band’s adolescence – the oft-referred to ‘Difficult Second Album Syndrome’. For this album, its sophomore effort, Eddy Current has avoided the temptation to match the style and tone of its eponymous debut album.

Primary Colours deviates from the frenetic garage approach of the first album, a bit more pop in places, with occasional forays into the tightly orchestrated world of the stadium jam.

Danny says he was initially concerned that the different approach of the new album might cause problems.

“The other one was instant party hits straight away,” drummer Danny Current says. “But this one starts off quick, but then slowly builds up… but I really like it now.”

Guitarist Mikey Young points out he likes the new album, both for the songs and the production which he achieved on the record.

“It’s probably the cleanest you’ll ever hear us sounding,” he says.

Having embraced a different approach this time around, the next Eddy Current album is likely to indulge other musical territory.

“Hopefully the next album will be even more different,” Mikey says. “Me and Danny have spoken about it, and we reckon with the third one we could go in an opposite direction again.”

There’s still a few songs left from the Primary Colours recording sessions that may yet see the light of day.

“There’s two 7”s that’ll come out of the same recording,” Danny says.

Mikey prefers a short album, “and then maybe some singles” (hopefully the as-yet unrecorded duo of Noise in My Head and It Ain’t Cheap will find its rumoured way to a 45 rpm vinyl release).

Watching Eddy Current on stage is a cohesive spectacle in itself. Vocalist Brendan Suppression watches Danny, who keeps a close eye on Mikey. Mikey, for his part, continues to count the ubiquitously gloved Brendan in to open the tunes – a throwback to Brendan’s genuinely amateur origins when he’d await Mikey’s cue before launching into his unique lyrics.

“I’m pretty comfortable with it,” Danny says.

Like all brothers, Mikey and Danny admit to the occasional scuffle in their childhood (“I think I mentally harassed him, and he physically harassed me,” Mikey jokes) but there’s no sibling rivalry these days. Nor, it seems, is there any of the intra-band tension that characterises so many bands.

“I’ve been in a bunch of bands, and there’s always been difficulties,” Danny says, “but in this band there’s never any real difficult moments.”

Neither Danny nor Mikey admits to knowing exactly what Brendan’s lyrics are all about (“the only time I’ve ever got into an argument with Brendan was when I asked him about his lyrics,” Danny says), but Mikey says Brendan continues to write prolifically.

“He says he’s got something like 40 songs worth of lyrics ready,” Danny says.

In 2007, Eddy Current Suppression Ring headed overseas for its first ever overseas trip, playing a series of dates in the United States, including Goner Fest (where it was joined on the bill by fellow Melbourne garage band Diggers The Pussycats).

“It was like a holiday where we got to play some shows,” Danny says.

Being able to spend a few days in each city the band visited allowed the members to visit tourist attractions (Graceland seems to have made a particular impression) and record stores without the pressure of having to jump back on the tour bus.

“We made sure we didn’t end up killing each other by the end of it,” Danny says. “We didn’t try and book all our own shows – we just played with bands that we either knew or that Mikey had traded records with, or they worked in record shops.”

Mikey agrees.

“It’s a real nothing story in some ways ‘cause nothing bad happened, nothing crazy.”

There might not have been any broken bones, smashed egos or other dramas, but the tour did provide some quality musical and cultural moments. In Memphis, the band used the opportunity of Goner Fest to see a host of bands, and to confirm the release of the new Eddy Current record (via Goner Records) in the US.

Memphis also provided the members of the band the opportunity to witness first-hand the dysfunction of the modern American urban environment.

“We were walking along one night and a cop car pulled up, and this cop said, ‘I wouldn’t walk down here if I was you – someone will hit you over the head with a brick for a dollar’, so we had to turn and walk back the other way,” Danny says.

“I gave a beggar a dollar at 3am and he gave me an early ’90s hip-hop tape,” Mikey adds proudly.

New York, where the band played at the end of the tour (“at an illegal warehouse,” according to Mikey), was a notable performing highlight.

“That was our best show,” Danny says. “We played in a pretty small room to about 250 people, and people were all smiling. It was a really good feeling.”

This excerpt originally appeared in Issue 1114 of X-Press Magazine, published on Thursday, June 19, 2008. Share your memories of this and other classic X-Press content by joining the Rewind Facebook group. Rewind: 40 Years of X-Press Magazine by Bob Gordon is on sale now in hardcover and softcover.