Psychedelic Porn Crumpets: And Now for the Whatchamacallit

Ryan Reed on November 21, 2019
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets: And Now for the Whatchamacallit

Australians must have LSD flowing through their water supply. In the past decade, the nation has organically grown into a hotbed of radical psychedelia—not generic retro acts ripping off Pink Floyd ad nauseam, but clever songwriters and sound-tinkerers with a zeal for druggy sounds. There’s Tame Impala, Pond, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard and now Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, who—in addition to meeting the absurd band name pre-requisite—may have the firmest grasp of melody among groups breathing that rarefied air. The Perth quartet’s most distinct moments marry expert hooks with top-tier technical chops built up through endless jam sessions in a bohemian barn. Take “Social Candy” and “My Friend’s a Liquid,” which zig-zag in stuttering meters through overdriven, harmonized guitar leads and sugary falsettos. But even their most digestible moments are full of quirky detours: The latter track opens with an ancient-sounding brass fanfare and wraps with flute, military-style snare rolls and the sound of frolicking children. But Whatchamacallit is more than just funhouse mirror psych-pop— oscillating between lighthearted trippiness, heavy stoner-rock bombast (“When in Rome”) and blissful psych-prog (the jazzy doodling of instrumental “Digital Hunger”). “Would you like to shoot rainbows from your eyes or fly?” these merry mischief-makers ask on rambling epic “Dezi’s Adventure.” It’s a question asked with sincerity—in their world, any flight of fancy is well worth taking.