Melbourne four-piece Eddy Current Suppression Ring really doesn’t belong in 2006. They’re a band born and bred in 1970s punk and pub rock and it’s not only evident in their self-titled debut album but right down to their unpretentious look (singer Brendan Suppression wears leather singing gloves on stage, for god’s sake) and their DIY recording ethos.
They’ve got the right pedigree to get the indie kids excited – a couple of years’ worth of gigging at local dives followed by some decent support slots (Kelley Stoltz, Radio Birdman and even The Buzzcocks); three sold-out 7” releases (one a split with Straightjacket Nation) and even a recent invitation to join the bill at the Meredith Music Festival’s newest initiative Golden Plains, which will see Eddy Current share the stage with the likes of Yo La Tengo, !!! and The Bellrays next March. They’re even choosing to launch this very album in Melbourne at the Grand Central Club and are offering punters lavish ‘dinner and show’ package deals.
So what do they sound like? Well, all the press points to their ‘incendiary’ (quote unquote) like show and their clear-as-day reference points of Wire, The Saints and X. Make no bones about it, Eddy Current Suppression Ring deal in no-frills, raw rock and roll.
The 11-track album thankfully sounds like a real album from start to finish – there are no unnecessarily long songs which wouldn’t fit in with the rest of the tracks and there’s certainly no studio trickery. The album was recorded over a mere four hours at Caulfield Rehearsal Studio in inner-city Melbourne earlier this year (“except for the odd extra guitar and tambourine” the sleeve duly notes).
Opener Get Up Morning (a re-recorded version of one of their earlier 7” tracks) sets the scene – it’s all about addictive, almost 1960s-esque in their simplicity, guitar lines by Eddy Current while singer Brendan Suppression yelps over the top in his shamelessly Aussie accent. The two are ably supported by rhythm section Rob Solid (bass) and Danny Current (drums). In true punk rock style, several of the songs seem to blend into one. They’re all similarly structured and although there are definite highlights – this writer’s particular favourite is Pitch a Tent which has a great stop/start element to the simple chorus of “come on!” – there are aren’t any weak spots either. Do My Thing is easily the shortest song here, clocking in at under two minutes (most tracks are around the three-minute mark) and also possesses a great guitar break-down in the middle while Insufficient Funds keeps up the thrashy, trashy fun while substituting the guitar for an organ. Lyrically, the band is nothing close to aggressive – songs about the pain of the early-morning alarm (Get Up Morning), chocolate and vanilla ice cream for dessert (Cool Ice Cream) and acquiring a flower left on the road (Precious Rose) provides somewhat of a juxtaposition with the band’s frantic sound and Suppression’s oft-snarling vocals.
While producing a stellar debut album, it’s obvious that Eddy Current Suppression Ring is a live band. It’s why the recorded album doesn’t differ that much in sound from the live bootlegs floating around and it’s why it’s impossible to ever imagine the band ever spending more than a couple of days in the studio. Buy the album (it’s coming out on vinyl, too!), but as an accompaniment to the live show – the pair go hand in hand.
