The past decade has seen Australia undergo a massive renaissance among its psych-rock scene—and it isn’t just relegated to the labyrinthine discography of King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. Yet in many ways, that group’s cosmic experimentalism and weirdo charm have either directly or indirectly laid the foundation for artists like Pipe-eye, which just so happens to be the solo moniker of King Gizz multi-instrumentalist Cook Craig. If the Oh Sees are that band’s American counterpart, Pipe-eye is John Dwyer setting out on his own to explore the margins of synth-punk via his Damaged Bug project.
Craig’s fifth album Pipe-defy arrives later this month, and its latest single is yet another capsule of cartoonishly funky neo-psych built around the songwriter’s slinking bass line. “I think just not relying on guitars as a focal point was extremely rewarding and interesting for me, personally, as I’d never really done that on a record,” Craig shares of the project as a whole, before noting the meaning behind the wigged-out “Travertine,” whose lyrics directly oppose the instrumental’s unpredictable wiggle. “I feel like the metaphor is describing my own relationship with my partner, and imagery of a kind of stone that’s bound together is almost perfect to describe a relationship that’s still going strong after many years.”
Craig goes on to note that being in a famously prolific touring band (two, actually) makes for “the ultimate test, relationship-wise,” before sharing that the song’s own rock-solid status was achieved once the final piece came into place: “It ended up having a lot of sections, and I was trying to make it sound cohesive and not like it was just a bunch of parts slapped together, which required a bit of chopping and changing up parts. I think I decided it was done when the sax solo was in there.”
Check out the appropriately psychedelic video for the track below, and pre-save Pipe-defy ahead of its October 18 release via p(doom) Records here.
