THE GREAT EMU WAR CASUALTIES
SHARE THE NEW SINGLE ‘COLD FOOD AVE’ – LISTEN HERE
FROM THE NEW EP ‘MAL DU SIECLE’, OUT NOVEMBER 6TH
“Loaded with polished, shimmering hooks that glow.” – The Line of Best Fit
“Jangling guitars, cool harmonies, clever and sometimes wryly witty songs, this is an album that will tick a lot of boxes.” ***** – RnR
“Filled with wry intelligent humour, carried on a bed of gentle pop and soaring anthems… a band that deserves a lot of attention and a global audience.” – Backseat Mafia
“One of Melbourne’s brightest indie rock hopes.” – The Guardian
Just months after earning praise for the all-everything creativity and innate wit of their debut album ‘Public Sweetheart No. 1’, The Great Emu War Casualties share a brand new single in the shape of ‘Cold Food Ave’. It is the first single to be taken from their new EP ‘Mal Du Siecle’ which follows on November 6th.
‘Cold Food Ave’ introduces a rowdier version of The Great Emu War Casualties than we’ve heard before. It’s a rambunctious racket of garage-rock good times, all hollered gang vocals, searing lead guitar and brash, full-force rhythms. Vocalist/guitarist Joe Jackson’s lyrics are a stream-of-consciousness run of non-sequiters and self-doubts that somehow make perfect sense within the context of the track.
Joe says, “When I lived in Liverpool, I used to know a guy who thought he was hot shit and would always try to give me advice back when I was first getting started. He’d say all the time -nobody cares where you’ve been, they only care where you’re going. Whether he was right or wrong, to hear this at a time when I had no plan, I was working independently and trying to figure out my path day by day – it was not helpful to hear. I was trying to find my voice and I don’t even know where I’m going now! What I have learnt though is that nobody really knows where they’re going. They might know where they want to go and people have all sorts of ideas, but you never know what’s around the corner and this song explores all of that – plus you can never predict the kind of impact you’re going to have on anybody. I realised that guy was a bit of prick to me, ha!”
As you may expect after hearing ‘Cold Food Ave’, the rest of the five-track ‘Mal Du Siecle’ EP can’t be pigeonholed in any one genre. There’s sparkling, panoramic indie-pop; even brighter hued synth-rock; and post-punk with a dancefloor favour – leaning towards a style that could appeal to fans of LCD Soundsystem, Everything Everything, Foals, Talking Heads or Two Door Cinema Club. The title comes from a French phrase coined to express the ennui and disillusionment that was widely felt in the early 19th century. Just as well things have changed so much in the subsequent 300 years…
Saskia adds, “We recorded it in the desert…and I don’t regret it.”
The entire EP was written by Joe Jackson and bassist/vocalist Saskia Clapton. They produced it alongside the Grammy-nominated Alex Newport (Bloc Party, At The Drive In), who engineered the sessions at his studio in Joshua Tree and also mixed the record.
The Great Emu War Casualties are presumably the only British / Australian / Nepalese band in existence. Joe Jackson and Saskia Clapton first met in Liverpool before steadily meandering their way back across the world to her home city of Melbourne, where they found former metal drummer Bibek Samang online. Cat Sanzaro completed the band shortly before the recording of ‘Public Sweetheart No. 1’. They joke that they bonded over desperation and shared trauma… but many a true word is spoken in jest.
Early career highlights have included supporting The Hold Steady and being profiled by The Line of Best Fit and The Guardian.
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