Mammoth’s, Yak’s, Cereal
Wack Mammoth, who actually align with the church of the Yak, have just released their first EP and it’s a madhouse. The Perth/Boorloo band lurk in the space between fuzzed-out heavy riffage and full-blown weirdness.
Let’s get down to the grit – these guys are something different. Think B-52s meets Queens of the Stone Age and you will be part of the way there. There’s definitely more though, and you can hear it in Alina Krasilnikova’s vocals from the get-go. Known as Potato, she sprouts out like a 90s punk-rock rebel girl in Family Dinner. The opener is short post-punk goodness personified.
James Torpy takes over vocal duties for the riff-heavy, stoner rock Change My Mind. The slow, swinging bassline from Torpy, alongside crunchy, crunchy guitars, brings back memories of early Sabbath. Guitar man Scott Walker’s soloing gets a full display in the middle and could be described as a little Iommi-esque. The band’s originality comes from the weird, character-driven vocal play – with Potato doing excellent harmonies. Mix that with punk and stoner rock and you’ve got something.
If you want the band’s quirkier side on full display, look no further than Mushrooms. There’s nothing subtle about this one as Potato paints vivid images of eating cake and bumping into poles. It’s humour-based post-punk that straddles a good line between serious rock and parody – the song is a fine chugging walk through the images, with muted guitars giving Torpy and drummer Rhett Robinson (is that his real name or is it Art) a chance to be up front in the mix. It goes full space sci-fi to finish after Krasilnikova sings “you said that aliens must be true”.
Back to the other side of the spectrum with Broken Arrow, and we get more crunch and fuzzed-out guitar. You can hear the early 00s rock influence, but Mammoth give it their own kind of energy. Torpy sings “I’ll shake you out of your nightmare, and never question why”, in one of the catchiest chorus moments on the EP.
If you wanted parody, you got it. Cereal is an absolutely ridiculous concept, but they own it and it works. Starting out sounding like Dracula’s Lament (look it up), Torpy walks us through his experience eating cereal in a Transylvanian accent, before the song hits the crunch and opens up. Potato sings “everyone is drunk, I am on the cereal”, while the band hits the fuzz again. You can’t deny the catchiness, and the yells at the end sound like something that wouldn’t be out of place at an Iron Maiden concert.
You can’t knock these guys for putting it all out there and coming up with something different, this is what makes music great. Take a bit of B-52s, a pinch of Ween, throw in some QOTSA and Foo’s fuzz. Mash it, chop it, swirl it round, crush it. It’s chaotic, catchy, and unique – worth a listen if you like your rock weird.
Wack Mammoth EP – produced & engineered by Ron Pollard @ Sleepwalker’s Dread Studio
The band: Alina ‘Potato’ Krasilnikova – vocals, James ‘Turps’ Torpy – bass & vocals, Scott ‘John Smith’ Walker – guitar, Rhett ‘Art Vanderley’ Robinson – drums
The Wack Mammoth EP will be launched on June 19 at Music On Murray
