Sonic Maze – Flippin’ Kick Outs (self-released)
The splintering of what used to be called mass media has put a universe of sounds at everybody’s fingertips and they only need to pay a pittance - if anything at all. The onus really is on you and me to step carefully. lest we tread in dog shit.
It really is a maze out there – as the title of the second album from Sydney’s Flippin’ Kick Outs attests.
“Sonic Maze” recalls a simpler time where fewer people seemed to like only what they knew and the better informed of us (again that’d be me and you) knew what we liked...and pursued it like blathering mutts. Sydney’s Flippin’ Kick Outs also like rock and roll in its many forms, and they unashamedly rake over the coals of influences and apply their own, uncomplicated template.
The Kick Outs are Jonathan Adams (maybe better known in his hoem town as Johnny Gretsch) on six strings and vocals, bassist (and occasional singer) Lachlan Colquhoun and drummer Simon Wale. Adams wrote the bulk of the songs with Colquhoun bringing the edgy "Bad Actor".
This 12-track album (their second) includes a two well-chosen covers (“I Can See” by Texan acid punkers The Liberty Bell and The Masters Apprentices’ gem “Buried and Dead”) that give you a clue about what to expect, without giving the game away entirely. You could file it under garage rock but then again, a catch-all doesn't do it justice.
Really, “Sonic Maze” is the musical equivalent of a a box of liquorice allsorts, where groove-laden garage rock like “Go Go Girl” and “One Horse Town” rubs up against a ‘70s guitar boogie stroll in “Tumble", a measured ballad, “The Passage of Time”, and the unabashedly Purple Hearts-inspired blues wailer “Just A Little Bit”.
If CDs incorporated smell, “Tumble” is so 1970s Oz radio that it would reek of a Chiko Roll. “The Passage of Time” is a fine piece of songwriting with lyrical depth that elevates it well out of the garage.
Self-produced by Adams and Colquhoun, “Sonic Maze” is uncomplicated and free of sonic embellishment. It does makes you wonder how it would have turned out with the benefit of a big budget.
The songs are delivered well with the rhythm section keeping things simple but effective. Adams provides workmanlike vocals and some real guitar flair. The Kick Outs get by with some help from their friends who include keyboard wiz John Gauci and blues harp master Robert Susz (Dynamic Hepnotics et al).
Before you ask, the Masters cover is faithful to the original but making great departures would have been sacreligious. Adams' guitar variations add a Kick Outs touch.
“Sonic Maze” won’t change your life but it will remind you of a time when doing such a thing via rock and roll seemed possible. For that reason alone you need to check it out via try-before-you-buy channel Bandcamp. Many of you will then plonk down your virtual cash.
3/4
