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Music

We look lovingly back at The Grease Arrestor’s Volume Two, soon to be crowdfunded into vinyl form

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Ah, art. Sweet creation and kind music, a soft pillow for the soul to lie on in times of anguish often brought about by seemingly endless financial troubles, work commitments and heartbreak.

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The Grease Arrestor’s Volume Two is priming for a vinyl pressing, funded by YOU through Indiegogo.

How ironic, then, that those who often struggle most are the creators themselves, the artists, musicians and poets who provide our relief, struggle to make ends meet at times as their art becomes more easily and freely accessible. Many factors contribute to this injustice, the most prolific, perhaps being 21st century God himself, the internet. Having made these complaints clear, however, the almighty one hath in the last few years, with the help of some more clever creatives, created crowdfunding tools.

For those who haven’t yet jumped on this speeding bandwagon, crowdfunding is essentially a way for artists, inventors and everything in between to generate funding for their prized imaginings to come to life. Sites such as Indigogo have been a literal godsend for artists with something incredible to share but a lack of means by which to spread it.

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One such band is long time Happy favourite, The Grease Arrestor. Die hard fans and loyal contributors to the ever-growing 60s psych revival, The Grease Arrestor found themselves at the top of their trippy, psych-folk-jangly-garagey game when releasing their most recent LP, Volume Two. After generating some traction with their easy going yet profound songwriting on the record, The Grease Arrestor are looking to set it in stone with some particularly special physical copies. 

The band’s label Third Eye Stimuli – run by drummer Josh White and vocalist Rick Snowden – recently got behind the idea stating: “We’re all vinyl fans and thought the album deserved to be pressed from the early days of its [Volume Two] creation.” Now it wouldn’t be a true 60s revival without a bit of vinyl would it? What’s more, after hearing your favourite tracks of any genre played on that majestic plastic disc, it’s hard to deny the warmth and distinction that is gained.

Warmth and distinction would be but a compliment however, to such an accomplished record. While many try to capture the true spirit of psychedelia in their modern-day recreations, few do so as convincingly as The Grease Arrestor.

The Sydney five-piece, who cite The Brian Jonestown Massacre as a major influence, pulled out all the stops on their second album, proving a knack for mature songwriting, catchy ear-worm hooks and building soft, rubber walls of sound as high as the clouds. There are flecks of Brian Jones-era Rolling Stones in there –  That’s What’s Happening, Baby rolls easily through your mind like a warm chunk of blue tack, sticking sheepishly as it tumbles under your skin.

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Another standout track, Come Together seems to colour in the book written by other Happy favourite Summer Flake in its simple, garagey strumming and effected vocals that slither around your consciousness like a mesmerised cobra. Vocalist Sam speaks on this minimal approach citing their Brian Jonestown Massacre influence and “Vibe over complexity.” A facet that sets the band apart lies in their varied vocal features, allowing for each member to convey their own lyricism and message in each song.

Album closer, Fool introduces a harder side of the band, beginning gently, the song quickly crescendoes into what sounds like the climax of the album, pounding and crashing into your mind like being stuck, blissfully under a crashing wave. There is no doubt that Volume Two is more that worthy of vinyl treatment and to see this tradition of tangible and physical music being kept alight by the heroes in The Grease Arrestor will no doubt warm even the most frozen of hearts in the music community.

The band are set up for a whirlwind 2016 with potential for new material and epic realization of Volume Two in a live format. “You’ll have to stay tuned,” they tease.

Get behind this worthy and endlessly beneficial cause by going to their campaign page at Indiegogo.

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