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“Who’s this bloke, your debt collector?”
For Going Swimming, it all started with an offhand comment from an interviewer about a band member who wasn’t too talkative.
It was one of those quips which snowballs into a running joke, then forms the spark of a lyric, then becomes the impetus for an entire tune. And it’s exactly this kind of off-the-cuff audacity that has seeped its way into the ethos of the Melbourne band and been shot out in the from of a shiny, brash new single – Debt Collector.
There’s something endlessly charming about hyped-up surf rock that drags you in no matter how many times you’ve heard it before, and Going Swimming have that charm in spades.
Debt Collector is the newest single from the scrappy four piece, one that sees the band shedding old skin and coming out firing.
Their 2015 debut, Deadtime Stories, was a barrage of jangly surf guitars and blistering vocals, and these elements are by no means lost on their latest effort. The tune barrels through all the tropes of a good salt-crusted punk track within the first twenty seconds, with frontman Nick Leggatt howling and growling as if he’s crawled from the swampy depths of hell.
Everything feels a little bolder on Debt Collector though, something that can no doubt be attributed to the addition of a guiding hand in the track’s recording process.
Deadtime Stories was a DIY record through and through which left the album dogeared with lo-fi rattiness. This time around though, the band enlisted the help of Rohan Sforcina (Dune Rats, Gold Class) and Ash Briody (Empat Lima, Sugar Fed Leopards) to tighten some screws.
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The surf twang that laced its way through the band’s debut is left behind on Debt Collector, making way for something a little more straight up rock and roll. The band establish a rollicking pace in the open seconds with relentless guitar strokes and belting one-two snare hits that smack you in the face and don’t let up until the track is done.
The chorus is a like a rusty fishhook that grabs you by the cheek and drags you into the water, with Leggatt’s smoky growl insisting that you still sing along.
That’s not to say the band have lost their surf groove though. There are plenty of 60s oooh’s in there, and a solid chunk of the track’s two and and half minutes are dedicated to a drunken, boogie-inducing guitar solo.
It’s these kind of elements that keep Going Swimming out of pure punk territory – a salty shimmer that makes them a band better for sunny days than grimy basements.
Debt Collector sees Going Swimming shake the sand off and join the ranks of surf punk purveyors like Dune Rats and Hockey Dad in their mayhem-inducing duties. It’s a huge step in the right direction for the band, one that we hope they’ll explore in their next release. But for now, I reckon that interviewer deserves a high five.
