On one hand, “III” is a big, fat rock record, full of monstrous guitar riffs, pounding basslines and thundering drums. On the other hand, it’s a defiantly avant-garde album, furiously intent on warping accepted notions of what music should sound like and joyously subverting expectations. Then, on the other hand (yes, a third hand), “III” is a glorious pop record, with hooks as big as harpoons, deliciously catchy choruses and vocal harmonies aplenty.
On “III”, Nunchukka Superfly have distilled influences as far-flung as krautrock, 60s pop, psychedelia, 70s hard rock, dub, 80s no-wave, punk and the 90s Amphetamine Reptile / Touch & Go scenes into a seamless blend that is guaranteed to see jaws everywhere making a beeline for the nearest floor.
“III” is an album of juxtaposition and of contrast; an album that is at once exceedingly challenging and greatly accessible; that is as populist as it is experimental; an album that is as likely to appeal to fans of Can or Sun Ra as it is Helmet aficionados or Melvins freaks.
For ample proof of how Blackie (guitars/vocals), Ray (bass) and Joel (drums) have rewritten the rulebook for Australian rock & roll, one need just listen to the motorik groover ‘Gelatine’, with its cruisy jam-band outro or the post-rock stylings and sinister spoken vocals of ‘Not All Of My Friends Are Happy’. And then there’s the monolithic ‘Fruit Fly Seller’, which almost sounds like ‘Through Silver In Blood’-era Neurosis as it builds to its gargantuan finale.
Conversely, the chorus of ‘Tattoo Shop Riff’ would not sound out of place on an album by Blackie and Ray’s other band The Hard-Ons, while tracks like ‘More Mint Sauce’ and ‘Couch’ are deceptively simple punked-up rock songs.
“III” is not necessarily the album we expected Nunchukka Superfly to make after the glorious ‘There Are No Accidents… Just Fuckwits’. But then, ‘There Are No Accidents…’ was not the album we expected two members of The Hard-Ons to come out with either. Instead, “III” is an album that is consistently surprising, constantly perplexing and – ultimately – completely fulfilling.
-Adam D Mills
