Music You Can’t Dance To

There’s punk, there’s hardcore and then there’s nunchuck attacks on public transport. The music of Perth’s Extortion falls somewhere between the last two categories, writes TIM SCOTT.

[Historical image is withheld pending rights review.] As the front guy of a semi-famous hardcore band, a lot of Rohan Harrison’s time is spent answering email interviews from kids in Belarus or Wisconsin, asking inane questions such as, “Where can I buy a shirt?” It’s not a task he exactly relishes.

“Yeah I get that question a lot. And a lot of, ‘You sound angry. What pisses you off?’ Of course the correct response is, ‘Getting the same questions over and over from unimaginative kids from Indiana.’”

Hailed by many as an Australian hardcore punk classic, Extortion’s first EP was a blunt blow of youthful rage. Influenced by Infest and Crossed Out – two legendary US “power violence” (a nascent form of speedy thrash and hardcore punk) acts – it had everything you could want in a hardcore record. It was short, fast and loud with a heavy negative vibe. While now highly sought after, the band doesn’t think much of the recording.

“In my opinion it’s pretty shit to tell you the truth,” says Harrison. “Poorly written songs for the most part and the recording is a bit iffy. The drums sound shoddy because Rhys had only been playing drums for a few months. He had great ideas but didn’t quite have the skills to pull it all off. We had to cull a lot of songs that just came out shit from that recording session and just the best of it is the EP.

“It’s pretty much a collection of the songs we wrote while we were still trying to find our own sound and learn to play our instruments.”

With the release of their debut album Degenerate, Extortion soon attracted worldwide attention – the LP was released in the US by reputed punk label Deep Six. In 2008, they returned with their second full-length album Sick, which included songs such as ‘Wake Up Fucked’ followed by ‘Phone in Sick’.

With the success of the albums came the interviews from Indiana and for a while it seemed the band were bigger overseas than in Australia.

“Considering the style of music we play, we’re actually not doing too bad in Australia for some reason I can’t quite fathom. Hype maybe. But yeah, mindless punk rock appeals to a certain type of person namely mindless punk rockers, and it seems there aren’t too many of them over here [Perth]. Too much sun. Mohawks go floppy in the heat.”

“We get a lot of blank stares and occasional polite clapping after songs.”

From the Scientists to Snowman, every interview with a Perth band invariably mentions the city’s isolation and then follows with phrases like “cultural incubator” or “the lonely Nullarbor stretch’. This one is no exception.

“Its pretty random over here in Perth, sometimes we’ll play shows to almost no one, sometimes to sizeable crowds. They all just stand and watch, which is understandable considering we don’t really play music you can dance to. We get a lot of blank stares and occasional polite clapping after songs.

“I think a lot of the reason the shows are so good when we play Sydney and Melbourne is due the fact we tour so rarely, so people kind of make an effort.”

Though Harrison might claim it’s music you can’t dance to, the band have developed a cult-like following on the east coast, partly because of their shambolic live shows that feature spazz-out dance moves and overall wild times.

“To tell the truth, after a song or two I barely know what’s going on in front of me at shows, as I have trouble pacing myself and end up with big green spots in front of my eyes and difficulty standing upright due to oxygen deprivation.

“I don’t really care about spazzing out. When I’m enjoying a band I’m usually just watching them. And if I’m really feeling it, maybe I’ll do something extravagant like tap my foot or something, so I can keep watching the band and listening to the music. All the fireworks are internal.”

[Historical image is withheld pending rights review.]

With wild live shows and misanthropic lyrics, Extortion are often compared to fellow Perth punks, the notorious Rupture who, over their career, have been both championed (“uncompromising and confrontational”) and vilified (“red neck racist morons”). Both bands have just released a split 5” on an obscure German label and Extortion drummer Dean once played in Rupture.

“Well Dean joined after we were already in full swing, though having someone who had played in Rupture was quite fitting I think. While we’re definitely a ‘feel-bad’ band and generally have a very pessimistic tone, we are nowhere near as blatant or perverse as Rupture and subsequently haven’t received too much harassment. This is good for me as I definitely don’t have the patience to deal with whiners.”

Extortions next split is with a band with a little more positivity -Melbourne’s Agents of Abhorrence, a release which will match up two of the country’s finest exponents of super-fast punk.

“While we’re quite different I guess the aim is the same, which to put it simply is speed. The split came about because we’re friends and we both appreciate the different way each band goes about making stupidly fast music. I think I put the idea to Ben at a My Disco show here in Perth and he was into it.”

Despite all the talk of speed, vitriolic lyrics and crazed performances, it’s somewhat surprising to find Harrison playing more mellow tunes on his iPod.

“Man I’m really into heaps of super wussy stuff like Radio Dept, Midlake, Bill Fox, Guy Blackman, Tennis Coats, Stereolab, Caribou, Beatles etc. Different moods call for different music. Hardcore is pretty energetic music and I’m no athlete. It’s good to relax sometimes.”

EXTORTION NYE SHOW

Wednesday, December 31
East Brunswick Club, Melbourne, VIC
w/Ledenden Toten + White Male Dumbinance + Pathetic Human and the Assassinators

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