Track By Track: Bachelor Pad

HUW FARRELL from Sydney garage quartet Bachelor Pad dishes on their Owen Penglis-produced debut album ‘Dooming Out’, from repeated keyboard riffs to the most desirable breasts and thighs.

[Historical image is withheld pending rights review.]

‘All the Time’

I bought a 12-string guitar while I was holidaying in America last year. I noticed while I was over there that Americans have a weird habit of repeating things back to you as a question. “Where are you from?” “I’m from Australia.” “Oh you’re Australian?” This riff was the first thing I wrote on the 12-string when I got home. I was listening to lots of the Hard-Ons during my trip around the States, and Blackie’s amazing lead work on their poppier songs was a massive influence on me. Hopefully I’ll be able to write a song as good as the Hard-Ons one day.

‘Fried’

Grace (keyboard) and I spent a few years living in Kiama just south of Sydney as kids. I wanted to add another layer to the songs we were playing so I bought an old Farfisa Bravo for $50 on eBay. I lied to my boss of the time and said I had to pick my parents up from the airport to take the afternoon off work to drive down to Albion Park to pick it up. When our family used to make the trip from Kiama to Sydney, we always used to stop at the Maccas in Albion Park so that was a nice serendipitous moment. I think this song is pretty good.

‘Greaseball’

Tim (bass), myself and our good friend Paddy (who is one of the faces on the cover) all have a pretty unhealthy obsession with greasy, spicy chicken. We were talking about going to the Portuguese festival in Petersham to eat bulk amounts of chicken and although the trip down didn’t eventuate, I got a song out of it. Grace makes her vocal debut on this track and I think she nails the lines about having the most desirable breasts and thighs.

‘Let Me Go’

There was a period last year when I was completing my last semester of uni where my flatmates and I were watching a lot of daytime television. MacGyver reruns on 11 were a particular favourite, especially around exam time. This song was my attempt to express the monotony that dominated my life at the time as I procrastinated through my last months of tertiary education. My original demo had a much more straightforward drumbeat but Dave (our dearly departed drummer, who we lost to NYC) gave it a far more raucous feel with the beat that he brought to this recording. Rock on Gravey Train, rock on.

‘Johnny’

The main riff of this song is so extremely indebted to the work of John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees that it only seemed appropriate to name the song after him. There was a really obvious Oh Sees-style yelp just before the second chorus that I couldn’t resist throwing in but Owen [Penglis] wisely made us take it out. The bass provided by the Farfisa in this song has been known to shatter testicles.

‘Movin’ On’

In the post-Y2K world which we inhabit, it can be extremely easy to judge yourself against the digital lives of those around you. The main inspiration for this song comes from seeing all my mates putting up photos from their seemingly awesome overseas holidays or nights out or achievements and feeling inadequate about my own lifestyle choices. This song was extremely under-rehearsed when we went in to record and it took more takes than the rest of the album combined to come up with the version you hear today. After we recorded this song, the neighbours were knocking on the door complaining about the excessive noise and to be honest I don't blame them.

‘I Love Cops’

Cops is one of my favourite TV shows: everything from the moustaches to the Oakley M Frame sunglasses and mid-’90s hairstyles right through to the heavy-handedness of the police on the show makes for great viewing. Although I don’t necessarily agree with American attitudes towards law enforcement, watching someone get choke-slammed to the ground over a tiny amount of drugs is pretty funny after a few beers. As a middle-class white male I’ve never really had any problems with the law, but I can understand why some people have got beef with the pigs.

‘Never Coming Back’

Spoiler alert: the keyboard riff in this song is pretty much identical to the one in ‘Fried’. But hey, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. For all those playing along at home, see if you can spot the Magic Dirt reference in the lyrics.

‘Spag’

I wrote this song on a four-string guitar that I had detuned heavily in order to authentically play along to ‘Rock Lobster’ by The B-52’s. This is my favourite song on the album and I can’t wait to play it at our 2024 ‘Don’t Look Back’ concert series.

‘#1 Record’

Dave (drums) used to live in a house with a whole bunch of our mates above the 7/11 on King St in Newtown. To the left of their apartment was a tattoo parlour and on the right there was a laundromat so they could make as much noise as they liked. This translated into the place becoming a well-known after-party destination during the evenings and a place where you could jam nonstop during the day without consequence.

As a result, a lot of my spare time when I was living down the road and studying was spent there. Dave and I would get a routine going where we could get a coffee at a cafe across the road and perv on the girls who walked past before heading up to his place to play some music. The title is obviously tongue-in-cheek but fingers crossed.

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‘Dooming Out’ is out now independently on digital and an 100 run of uniquely coloured vinyl. They’re playing two gigs in Melbourne this weekend; info below.

Sat, Feb 1 – Grace Darling, Collingwood, VIC [9pm, $10, w/Ohms, Wet Blankets + Wet Lips]
Sun, Feb 2 – Minimum Wage @ Bar 291, Brunswick, VIC [4:30pm, free, w/Full Ugly + Monnone Alone]