For a number of years we’ve been following the Brisbane ‘slacker-rock’ indie band, Cedarsmoke, thanks to the band’s ear-peeking, honest lyrics, and a gritty, yet catchy sound.
The band’s latest single, “Pure Heroin,” is proof-perfect.
“Pure Heroin is a song about Rom-Coms and punk rock,” says vocalist and multi-instrumentalist frontman John Cloumassis. “Specifically, it focuses on the life and death of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen,” he says, adding, “musically, we tried to offset their tragic story with a catchy chorus and bright synth sounds, but it’s still a fairly dark song.”
The band often makes picayune observations of down and out of luck characters wrapped inside of metaphor-heavy lyrics and the band’s own brand of Down Under indie rock music.
Last year the band wowed us with their debut E.P., False Start to the Rat Race, featuring singles like “Easy” and “Contraband.”
Ia addition to Cloumassis, the band members are Tom Picton (keyboards, glockenspiel); Yarnell Fischer (lead guitar); Rhys Carroll (bass) and Lewis Heffernan (drums).
Back in 2015, these five young mates from Brisbane decided that since they were already hanging out all of the time, they might as well do something they all loved to do – make music.
And there the seeds for the formation of the band were sowed.
The band, according to Cloumassis, wrote and rehearsed more than 50 songs, many of which spanned various genres from rock to folk, from which the songs for their debut EP, False Start to the Rat Race.
Perhaps the strongest track on the album is the sweet number “Easy,” which Cloumassis says “started when our guitarist Yarnie [Fischer] was playing some chords during a jam about a week before we were booked to start recording the album. It was written and rehearsed pretty quickly after that.”
Soon after the debut, Cedarsmoke began playing local gigs and attracting praise from the city’s picky music audiences who have seen a lot of talent come and go over the years.
The band has opened for artists such as Mermaid Avenue, Grace Turner, Leichardt, Lachlan X. Morris, and Jordan Merrick. They are most influenced by Wilco, Arcade Fire, Band of Horses, The National, Bright Eyes, The War on Drugs, and Bob Dylan.
MP3: “Easy“ – Cedarsmoke from Traffic On Solitude Road
Bonus Track: “Contraband“ – Cedarsmoke from Traffic On Solitude Road