JUKEBOX /// WEEKLY EARS - ECSR
EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING
The story goes that the members of Eddy Current Suppression Ring decided to form a band during a drunken jam at an office Christmas party. The "office" in that scenario was the Corduroy Records vinyl pressing plant in Australia. The story's captured on their first song, 2003's "So Many Things", a track with ragged, propulsive energy; a juvenile sense of humor; sloppy vocals; and a loud, meandering organ. It sounds like the sort of in-the-moment jam that could pop up at any work party-- people have clearly been drinking; the lyrics are frontman Brendan Suppression's bitter rambling about a woman: "I think about you here and there/ Only because you're a dickhead" and "I don't need your boobies/ I don't need your cute little bum." It's a rough artifact of their first foray in making music. It's also the opening track on the band's new Goner-imprinted singles compilation, which naturally teases out ECSR's chronological trajectory through B-sides and singles.
The band went on to become one of the most successful Australian band's of recent years winning the Australian Music Prize for their 2008 album Primary Colours and built a rabid following in Australia and overseas. But with success it seems the band never really left the Corduroy warehouse and their honesty and lack of pretension plus ability to produce amazing music helped make them one of the most endearing band's Australia has produced.
