HITTING HOME RUNS

It’s called Weirder & Weirder. Despite the title, there is nothing particularly weird about Ball Park Music’s latest LP. Unless, of course, you consider the ability to crank out seven albums worth of well-crafted indie pop across an eleven year career spookily supernatural.

Formed in Brisbane, scarcely Australia’s weirdest city, the band’s debut album was released in 2011. The new one came out in May 2022 and continues a fine run of LPs offering creative songwriting, quirky themes and a willingness to embrace flavours from classic pop to psychedelia. Where does the new one fit into the stadium of Ball Park Music? Well, that will be an individual ranking of course, yet few would dispute its quality pushes it towards the apex of the  diamond. The melodies are strong and the lyrics idiosyncratic, while the five-piece deliver a clear accessible sound with plenty of sonic variety. All very positive, eh?

A guitar-based album should kick off with a blast and Weirder does that very nicely indeed with "Manny". This hip-shaking stomper makes clever use of space and density while appearing to be about letting your mobile phone languish for a while.

Ten percent

Five percent

One percent

And you’re free

"Pleb rock" is a power pop gem, a song fellow Brisbanites Custard might applaud. Main songwriter Sam Cromack doesn’t seem starry-eyed about pop stardom, if this lyric is anything to go by. Indeed, there is a hint of ennui in the song which follows, "Stars in my eyes". The anthemic chorus contrasts with the vocal tone; we can wave our arms and have a tear as well. That’s one of the big attractions of this kind of indi pop. The grin and the sigh, the salt in the caramel.

Talking of "Caramel", this lovely song posits that rainbow coloured ice cream is really caramel flavour then briskly moves on to ponder the casual elimination of insects by big careless humans. When it comes to lyrics, the line between quirky and offhand is sometimes blurry, but Cromack mostly holds his balance. The title track, for instance, is the kind of childhood flashback you get after one too many Bundy and Cokes, but the line "My mind is a casserole" is original and wry; a bit mushy, a mess of ingredients.

"Sunscreen" was the first single from the new album, coming out in October 2021. Like many songs in this set, it has a sunny sound and a darker heart. "I give life four out of ten", sings Sam Cromack. "Writing hand" has swathes of mellotron and a dreamy feel though its single verse is in stark contrast with the layered vocals that fill the latter part of the song. It’s a glass half-full / half-empty trick Ball Park Music do so well.

Like so much music coming out this year, the genesis of Weirder & Weirder was a pandemic journey. The band convened just before borders closed and set themselves the task of focussing on the songwriting and the arrangements. That cohesion can be heard in some of the deft musical touches and little puffs of experimentalism. Fans of the band will be delighted, whilst newcomers are more than likely to want to work backwards through the Ball Park Music catalogue. One thing is for sure, both groups will award Weirder & Weirder considerably more than four out of ten.

© Bruce Jenkins — October 2022