60s Garage Pop brilliance from Jake Robertson (Ausmuteants / School Damage)!!!!

Less than 12 months on from the triumphant rock ’n’ roll record that was Stained Glass, Australia’s most tasteful sonic culinary artiste Jake Robertson serves up another platter in his never-ending, ever-extending Alien Nosejob banquet.

Since initially firing out similar flavours on his first offering, Alien Nosejob has conquered the challenges of disco, hardcore, new wave, rock and roll (all drowned in his characteristically sweet sense of humour) before finally returning back to his musical roots: the jangly, adolescent feel of 1960’s garage.

After one of Jake’s first bands, The Frowning Clouds, reunited for a few shows in September 2022, he found himself digging up old songs and riffs from the period – some spanning back to as early as 2006 and up until around 2012. This record features many of those song ideas – some reworked, some rewritten, some exactly the same. All together now as one hot package. 

Leaning into his musical tastes from the Clouds’ period of existence, Jake digs up inspiration in some teenage staples: The Troggs, Mike Furber, the under-appreciated bands that make up the Shutdown ’66 / Back from the Grave compilations. Without overdoing the sugar, salt, MSG, whatever you wanna call it… this record was recorded by Jake all by his lonesome over a weekend in his garage. There’s no paisley shirts, no skinny-ties, no winkle-pickers, no slim-fit suits and no haircuts – just Jake and his 1964 MacBook Pro.

Garage rock revival is a sound that’s often overdone, drenched in nostalgia and small-minded attitudes, but this album is not just a throwback to the sounds of yesterday. It doesn’t belong with the golden oldies or your usual garage resuscitations. Anti Fade Records (AU) and Goner Records (US) are proud to present, “The Derivative Sounds of… Or… A Dog Always Returns to its Vomit.” The sixth piece of Alien Nosejob’s eternal buffet and the “all you can eat” of record titles. 

Our take: It’s wise to drop the needle on any new Alien Nosejob record with zero expectations, as mastermind Jake Robertson has a habit of reworking the project’s sound for every record. Here at Sorry State, we’re partial to the two hardcore records ANJ released on Iron Lung Records, but I’ve enjoyed every Alien Nosejob record I’ve heard. Robertson seems like one of those consummate musician types for whom songwriting is second nature, and even if he’s experimenting with his music’s window dressing, the core of it will always be well-written and interesting. This new LP was inspired by a reformation of Jake’s old 60s garage-style band the Frowning Clouds, with many of these songs, riffs, and ideas upcycled from that bands’ 2006-2012 run. While these songs reflect Robertson’s ever-sharpening songwriting chops, he hews closely to the 60s garage / psych template, though the production and the punkiness of the performances reminds me more of the 80s Paisley Underground bands than the 60s originals. One thing I really like about this style is that songs tend to feature both strong instrumental hooks and strong vocal / lyrical hooks… often a song will start with a big instrumental hook, then build tension through one or more verses and release it in the chorus and/or the middle eight. When it works well, the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts, and that’s the case with many of these tracks.