Aussie punk legends Frenzal Rhomb are the gift that keeps on giving. Just like the Energiser Bunny, the guys seem to just keep on trucking where others half their age would have put up the white flag.
While their music has an irresistibly infectious charm to it, there’s no doubting much of Frenzal Rhomb‘s staying power is down to their laconic sense of humour and general no fucks given attitude in the face of adversity. Throughout their career, they have offended everyone from radio hosts to television hosts to croupiers at the casino, but, more importantly than that, they have gotten away with it. Which I guess isn’t that hard to do when you are able to brush things off with a strum of the guitar and a flash of attitude and move on.
That’s not to say Frenzal Rhomb are snotty-nosed and disrespectful – although they have more than enough of those attributes to go around – but when you realise that it is possible to have and voice an opinion without being a wanker about it, then the world suddenly opens up, and the walls move out a little.
Which is all a long-winded way of saying that Frenzal Rhomb are Australian punk walking dinosaurs for the simple reason that they only take things seriously that are meant to be taken that way and subscribe to the theory that when all else fails play some music and have a laugh and maybe things will turn out not quite as bad as you thought they might be.
Which is possibly why they are still welcome at otherwise metal-only gatherings to shoot the shit and play some tunes.
HEAVY recently caught up with the man with the flowing locks and the voice of Frenzal Rhomb, Jason Whalley, to talk about the band’s enduring legacy and hopefully find out the reasons why the band is still the toast of the music world. With debate already circling around whether Frenzal Rhomb are representing the Froth or the Fury at next year’s event, we ask Jason to set the record straight.
“Oh, listen, we’re a big Froth band,” he declared. “There’s not a lot of Fury going in our world these days, but still a lot of froth.”
We mention the line-up, which includes Polaris, Soulfly, Nailbomb, Comeback Kid, Lagwagon and In Hearts Wake and ask where Frenzal sits on the musical merry-go-round.
“I’m looking forward to being the least heavy band on the entire line up,” he smiled. “I think it’ll be some pleasant relief for people to hear some nice three-part harmonies, a bit of Linda Ronstadt… a bit of The Eagles, maybe?”
Which begs the question: is Jason even a fan of heavier music?
“Oh God, I don’t like any music,” he laughed. “No, I do like some heavy music. I feel like when I’m being screamed at for longer than probably 15 minutes, then I start getting the shits. But those 15 minutes are good. When I can’t understand one lyric for, 10 to 15 minutes, then I’m like, don’t make me look at the Internet to find out what you’re saying. I’m just going to assume that you’re not a Nazi.”
In the full interview, we talk about the recent A Man’s (Still) Not A Camel Tour, the fact that Frenzal are still a musical force so deep into their career, why he thinks festival organisers keep asking for Frenzal Rhomb to play on heavier line-ups and where Frenzal sit amongst so much aggression plus heaps more.
Frenzal Rhomb play both Perth and Adelaide legs of Froth & Fury, tix HERE
