The Ocean Party and Totally Mild will be names instantly familiar to anyone following Melbourne’s flourishing band scene, and the former’s Zac Denton and the latter’s Ashley Bundang have joined forces once again as the lead singers of new sextet Pregnancy.
I say ‘again’ as the two have already worked together in another local outfit, Ciggie Witch, but have taken a turn on their latest debut album Urgency, shifting markedly towards a beat and synth-driven ’80s sheen, with a moody undertow of post-punk drawing us in one starkly-plucked bassline at a time. It’s brilliant stuff and, while we’ve been big fans of each members’ earlier efforts, Pregnancy has potential to end up as the best iteration yet from this musical Megazord.
Inspirations range from personal tales grown out of Denton’s years spent in regional NSW, such as ‘Hard As Nails’, which mythologises the stubbornness of his grandmother, who refuses to leave her rural home despite being “nearly out of steam, hands always stained,” and with “constant aches”.
The more upbeat tale of lead single ‘First Kiss’ leaves the past behind, exploring Denton’s hunt for distance and separation, while other tracks leave reality behind in favour of stories woven for the characters discovered in the wonky frames of op shop paintings.
You might recognize a few of the band’s other members from an assortment of Melbourne acts over the past few years, with drummer Tyler Daglish playing in Howard, while Liam Halliwell has been found in most of the bands mentioned so far and has produced work for plenty of others like DIET.
Urgency will be out this Friday July 14 through Lost and Lonesome (and Emotional Response in the U.S.) with a vinyl version on its way, while ‘First Kiss’ is available now as a cassette single, and you can stream the record below. On the live front, you can see Pregnancy live when they hit up the Post Office Hotel on August 12, and also catch Denton & Co. as The Ocean Party set off on a massive Australian tour.
