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No Human
No human But you, man Could sit in my room and Look like the woman that you are No human But you, man Has eyes so blue and Luaane I dont wanna break you’re heart Once upon a time we were something Once upon a time a while ago Once upon a time when we would write these kinds of songs Once upon a time we got alongNo human But you, man Could face certain doom and Look at the twinkle in the starsNo…
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Better
It’s been weeks It’s been months Since i’ve felt like myself It’s been a hell of a long time Since the snails left the shell Since the lions left the den Since the bears left his old cave Since they’ve seen you on your throne And they’ve seen you on a stage Sometimes it’s rough like you’re stuck in the mud And probably things might still get harder I know you know that in time things will…
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R H y S
R H y S
Im not saving face Im just not wasting another breath On this case Its been 5 days And the evidence is inconclusive Baby its been ages since those days spent in Malaysia I been waiting for a chance to escape Back to melbourne central station R H Y SAnother day another dollar Another play another drama Mama i dont want no part of Your production, can’t be bothered Critics flocking from the…
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Together Now
All of the crap that i said that i would do for months Is it a fart, or will i actually follow through for once? Or will it fall apart and simply crumble, into the dust again? I’ve got it in my eyes from the floor that i’m not sweeping And a sore tummy from a plan i won’t be keeping Maybe its hunger or maybe under sleeping again I need to get my life together now I need to get my life together…
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In My Room
The clothes I wanna wear today Everything I wanna say The only place I wanna stay And everything i haven’t put away It’s all in my room (Oooooh) It’s all in my room (Oooooh)And I’m addicted to the way I am And all the things you say I am (I am) It’s not impossible to change a man And in my room I stand a chance It’s all in my room (Oooooh) It’s all in my room (Oooooh) It’s all in my room…
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My mate dropped his new EP on Spotify today and it’s just so fucking good
Rhysics @ The Croxton
On a Saturday night, March 18th, a little punk rock outfit called Rhysics prepared for a midnight gig at The Croxton in Thornbury, in the heart of Melbourne’s North. Rhysics’ set was following a stacked lineup of beloved, Australian bands led by Dune Rats, who were performing for their national tour with Australian legends Skeggs and Gooch Palms in tow. Rhysics’ late night, bookend show proved a perfect, pleasant send off for a night full of debaucherous, and free-spirited fun.
Rhysics are a band whose style is self described as “children's music for adults”. With that playful description in mind, Rhysics seem a perfect band to perform as an epilogue to a Dune Rats led lineup of bands who have built a following based around their feel good energy, cool, skater, stoner mystique and commitment to having a good time. They are, in effect, bands composed of adult sized children, which is no knock on their musical ability or quality. It's part of their appeal, it's what makes their music, and the positive vibes it represents so enjoyable, to so many. Bands like these allow us to live vicariously, for a moment, in a different state of mind. One where we are more relaxed, more fun, and face fewer serious, real life challenges, basically, one where we can be big kids and just chill out, bro.
Rhysics’ music exists within the same sort of musical and cultural sphere as just described, though with less of the postured bravado, and Aussie-bro culture traps which many bands of the genre sometimes fall into. Rhysics, led by the eponymous, and hugely likeable frontman Rhys Renwick, exude an atmosphere somehow both cool and relaxed, despite the propulsive, galvanizing power of their music. Their music hits similar sonic beats as other bands in the Melbourne garage scene, but their songs are imbued with a sense of homegrown earnesty, and are anchored by Rhys’ lyrics, which bleed personality throughout the songs, despite their relatively simple narrative focuses. That’s why when Rhysics get the whole room bouncing to songs like ‘Good Dad’, an ode to honest, good fathers everywhere, it feels natural, and importantly, despite the inherent ridiculousness of the scenario, it feels fun. It's entirely possible Rhysics don't think their music is particularly worthwhile, as implied by their descriptions of it as childish, or just “shit”, as seen on their bandcamp website, but it's that casually self deprecating attitude and lack of self-seriousness which makes people seriously enjoy them.
While the Dune Rats spin punk rock bangers from diamonds like the timeless, culture bomb that is: “at a party, who’s Scott Green?”, their lyrics and their music come off as tongue in cheek, fun, but not all that genuine. Bands such as Dune Rats know the role they play and why they're well liked, so while their songs are undeniably a good time, sterile, manufactured ethos like that they can never contend with the personality and warm authenticity of bands like Rhysics.
Prior to Rhysics taking the stage, droves of sweaty, drunken and merch-clad punters swarmed from the bandroom and took to the street to take a much needed cigarette break, to calm their post-mosh jitters. Inside, shattered glass covered sticky floors. Outside, excited groups of people formed dart-circles around the piles of vomit dotting the sidewalk while eagerly, and loudly reminiscing over the shows they had just seen. The look on many of their faces implied that a great and hedonistic time had been had by all. The night was hardly over, though, the eagerness for more was palpable in the air.
I reached out to Henry Osborne, the bassist and backup vocalist of Rhysics, who said that arriving at the venue “it felt clear that a lot of the Dunies crowd were keen to see a bit more of something… It was a pretty good vibe coming off them all” and added that “Dune Rats as well as Skeggs and Gooch Palms facilitate that pretty well, their songs are about having fun and I think our music complimented that”.
Despite the musical similarities between between Rhysics and the bands which played before them, it's possible that they are not quite as aligned in image, and identity as it may appear on the surface. As Rhysics fan, and fellow musician Jordan Oakley eagerly explained to me after the show: “Rhysics does not really identify with the dunies, macho, singlet-wearing audience… Rhys’ (lead vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist) personality and image clashes with other “bro bands”. A guy with a fringe and a bob singing about good dad’s. What a contrast”. He added that the whole event had “had this sort of ridiculous after hours sort of feel to it” and proposed that to Rhysics, perhaps the show carried a element of “we’re here on this stage so let’s just make the most of it, and have fun”, alluding to the band perhaps feeling out of place.
It’s possible that Jordan was correct, but whether or not Rhysics took inspiration from a sense of not belonging is, in the end, irrelevant. What is relevant is that they kicked arse: whether or not they were a perfect fit, Rhysics’ easily won over their crowd, and commanded their late timeslot with aplomb.. As Henry Osborne stated it, it was a night with a “faint hint of delinquency… but yeah, all good fun”.
Interview w/ Rhys Renwick (Rhysics, Woo Who, Scraggers)
Rhys Renwick is an endless musical polymath. A talented multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter, his musical resume extends to several projects most of which I am not too familiar with! While I may not always understand his craft, it definitely takes a degree of hard work to maintain high profiles into two significant Melbourne groups - the synthpop project Rhysics as well as scuzzy garage rockers Woo Who. With a new EP on the way for Rhysics, what’s in store for this talented kid?
Here’s our chat.
So! Rhys. You've got an EP coming out super soon, but you've also got a pretty big online discography lying about. When did Rhysics start?
I assume it's more of a solo project or at least more self driven than your other band most people are familiar with, Woo Who?
Rhysics basically started by accident. I uploaded (Rhysics song) Casionova to Triple J Unearthed just to test Unearthed and forgot about it. When I went back like a couple weeks later it had all these insane reviews from triple j hosts and all these people, and then Lucy (Fry, also drums in Highschool Rivals) and Kyle King (Woo Who bandmates) went on holidays for a month - so I was like, alright, I’m gonna record an album. This was November last year.
That's awesome. The internet is strange in that spontaneous kind of way I guess, though more than anything I guess its testament to the quality of the song(s). Are you happy with this accident or did you wish you could've done things differently?
Casionova is a synthpoppy little ball of fun. I was surprised because again, I mainly knew you from your more guitar-y work in other bands. What drew you to synths in this project?
Keyboards are how I started in music so theres probably some nostalgia. But I also love analog and really crappy keyboards because they always surprise you. You’re not playing a synth - you’re workin’ with it. It’s writing for you as much as you are for it. I’m just honestly surprised that song was liked by anyone because its pure 100% me.
But I mean, that's all you could really give, isn't it? Its such a rare story though in an era of bands spending tons of money on promotion, for this organic sort of thing to happen. Its great.
Any particular synths you're fond of!
Shit dude you don’t wanna get me started on that!
Hahaha!
My pride and joy is my Arturia Microbrute. Thats the lead synth on nearly every song. I also love my SK1 and a crappy yamaha that has some really weird fun sounds. I think i have like 15 or so keyboards at this stage and only 2 of them cost more than 20 dollars so i have a lot of no name keyboard brands that i love for different weird sounds they have.
The Arturia is great. I've got a real bias for the Microkorg myself! Haha.
Mentioning all these crappy keyboards got me thinking. Something I love doing on this blog is trying to relate a Melbourne band to, say, a somewhat more out there overseas artist. Without necessarily copying.
I mentioned in my last interview with Yura (Iwama, Culte) that she reminded me a little of Grouper. Are you aware of a band called Casiotone for the Painfully Alone? They make these really sad pop songs with budget keys.
Yeah dude - I love their stuff. And all the songs from Adventure Time too.
Yes! I was trying to find like, the DNA of your stuff. Its a little bit Casiotone and a little bit Devo at times too
Its’ that nostalgia from hearing and playing cheap keyboards as a kid that I think a lot of people relate to, but I guess instead of creating real sad tunes and a super emotional response like CTFTPA i like to have fun with it and get stuck in people’s heads and make them boogie out a bit.
That's definitely a new way of approaching that sound, I guess. So many of my favourite artists are sad emo keyboard bands.
Good to see some sunshine! Ok so, you've got a new thing coming out soon. Anything we can expect? Any drastic changes in sound or self indulgent sonic experiments
This EP was written because i got myself a 6 piece band so the songs are loud as and have a lot going on. Its’ probably the loudest EP I’ve done and we have so much fun playing it live. The songs have up to 30 tracks each and they’re all one take live tracks.
That's nuts - super elaborate stuff. It's such a change considering your other project, Woo Who, has a degree of minimalism about it. Which leads me to my next thing!
Apart from Rhysics, what are some of your other projects? You're a funny and lighthearted guy but I mean, you're super hard-working, gig wise. Doesn't seem to be a day you're not playing anything.
I Get restless when I’m not doin anything too long. Rhysics keeps me pretty busy, I’ve already got the next 2 EP's written and I’m still writing 2-3 songs a day. Woo Who also has some big exciting stuff coming.
And, I’m not meant to talk about it but management is talking about a Scraggers summer reunion tour.
Oh, Scraggers. Hahaha. I'm generally not a fan of scrappy garage (sorry) but I admire anything anyone's doing.
Two more things before we done! Who are some acts in Melbourne you're really hyping right now and where we can find your music, gig info, etc?
Can someone please tell Waterfall Person I love her.
bandcamp.com/rhysics
facebook.com/RHYSICS
ig: @rhysics_
Twitter: @rhysics
https://soundcloud.com/rhysics
Rhysics’ EP launch is Friday at The Grace Darling Hotel Basement (https://www.facebook.com/events/504703719739487/?ti=icl)
... And you can download the new EP, rhy666, at rhysics.bandcamp.com/album/r-h-y-6-6-6
Cheers Rhys~
