Second Helping

Escapades did well for Hungry Kids Of Hungary. The record was a feature album on triple j, hit #23 on the ARIA charts, delivered six well-received singles, received multiple glowing reviews (including top marks from this publication) and led to numerous sell-out performances across the country. In the past year, the Brisbane band's debut has even taken off internationally – the group signing with Rough Trade to release the album in Europe last November.

“Massive amounts of surprise, disbelief and, eventually, joy,” vocalist/guitarist Dean McGrath says of his initial reactions to the band's success. “I mean, we feel very, very fortunate to have found the success we have so far – particularly overseas. Just to be able to go these places. For me, it's success in the nicest possible way. We get to do what we love and go to places we otherwise wouldn't have been able to visit. It's nothing but positives.”

It was the culmination of a three-year arc for the band. Forming in 2007, Hungry Kids Of Hungary had moved from strength to strength practically since inception. Their eponymous debut EP was embraced by Richard Kingsmill and triple j upon release while subsequent years would see them perform at the Big Day Out, sign with EMI-sponsored boutique label Stop Start and take home a QMusic Award for Song Of The Year (for 2010's Wristwatch).

“I think the first album was really a compilation. A bit of a grab-bag of different things. It was three years' worth of songs and there was never a real decision made about how the entire thing was going to be approached,” McGrath reflects. “In a way, I think that record kind of just came along at the right time. I actually think if it came out now, Escapades maybe wouldn't grab people as much as it did at the end of 2010.”

The band are currently preparing to follow up their debut. They've just recently released new single Sharp Shooter and will deliver their second album You're A Shadow in early-2013. Sharp Shooter is a different sound for the band. While never known as the most elaborate of outfits, Hungry Kids Of Hungary have still never delivered something quite so raw. Outside of the occasional burst of colour, it's little more than a snaking riff and percolating rhythm.

According to McGrath, it's indicative of a different kind of album for the band. The guitarist is trying to maintain a sense of perspective on the group's shift but it's clear that You're A Shadow will be a distinct departure from Escapades. Where that album was a breezy and kaleidoscopic pop record, You're A Shadow seems to be discussed in different terms. In discussing the title, McGrath reluctantly makes reference to it actually being a heavier record in some regards.

“It's just a bit more... Well, I don't want to say 'dark' because, obviously, it's not. It's still largely an upbeat pop record. It's just... things are a little bit more heavy,” he muses. “Not sonically – thematically. We were going through a bit more stuff and I think that's reflected in the record. You're A Shadow just seemed appropriate, really. It was a line in one of the songs that really resonated with me and, when I brought it up with the guys, we all thought it fit.”

From a distance, Hungry Kids Of Hungary have always seemed like something of a happy-go-lucky band. Part of a veritable wave of triple j-sponsored indie-pop bands to break through in the late-noughties, their initial sound and success spoke of spontaneity and non-committal immediacy. In a way, Escapades was an ideal title for their debut album – it played into the idea of talented young musicians goofing around and making songs for fun.

That's never actually been the case, though. While McGrath will always rightfully emphasise the joy the band get from writing and performing music, he'll also acknowledge that their members represent some of the most finicky and particular musicians in the country. You're A Shadow seems likely to supplant that idea of Hungry Kids Of Hungary as indie-pop funsters with a more realistic (and, frankly, fairer) appraisal: they're craftsmen.

“Oh, anyone who we've ever worked with will tell you that we are finicky and specific – to the point of being the most annoying guys in the world,” McGrath laughs. “Twenty different mixes of the same track! 'You've mixed this really well; now mix it again!' – you know, five changes to the hi-hat set up for a single track. This album was pretty much about finding someone who we only needed to mix a song twenty times instead of a hundred.”

In pursuit of their vision for a second album, the band churned through multiple producers, mixers and studios. They experimented with Magoo's Applewood Studios in Brisbane, attempted mixing in Berkfinger's studios in Berlin – before finally settling on Wayne Connolly and Alberts Studios in Sydney. It's the process of a band not looking to necessarily make a good second album – but freakishly determined to make their second album.

“We had a very finicky, very particular vision for what we wanted to do with this album,” McGrath explains. “It wasn't a massive shift. It probably seemed like a lot bigger change to us because we're inside it. We just wanted everything – from the songs to the production – to be a bit more organic. We didn't want to make a nice, shiny pop record. We wanted to rough the edges a little bit. Not spend a lot of time in the studio with overdubs or trying to fix things up.

“And then there were other things about the way the songwriting panned out and the arrangements. Just a different approach, really. I mean, really, we just wanted it to be cooler,” the guitarist laughs. “You know, I can't speak for the rest of the guys but that was my MO going in... I wanted to be more like an album that I'd actually listen to. And that's not knocking the first album, Escapades was what it was – but it was a compilation. My favourite albums are more rounded.”

It's going to make for interesting times for the band. Their initial success, while deserved, was in no small part predicated on the timeliness of their sound. Their kinetic eclectic indie-pop was very much in vogue in 2010. With both the band and the culture navigating away from that sound, You're A Shadow will be something of a gamble. Still, bearing out the theory that Hungry Kids Of Hungary are more craftsmen than pop stars, McGrath is untroubled.

“Well, obviously, we'd love it to do as well as Escapades,” the guitarist says candidly. “We'd love it to do better. Really, though, we'd done exactly what we set out to do and we've made a record that we love – and that will always be the most important thing for us.”