Why Their Latest Album Sounds 'Like A Dumpster Fire'

The Music converses with The Bronx frontman Matt Caughthran on Australian release day for the punkers' new record V. Unsurprisingly, his dual feelings of enthusiasm and mild apprehension are palpable down the phone line. "I love the record, but it's like anything, you spend too much time you can just over-think it and there's an anxiety that comes along with releasing a record, something that you love," he reflects. "It's a tricky thing trying to figure out whether or not you want to get wrapped up in that thing about, like, record reviews and this and that. Your tendency is to get involved because you want to know what people think, but sometimes... It kinda ends up fucking with you more than it does anything else." 

The infusion of another element to the Los Angeles rockers' latest offering is also a discussion point for the singer. Namely, guitarist Joby J Ford's discovery of a talkbox, utilised on a couple of the new cuts. "It's hilarious, because he's got to breathe into that little tube on this, like, old Peter Frampton guitar thing... But this record was super-cool that way. Rob Schnapf who produced it, he had all this super-old vintage gear - vintage amps, vintage everything - and it just gave the sound of the record; it just sounds kind of like a dumpster fire. It's super-nasty, super-dirty and super-trashy, and that's what we wanted."

Complementing this abrasive, sometimes melodic musical approach is its lyrical tack, which the singer admits is "all over the place". "I was watching a lot of Forensic Files and murder mysteries, Menendez documentaries and the Challenger explosion. The political state of the USA is a mess right now, so there's a little bit of that in there. A couple of personal songs are on the record, just about... A little bit of depression I battled and a couple of other things in there. There's some songs about the organised religion thing that's creeping back up in the USA right now, because of the President and all that stuff. It's just a weird time to be here. There's so much technology and there's so much just awesomeness happening, but then it's like, we're moving forward, but we're moving backwards at the same time." 

Despite the 24-hour news cycle and social media readily affording platforms that many artists are willing to utilise, some musicians appear reluctant to openly outline a political stance for fear of potentially alienating sections of their fanbase. "It should be their choice as to whether or not they want to dive in artistically, enter the arena of politics," Caughthran says. "I get it. I mean, The Bronx isn't really a political band, but there are certain things that we jump on just because it feels right in the moment. I think there's definitely spots where people can... People can fake politics too, man. People can write songs about 'fuck Trump, fuck this and fuck that' and they can not know what they're talking about. They could not mean it, they could just be riding along. Politics is personal... I think it's up to themselves whether or not they want to get involved in that. But if you get involved, mean it. You've got to mean what you say nowadays, whether you're cracking jokes, talking politics or whatever. The time for just mindless rambling and insincere words is over. It's time to at least stand up, and stand by, what you say."

There will be little avenue for misinterpretation or insincerity when The Bronx again bring their high-intensity live performances to one of their strongest markets: Australia. Their upcoming jaunt will consist of shows with punk mainstays Pennywise as well as headlining gigs. Caughthran says their Mariachi El Bronx alter ego won't be joining them this time around, though.

"There's so many [fond memories of Australia]. One specifically about Pennywise was when Fletcher [Dragge, guitar] cut himself open on Soundwave. Fletcher came up on stage while we were playing, smashed a vodka bottle and cut himself open, screamed that The Bronx was the greatest band on the planet, stumbled off into the night and the story continues from there. But that was amazing."

The man-mountain guitarist's reputation for off-stage antics precedes him. Has he mellowed at all as the years progress? "He's crazier than ever, man," Caughthran laughs. "He's like a fine wine, he just gets better and better with age. There's that theory that when crazy people get around other crazy people, that it just kind of amplifies the energy. Quite honestly I'm not really sure if we're going to make it out of Australia alive on this next tour. I'm hopeful, but I'm also very scared," he chuckles.