Ancient Wanderings

The Exploders were at one stage tickling the underbelly of the Australian musical consciousness, flirting coquettishly with national youth stations and leaving audiences in awe of their psych-inflected rock. Yet the band have never travelled a straight or obvious path, and it has been some time since they have graced local stages let alone assaulted the public with new sonic wares, giving way to the question: where have they been?

“We were playing a lot of shows at the end of the decade, 2007 and 2008, and after a while we all went our separate ways, doing our own thing and focusing on other bits and pieces,” Doery admits. “Things went on their own path and it was three years before we knew it. It wasn't a split, just a rest. Now we are dusting our guitars off so to speak, and remembering how to play with each other. Finally we are able to get the new stuff out; it's had a while to grow.”

That new material makes up Orche.Stratos.Pheric, their electric third record and first in more than five years. Although musically it is an easily accessible ride, filled with short sparks of Paisley-era rock and jagged bursts of '70s Led Zep/Bolan-esque theatrics, it is a concept album through and through, with themes that Doery admits are from a far-flung land.

“Those stories come [from] the darkest recesses of TJ [Allender]'s brain, and I have no idea what goes on in there,” he deadpans. “He has a fascination with the Roman Empire and ancient Greece, war and all that business, and the album stems from there. But past that, if anyone should know about TJ it's me, and I have no idea. Some of the characters are fairly obvious; some are a little more hidden. Neil the horse seems to be a bit of a favourite.”

The album was recorded for the most part three years ago, but getting the new material up and running was clearly an arduous task. “We did it all in between gigs and tours, back when we were still pretty active, and our last show was in 2009, so we expected the album to come out around then. But a few things cropped up, such as parting ways with management. We even misplaced the masters of the sessions at one stage, which is typical of us. So TJ and I said to each other 'Look, we've been playing flat out for a couple of years, we aren't going to play any more shows until we get the album out', thinking it would only be three to six months later. Then three years went by, and then the label said to us 'We're gonna put this out', so here we are.”

The inadvertent extended hiatus may mean they are a slightly rusty machine, but Doery asserts that The Exploders aren't going to settle into a psych jam mode and are ready to, well, explode.

“With [Orche.Stratos.Pheric] some of the songs were pretty elongated when we put them down, but we worked hard to trim that fat, plus TJ is one who gets bored easily, so he isn't a fan of those ten-minute jams that play just one note,” he says. “I totally agree, and so we trimmed away until what we had left was something punchy. All the best bits are jammed in there, so nothing is left to chance this time around.”

The Exploders will be playing the following shows:

Wednesday 19 September - Workers Club, Fitzroy VIC
Friday 21 September - Karova Lounge, Ballarat VIC
Saturday 22 September - National Hotel, Geelong VIC