The Grogans Unravel The Disparate Connections Of New Album, 'Stagger'

When it comes to hard-working Australian musicians, it’s hard to look past the likes of The Grogans. Whether it’s their relentless gigging, their prolific songwriting, or their eagerness to spread the word of their slick musical stylings, fans are never left wanting when it comes to their work.

Having last released a new album by way of 2023’s Find Me A Cloud, the trio – comprising Quin Grunden, Angus Vasic, and Jordan Lewis – have already been hard at work on their fifth record.

Released today, Stagger is a unique piece of work for the group. Harnessing the stellar energy and skills that they’ve showcased throughout their already-impressive discography, it’s a genre-hopping collection of tracks that aren’t necessarily cohesive, but represent the patchwork aspect of their myriad influences that inform their work.

As the band themselves say, “Stagger explores yet another side to our music. It’s in no way a concept album; in fact, it’s almost the opposite. Some of these don’t necessarily fit together side by side in theory, but that’s the beauty of this album. 

“Stagger came from this idea that it was a jagged and stylistically different album track to track,” they add.

To celebrate the release of Stagger, The Grogans have shared an in-depth rumination on each of the record’s tracks, going deep on each song as they reflect on its creation, its inspiration, and how it effortlessly serves as one thread in the disparate yet cohesive tapestry that is Stagger.

01. Oh Boy

Oh Boy is a love song in a sense, but also is a song of reassurance. It’s easy to over complicate and worry in a relationship, and sometimes it’s best to just trust in love. The song refers to that feeling when you look at someone and know that they are your person, and you breathe out and say “oh boyyyy” knowing you’ve both got a good thing going. 

The track started from a couple of different demos we had sitting in the vault that never really fit anywhere, we just jammed parts of about three songs together to bring this track to life. It holds the same side of Grogs’ live and raw sound, but we feel it’s evolved and is moving along with us as we grow.

02. Come Up (Goes Down) 

Come Up stemmed from a jam we wrote at a practice one day, and that felt super tight and fresh. To us, it also has a sense of attitude and rawness about it. Lyrically, it ties to us when we were younger, driving around our old rust buckets around getting sunburnt, however, its main reason for being on this record is because it’s a sonic powerhouse of a tune.

03. In My Heart

There are things you can control and there are things that you can’t. Loving someone is very much the same as that. Leaning into the ebbs and flows of emotions between two people is pretty beautiful. It’s also simple in a sense, and it can be easy. Much like this song. In my heart, it was another turn for us stylistically, and it was a song that didn't need many elements to come together. Easy listening.

04. Have A Little Dream

A driving track that gets you moving, that crescendos through the outro. We tried to keep the live feeling in this one without heaps of overdubs and such. We tried not to overthink a lot of the tones, and also played around with dropping down the tuning, which we’ve never really done before.

The lyrics are open to interpretation, but were written somewhat about encouraging someone in your life to be more independent, but not forget to keep dreaming. 

05. Once In A While

This track fits into our cruiser, melodically drawn out psych type songs with big open, echoed instrumentation. Lyrically, it describes looking into a one-sided relationship and the worries that come with it. A nice, slower track that you can still sit back and tap your foot to. 

06. Social Cue

Social Cue is a straight down the line rock ‘n’ roll number with some good energy. More of a guitar and drum heavy track, the lyrics tell a story of one’s frustration towards another’s lack of respect and an encouragement to pull their finger out and listen up. Dig in and turn it up to eleven. 

07. Roll Back

Another different one for us. Sort of feels like it’s in a similar vein to Roundabout. More textual and spacious than previous releases. The main riff was written to emphasise the delay.

This was an instrumental for a long time. It was quite hard to figure out the melodies for. This type of track is part of the reason this album is called Stagger. All these tracks sit completely separate from one another. 

08. Roundabout

Constantly stuck in the same motion repeatedly, much like a roundabout. Every day feels like it’s a mirror of the last, and sometimes those around you are the only thing that keeps our sense of self together. 

09. Happier Man

A sludgey heavy song that trudges through the more psych realm is a fun live song to play. Lots of grunt but also a lot of personality. The strive to be a better and happier person should be a goal for everyone.

10. Worry About Everything

It is easy as a human to continually compare, stress and worry over the small stuff. Trying to be still and content with what you have and what you love is something that many of us need to work on. This song is purely based on this idea.

11. All My Days

This track outlines the beauty and the beast within live music and the personal struggle with the lifestyle that comes with it. A song that, if you delve into the lyrics, you can feel the struggle, but also a song with some uplifting energy and melodies that will get ya going. 

The Grogans’ Stagger is out now.