We are very honoured to bring you an exclusive early listen to a limited edition split single package including ‘Birthday’ and ‘Hibernate’ from iconic nineties band Big Heavy Stuff, off the reissue of the band’s classic third EP ‘Covered in Bruises’ due out soon. Remixed and mastered by the legendary producer Wayne Connolly and released through the precious Love As Fiction Records in Perth, this EP featured Greg Atkinson (from Ups & Downs), Carolyn Polley (Toys Went Berserk), Nick Kennedy and Eliot Fish, the latter two who appear regularly in Backseat Mafia through their various Marrickville Sound bands.
The singles package therefore represents a precious slice of musical history and is released for tomorrow’s Record Store Day. But you get to have an early listen of the re-mastered tracks which include elements from the original recordings that were never released, including vocals from the legendary Peter Milton Walsh (The Apartments) and guitars from Sidewinder’s Nick Craft on ‘Birthday’.
The new mix is crystal clear and visceral with the chugging guitars of ‘Birthday’ liquid and crystalline under the yearning vocals with the distant harmonies. The bass and drums combine to create a prowling underbelly and the lyrics have a self-deprecatory humour.
You’re not popular, but all that will change when sonic youth play at your birthday
Raw and visceral with hints of feedback chaos at the edges – this is a perfect mix of nineties grunge and psychedelic paisley jingle jangle that sounds as fresh and as vital today as it ever did.
‘Hibernate ’97’ with its rolling drums and brittle guitars eases back on the volume and power but remains no less intense: a reflective track that recalls lazy summer afternoons in a chemical fugue, filled with a sense of yearning. Again, the new mix adds a sparkling sheen that is crisp and fresh.
Two other tracks appear on the digi-pack release – the urgent short sharp fuzz of ‘Voodoo Dolly’ and the wandering twists of the southern-flavoured instrumental ‘Max Crawl’.
This split digital single accompanies the limited edition Record Store Day 2025 CD digipak single, limited to 100 copies, available from Love As Fiction Records website and instore at Redeye Records in Sydney on 12 April 2025.
The remixed ‘Covered in Bruises’ EP will then be released as a double album with new and unreleased material, all transferred from the original analogue tapes and re-mixed and mastered by Connolly. Another amazing curation from Love As Fiction Records.
Feature Photograph: Sophie Howarth
