Melbourne’s Children Collide‘s new single ‘Uh Oh’ is a slamming, dynamic piece of pounding rock’n’roll with its insistent rhythms and cool and louche vocals. All inflected with a psychedelic fugue. A hybrid of razor-sharp synths and fuzzy guitars and the cool, wry vocals, a stop/start spine and a swag bag full of attitude make for an enormously enjoyable post punk bash.
Filled with Australian imagery and an indelible insouciant air, it is an utter delight. Quite openly derivative of the best rock’n’roll tropes, Johnny Mackay says of the song:
Ryan and I were walking around a park in Melbourne early 2019 discussing immediate chord progressions that happen in classic rock songs when he said, ‘I think I have something actually.’ The next day he sent me the main riff of ‘Uh Oh’. Aside from the obvious Blur/White Stripes thing it has going on, there are nods to The Stooges, GOD, Prince and even our mates Pond buried in there. My favourite part is getting to sing the line ‘Like an emu scratching round in the outback of my mind’.
Directed by new bassist Chelsea Wheatley, the accompanying performance video is suitably psychedelic, as visually stimulating as the sound, and immensely immersive and cool:
This is a gang you desperately want to be in.
‘Uh Oh’ is available to stream and download now here.
Children Collide will be releasing an album entitled ‘Time Itself’ on 27 August 2021 (available for pre-order in digital formats as well as limited edition white 12” vinyl here) and embarking on a tour over the next few months in support of the single:
Thursday 27 May | Mo’s Clubhouse, Gold Coast QLD *
Friday 28 May | Solbar, Maroochydore QLD %
Saturday 29 May | Woolly Mammoth, Brisbane QLD *
Sunday 20 June | The Northern, Byron Bay NSW *
Wednesday 23 June | Oxford Art Factory, Sydney NSW *
Friday 25 June | La La La’s, Wollongong NSW #
Saturday 26 June | The Basement, Canberra ACT #
w/ special guests Full Flower Moon Band *, Fragile Animals % and Andy Clockwise #
