Brisbane has been a hotbed for some of the best Australian music in recent years, with bands like Violent Soho and Dune Rats making big waves overseas.
Add to that list The Jungle Giants, who have fully evolved from the jangly indie pop exemplified on their 2013 debut Learn To Exist to accommodate the huge amount of influences thrust upon the young band in the three years since.
2015’s Speakerzoid saw the beginning of this evolution – delving deep into organic, warm psych-pop as it did – and with the final tour for that sophomore album now on a roll, the four-piece are looking to expand their creativity even further.
“Creative freedom is a good term for it,” Singer and lead songwriter Sam Hales said.
“It’s been kind of like a goodbye and thank you, in a way. I feel like after Speakerzoid was released, it kind of… I don’t know, helped me help myself make the tunes I want to make.
“There’s always that feeling, that worry in the back of your head that everyone is going to want you to play the same thing. And then when Speakerzoid came out, it was huge. The tours have worked out so well. It’s just really given me that freedom to realise that I can write what I want to write.”
Hale now seems in tune with the writing-releasing-touring cycle, using the last six months of gigs as a platform to write material for a third album.
“It’s just been great to travel to so many places and meet so many people; they’ve all been a part of working out what I want to write,” he said.
“I’ve actually been listening to a lot of James Murphy and LCD Soundsystem,” Hale said, detailing how the live setup has evolved along with the band’s sound.
“He makes the best beats, and just has this simplicity and immediacy, that’s something I really want to bring out in our songs.”
The Jungle Giants have worked up a reputation for wild, crazy stage shows. In an interview prior to the release of Speakerzoid, Hale commented on fan’s surprise when they heard what was a pop albumin Learn To Exist jacked up to 11.
With a sense of initiative now available to the band, they’ve had the chance to continue that theme, so much so a recent show ended with fire alarms and an emergency evacuation.
“It was all ok, it was actually towards the end of our set and there was no real fire,” Hale said.
“It actually kind of worked in our favour. We were pretty much wrapping up, and then the alarm went off. Everyone went outside, but then the venue let everyone back in and we managed to bust out an encore. It was like we meant to do it.”