Beloved Australian rock band The Murlocs have unveiled the latest video from their esteemed new album Bittersweet Demons. The video for “Skyrocket,” directed and animated by Jake Armstrong, is an eclectic visual symbolizing a story of motivation and resilience. As one of the most introspective moments on the album, the song’s video depicts frontman Ambrose Kenny-Smith’s message to keep on rolling with the punches, despite the bumps in the road.

Says Kenny-Smith on the track, “It’s so tricky to juggle between two bands that are both so busy at the same time. The Murlocs are always waiting on the sidelines to have their shot in the limelight. I have always believed in the music and always will. I’m always trying my best for us get to that next level with the time we have. ‘Skyrocket’ is about that hunger that’s always lingering inside of me. A constant driving force that always leaves me wanting more and more.” 

Bittersweet Demons released via esteemed indie ATO Records on June 25th, shares a collection of songs reflecting on the people who leave a profound imprint on the band’s lives, the saviors and hellraisers and assorted other mystifying characters. The most personal and boldly confident work yet, the album sets that storytelling to 11 infectious tracks written mostly on piano, lending a greater emotional intensity to the band’s restless and radiant brand of garage-rock. What emerges is a beautifully complex body of work, one that shines a light on the fragilities of human nature while inducing the glorious head rush that accompanies any Murlocs outing.

With their lineup including two members of the globally beloved King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard(Kenny-Smith and bassist Cook Craig), The Murlocs recorded at Button Pushers Studio in Melbourne with producer Tim Dunn, dreaming up a prismatic sound that pinballs from sunshine-pop to blues-punk to wide-eyed psychedelia. Naming John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Harry Nilsson’s Lennon-produced Pussy Cats among their key reference points, the band adorned their songs with many unexpected details: woozy Wurlitzer melodies, Brian May-esque guitar harmonies, playful atmospheric elements like the whoosh of summer rain, caught by a microphone dragged into the street mid-storm. The result is an album both exuberant and heavy-hearted, a dynamic that wholly fulfills Kenny-Smith’s mission of “always aspiring to write songs that have a bit of twisted positivity to them.”

Photo Courtesy: Joey Walker