I first started listening to the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets about three years ago, after a friend recommended their 2016 debut album “High Visceral, Pt.1.” The album did not disappoint, beginning with the head-banging tune “Cornflake” and then transitioning into a more spacey psychedelic groove before reaching its climax with the guitar-heavy “Found God in a Tomato.” The Porn Crumpets are their most original here, trying out concepts that I have never heard on other records. The way they combine messy riffs on “Cubensis Lenses” and “Marmalade March” with smooth-sounding backing instruments and vocals is genuinely spectacular.
While their other albums range from groovy to full-out progressive rock, “High Visceral, Pt.1” is one of my all-time favorite albums. The music from the Porn Crumpets has been a staple on my Spotify for years now; their songs can fit any mood, from sad to happy to being half of my gym playlist. And, with nearly half a million listeners on Spotify, the formally small indie band has grown a cult following.
The Australian psychedelic rock band performed at Terminal West Oct. 25. I begged dozens of friends to go, and obviously, most had reservations due to the band’s questionable name. However, after hours of convincing and showing my friends their music, I was finally able to persuade one friend to accompany me to a rock concert on a Tuesday night.
Once I got to Terminal West, I navigated over to the merch table, as the band is known for having psychedelic images on their posters and T-shirts. A poster of a baby floating in clouds of colors and abstract shapes immediately caught my attention. I knew it would look great in my tiny Dobbs dorm room.
Waiting for the band to come on, I talked to people in the crowd who were just as excited to see the band as I was. Going into the concert, I was expecting to see many older adults, given the type of music the Porn Crumpets makes has not been mainstream since the ’80s, but I was amazed to see many young people like myself anticipating the show. It was amazing to see such a diverse group of people from young to old, metal heads to hippies all coming together for a band from the other side of the world.
Before the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets took the stage, a band named Acid Dad opened. They were a band in the same vein as the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, mixing psychedelic rock with more hardcore guitar riffs in a very catchy way. They put on a chaotic show, full of heavy drums and guitar riffs, and it was very cool to see a band made up of twenty-somethings be able to make money off of playing music for complete strangers. While I did not recognize any of their songs, I was amazed by their song “Brain Body.” As more people entered, they were transformed from their weekday work normalcy to a dancing frenzy waiting for the main act.
Courtesy of Matt Puccinelli.
Finally, the Porn Crumpets took the stage, sending the crowd into absolute hysteria. They opened with a fan-favorite “Tally-ho.” The band alternated from music on the verge of chaos to perfectly synchronized tunes. They sounded not only great but better than they do on their records.
I was nervously hoping they would play my favorite song, “Found God in a Tomato,” and they finally did. They extended the eight-minute piece to almost 15 minutes, jamming out with every guitar solo and even giving the bassist a solo. The song was very smooth and combined parts of all their styles, from head banging to very spacey, leaving space for the instruments to breathe fading in and out.
As the concert went on, the crowd got more and more excited, with giant mosh pits forming in the center of the crowd. The crowd at this show of about 700 people was much different than anything I had ever seen before. I have been to rock concerts before at stadiums for more widely known bands such as Foo Fighters or Pearl Jam. While I did enjoy those concerts, I recommend everyone go to a show where you can have as intimate an experience as I did.
After the band left the stage without playing their most famous song, “Cornflake,” the audience demanded an encore. The band happily obliged and came on for an extended version of the song, and the crowd went crazy, with audience members crowd surfing, jumping up and down and screaming. It was a fantastic version of the song and put the finishing touches on an already spectacular concert.
Walking out of the concert, everyone seemed to be in a state of awe. The Porn Crumpets put on a fantastic show and are a must-listen for anyone that enjoys psychedelic rock.
Spencer Friedland (26C) is from Long Island, New York and is the Emory Wheel's Managing News Editor. He is a Philosophy, Politics and Law major and has a secondary major in Film. Spencer is also a part of the Franklin Fellows program at Emory.
