Sydney rockers Flickertail announce debut EP & drop new single 'Back Of My Mind'

Sydney’s Flickertail have dropped the second single, Back of My Mind, from their upcoming 5-track debut EP, Hurry Up and Wait, due for release on 16 March via Golden Robot Records and available for pre-order now.

Back of My Mind is the heaviest tune on the new record. There’s the staccato riff, which started life as a Led Zep-style open-string sort of thing – think Kashmir played by someone dressed as Ian Brown. With thoughts of getting girls up and dancing being much cooler than trying to sound like warlock Jimmy Page, they slowed it down and emphasised the 4/4 beat. In the midst of reading James Joyce’s Dubliners whilst writing the lyrics to the song, there’s no small measure of his sense of imagery and metaphor through the verses. There’s actually a line lifted directly from one of his stories – if anyone finds it, the band will buy them a pint at one of their upcoming shows (tour dates further below).

One could say this is a concept style EP: through screaming Les Pauls and thunderous drums, it tells the story of four dashing young men with no money having a bloody great time watching Braveheart, sinking tins and getting thoroughly excited about EPL highlights. It’s also a rough collection of love stories, but that’s much less fun to talk about.

In the studio, the boys landed Steve Balbi and Tony Wall, the latter of which has worked with just about everyone from Olivia Newton-John to KISS. Naturally, as lifelong devotees of honest, in-your-face guitar rock, they were beyond thrilled to record the next “Xanadu”.

Everything the band love about music is on this record. There’s guitar lines like Thin Lizzy, AC/DC boogie, bits of Slade stomp, rich vocal harmonies, Beatlesy melodies, and make-a-cinderblock-cry sincerity. It’s raucous love songs, played loud and honest with no autotune or sampling in earshot.

Available to pre-order now and out on 16 March, Hurry Up and Wait is available across retail, including JB Hi-Fi, Sanity, the SFR Store, iTunes and GooglePlay, with the singles now streaming on Spotify and Apple Music.

Flickertail honed their sound in the garages and booze dens of Sydney before hitting the road in 2015 to showcase their unique sound at every pub, club and backyard along Australia’s eastern coast. The end of that year saw the band landing coveted opening slots with Aussie rock heroes Buffalo and Sarah McLeod on top of endless sweaty shows with local legends Black Aces, The Lockhearts, and Foreign Kings. 2016 had them taking their infamous zero-bullshit live show on the road once more, supporting the likes of The Casanovas and US juggernaut The Supersuckers.

In 2018, with their new EP, their wits, guitars and their stunning good looks, Flickertail plan on conquering every state across this vast, thirsty continent, hitting the pavement from February.

Flickertail have also released the music video for their second single, Back of My Mind, lifted from their upcoming 5-track debut EP, Hurry Up and Wait, out 16 March via Golden Robot Records and available for pre-order now.

Filmed by Jack Barratt and directed by Jonny Goldrick, Back of My Mind was written in the midst of reading James Joyce’s Dubliners with one of the lyric lines lifted directly from one of his stories and as they’ve said, if anyone finds it, the guys will buy them a pint at one of their upcoming shows