Big Yawn - South Preston Garage CS

Research Records presents Melbourne electronic quartet Big Yawn's second contribution to the label, South Preston Garage. A title to honour the bands beloved bandroom, S.P.G. compiles demos extracted from the studio for a digital release with a limited run of cassettes. Big Yawn reflects that completing the mini album presented the challenge of creatively engineering the lo-fi recordings in a way that offered thrilling and creative insight for us and perhaps some replay value for the listener.

S.P.G. embodies Big Yawn's trademark pastiche, fusing together rich percussion and sweeping synthesizers that are recontextualised through an extensive shed jam. The band characterises the first two tracks British Teeth and Burno as "Big Yawn flavoured DnB," with "refracted drum phrasing and unrelenting delays." Cascading acid-tinged bass rules in the quivering 4 Dads; a venture into the band's stockier temperament. The panoramic Burton Bell delivers raw and biting percussion, while remaining faithful to electronics with its layered sampling. The release then disperses into seaside rapture with its farewell Bad Boy. On Bad Boy, the band comment that the track "is perhaps our most melodic number to date, with heavily looping synths evoking a Hiroshi Sato/city-pop feel."

What is perhaps most unique about Big Yawn is that they present familiar electronic sounds amplified as a live band. A timely release; S.P.G. translates the satisfaction of hearing a live band in a period when all we really want is to go to a gig.