In this end of the year series, Ears to Feed spoke with some of our favorite artists to see what helped them get through 2020.
This time around, we spoke with Jack McEwan, the lead singer and guitarist of the Perth, Australia spaced-out rockers Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. After releasing their third full-length album, And Now for the Whatchamacallit, on their own label — What Reality? Records — last year, the band will be releasing their new full-length album SHYGA! The Sunlight Mound on February 5th.
It’s a shame that this creative momentum was cut short just before their tour because the songs on And Now for the Whatchamacallit and the new material are practically aching to be heard live. The bristling energy found on the new songs such as “The Terrors” recalls Hawkwinds playing in the belly of a whale while hopped up on energy drinks —learning how to properly shred the riffs on British Steel.
Check out McEwan’s picks and The Terrors by Psychedelic Porn Crumpets below.
Showtime’s The Comedy Store documentary series
“This little mini series on LA’s Comedy Store is one of the best documentaries I’ve watched in years. It showcases a bunch of great comedians and talk show hosts who all started their craft performing at the store. The likes of David Letterman, Jim Carey and Whoopi Goldberg are among a few of the huge names the series follows from their humble beginnings. Well worth a watch.”
“Me and my house mate stumbled across Off The Air while we were sharing a few tabs together. I don’t think we realised what we were in for, but about 3 hours later after we binged through the entire discography we were both puddles. It’s hard to explain what it actually is, it’s more a compilation of crazy animations and music all edited and remixed into a mind melting odyssey. Some of the videos should be in a museum, they’re incredible.”
“I always seem to rant about this bloke, that’s because he’s about 1,000 years ahead of any other living musician. It’ll take a few more global pandemics before I could attempt to create anything as beautiful and complex as FlyLo. Whenever I buy new studio monitors or headphones the first thing I do is crank ‘Cosmogramma’ to test the quality. It’s a masterpiece. Brimming with childish wonder, imaginative arrangements and swirling orchestral samples it’s my go to if I wanna chill out.”
Chess
“I never used to play chess, it wasn’t until our drummer Danny got me interested while we were on tour a few years back, basics just to pass the time on some lengthy van trips. He would always thrash me so one day I tried to play him on ketamine and I’ve been hooked ever since. Now I play the app Chess.com which is great, you get scored depending on how many games you win while playing against opponents online. It’s a great game, I never rated it but now I’m addicted.”
“This is a new one for me, I’ve always been a cricket or soccer fan but since the crowd restrictions have been in place it’s lost a bit of charm. I watched the F1 docu series on Netflix a few months back and I’ve been hooked since. This season has been superb, I’ve been following it religiously, it’s such a mental futuristic sport. Sometimes it’s hard to fathom how talented those drivers are. It reminds me of Roman gladiators for some reason, maybe it’s the danger element but I’ve got quite invested in someone that’s never paid that much attention previously. Maybe the documentary helped, I dunno, but if you haven’t seen it then I highly recommend giving it a crank.”