They’re the personification of punk rockers of the past: loud, raucous and rude, yet they possess a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ that we find irresistible. So it’s no great surprise the Drunk Mums have been touted as “one of the best bands coming out of Melbourne” by manager and Cherry Bar owner, James Young.
They haven’t always called Melbourne home – think somewhere much higher and hotter. Cairns, to be exact. And coincidentally that’s where yours truly first encountered the guys on a balmy night six years ago. “Oh, that must have been at that dive bar in town!” recalled Jake Doyle (guitar and vox) when I mentioned our meeting. “There was never anything going on in the back room so we used to take it over once a month. Wow! – that was years ago. We’ve been in Melbourne for four years now. There was never much going on for us in Cairns, still to this day I guess.”
Since their calculated move down south things have been rolling along nicely for the four friends, having released an EP (Eventual Ghost, 2011) and a self-titled album (2012) to favourable reviews. Now the stage is set for another round of drunken garage rock, with news that they’ve already recorded fourteen completely new tracks. “The album was recorded in two days about four months ago now, so we’ve just been waiting to hear it. It’s agony – we’re in limbo. We wanted to do it live – we just smashed everything out. We over-dubbed the vocals but that’s it. We wanted to grasp the live element that you’d hear at our shows. We didn’t want it to sound like a fake polished up thing … that isn’t us.”
The first single, ‘Plastic’, is out now, and Jake tells me they plan to release a couple more just as a tease. “I think we’ll release two more singles before we officially drop the album, as a way of getting more people on board. I’m not 100 per cent sure but I’m hoping we’ll have the finished product in two months from now. Go ahead and pencil that in!” Jake laughed.
In the meantime, Drunk Mums are about to feel the wind in their mop tops as they embark on their furthest reaching tour to date that includes both Cherry Rock14 events in Melbourne and Sydney. “It’s probably the most organised tour that we’ve planned,” Jake admitted, “and the biggest. It’s also special because we’ll be playing at the last Cherry Rock in AC\DC Lane. It’s because of new apartments in the area and it’s already been confirmed that there’ll be no more due to noise restrictions. But that’s alright – our manager [Cherry Bar owner] is killing it. He just bought his third venue, so he’s laughing.
“We can’t wait to get out of Melbourne more. It’s safe to say we’ve clocked it and 90 per cent of our followers are there, more so than our home town. It’s getting ridiculous – we need to get out and play around the country. But don’t get me wrong, we love the crowds in Melbourne. People are dancing and having fun way more than they used to. I don’t back the idea that people in Melbourne are all pretentious, stand back, cross their arms and never f*ckin’ move at all.”
So when they roll into your town prepare to rock-out. “Expect a powerhouse punk event!” smiled Jake. And to make it even more explosive: “All the support acts have been hand-picked by us. They’re bands that we want to play with and that we’re interested in. These shows will not be just thrown together like most gigs are these days, where the band has no input. So that’s what we’re looking forward to.”
Among the bands personally selected to come along for the ride are local types – The Kremlings, Rick Moranis Overdrive (one-half of Yacht Club DJs) and WOD (made up of two members of the Mums themselves). “We’re bringing the other guys from WOD along to play most dates, so that’s going to be a lot of fun.
“While we’re playing all these shows we’ll be saving our pennies to get overseas … if we can get our sh*t together … we’re the most unorganised band ever!” Jake said jokingly. “We want to turn it into a reality and not just a dream – and the dream is to get to America by September and to play around Australia more.
Let’s help Jake, Dean, Jonny and Adam live their dreams – get drunk on the Drunk Mums, the most fun you’ll have, minus the hangover … Let’s be real, you’ll probably have a little one.
When&Where: The Barwon Club, Geelong – May 10 & The Karova, Ballarat – May 24. * Note: the band is also playing Melbourne’s Cherry Rock.
Written by Natalie Rogers