Cosmic Psychos are Australia’s most legit export since Crocodile Dundee

“Hey Ross, how would you describe the new Cosmic Psychos album for any first time listeners?”
“Nauseated, constipated, masturbated and overrated.”
Well, I guess that’s the best way to describe the Cosmic Psychos, old school Australian larrikins that like to drink piss while taking the piss.
Their newest effort ‘Loudmouth Soup,’ marks the band’s 11th studio album.
“Apparently,” laughs the groups lead singer and bass player Ross Knight, “I’ve lost track myself.”
With the album being recorded on Knight’s third generation farm, the three piece enjoyed the time to catch up and drink some beers while writing songs as they always do, off the cuff.
“I reckon every time we have gone in to do an album it’s been a lot more fun and we laugh a bit more,” says Knight.
“I think mainly because the farm is comfortable for me. It also means my kids and wife are around for a lot of it, so we get to relax and drink beers and have nerf gun fights, basically anything to avoid doing any work,” he smiles. “I think it’s a good atmosphere for us all; there are less distractions as well. When you record in town you will always end up nicking off down the street and then you bump into someone you know and then you end up in a pub and goodness knows what happens. But at the farm we can just have a chuckle and a few beers and do everything in our own time frame.”
With the band members all now being ‘mature’ fathers, Knight spoke of how the band only catches up for recording and touring.
“We don’t see each other as often any more, so if we can all be stuck at the same house for a few days to write and record we just have an absolute blast. I don’t think there is a band in the world that has more fun and has a bigger laugh than we do. I feel I speak from experience there as well, after seeing so many bands rise and fall.”
And he’s not wrong, with the Psychos career spanning upwards of 30 years, they have truly been around for it all and have partied the whole way through. But of all the acts they have toured with, who is the most fun to crack open a few cold ones with?
“From the old days I’d say Mudhoney, they were brothers in arms and the same age as us. We had an absolute blast with those guys – actually most of the bands that came out of the ‘pre-grunge’ explosion were all fun to hang out with, the whole lot of them, Mudhoney, Nirvana, all of them where really good people to dag about with.
“None of us knew what we were doing so it was all just about having a good time,” Knight says. “In terms of latter day experiences, because we are old and ‘so mature’ nowadays, we certainly had a lot of fun playing with Dune Rats a few years ago, as they reminded me of my cheeky little self from once upon a time.”
But the truth is, Knight is selling himself a bit short there. While there may be an age difference between the Psychos and the Dunies, the cheekiness from Knight’s youth hasn’t been lost over time, as shown with their last release ‘Cum the Raw Prawn’.
“A few people may have thought that swearing wasn’t as cool at the time, a couple of comments were made before recording that album, I won’t say who it was, but it may be someone who may have lived down Western Way, and they said ‘oh maybe tone it down a little bit’ and I thought, fuck toning it down,” he laughs.
“We are just three naughty old boys. If someone tells us to do something, we will do the opposite. If we have a chance to be popular we make the decision to make us unpopular, that’s just because the three of us can sit down and have a chuckle over it.”
In support of Loudmouth Soup, the Cosmic Psychos will be hitting the road on a 27 date Australian tour. “It might even be a few more, they keep chucking more dates on,” he adds.
As part of the tour the guys will also be stopping off for a show at Geelong’s own Barwon Club next Friday, which really comes as no surprise considering the amount of sell out shows they have previously played there.
“We haven’t had any bad shows at the Barwon Club,” recollects Knight. “My worst and best experience of Geelong was playing a New Year’s Eve down there. Doddsy had just taken over The Barwon Club. It was ’86-87, pretty early on, and I think there was about nine people and four of them were my friends. But we had a great night as per usual; it was just like playing in a lounge room,” he smirks before continuing. “If you publish that there would all of a sudden be 50 people that were there… which I know will make Doddsy pissed off because they obviously got in without paying…”
When & Where: Barwon Club, Geelong – March 30, Theatre Royal, Castlemaine – April 1, Karova Lounge & Ballarat – April 24.
Tickets available via www.cosmicpsychos.com.au.
Written by Alex Callan
Image sourced via Cosmic Psychos socials