Eddy Current Suppression Ring

Reviews

Eddy Current Suppression Ring Shapes and Forms EP

Melbourne’s EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING return with Shapes and Forms, their first release since 2019. For a band not exactly known for prolific output since forming in 2003, three new tracks feel like a genuine event. The production maintains their lo-fi garage rock foundation but sounds slightly more fleshed out than past releases, with Brendan Suppression’s characteristically flat vocal delivery cutting through the mix just fine. The tunes are all mid-tempo head-nodders, and I think there’s a melodic quality running through them that continues the evolution that we saw on All in Good Time—still tight and jangly, but not on the edge of a nervous breakdown. There’s also a cover of CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN’s “Oh No!” that fits surprisingly well. Released on black vinyl with sleeve variants in red, green, blue, black, and yellow for the collectors among you.

Eddy Current Suppression Ring All in Good Time LP

EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING, one of the best and most celebrated Australian bands of the ’00s, popped into the last few weeks of 2019 to drop a new LP with little fanfare, like they hadn’t taken most of the decade off. And while a lot changed in the interim between their last full-length, 2010’s Rush to Relax, All in Good Time finds the band sounding largely the same. With a couple of minor tweaks to their character settings—they’ve bumped up the NEU! slider a few notches and the PAGANS slider down a few (but left the TROGGS slider untouched)—they’ve turned in a gentler, more thoughtful album, one that will likely appeal to the tired ears of the fanbase that is now nine rough-ass years older. There’s nothing on here as manic as “Anxiety,” as explosive as “Sunday’s Coming,” or as revelatory as “Pitch a Tent,” but it’s still a treat to hear such an inimitable band play through a set of solidly crafted songs. They may not have rushed to get here, but this is the most relaxed the band has sounded—it suits them well. Now, let’s just hope we don’t have to wait another nine years for the next album!