Cowboyy take us through new EP ‘revocder’ track-by-track
Check out our new in-depth breakdown of 'revocder' courtesy of singer Stan Powell.
South Coast psych-outfit Cowboyy return today with their brilliant new EP revocder.
The latest effort from the group is an eclectic and constantly surprising listen, where moments of wild math rock abandon combine with a psychedelic edge to create something special.
It’s the kind of record that will leave you wanting to know more, which is where we handily step in. Listen along to revocder and check out our track-by-track with Cowboyy in full below, courtesy of frontman Stan Powell.
‘revocder’
Simply a self titled intro track. It was recorded in a recording session for some new stuff not on the EP, right before the whole EP was sent off for mastering. It was a bit of a last minute thing but was always something that was supposed to be on there. It’s a taste of what’s to come. I’d like to state that all effects on this EP were made with guitar and guitar pedals, and this song has all of them at once!
‘bell pepper hell’
bell pepper hell, along with most of the EP, was written in 2022. The year before I had a job working in a bell pepper factory. One day there were reports at work that one of the workers had fallen through the floor. We never heard about him again. Me and a fellow bell pepper picker did find holes in the factory floor. The term bell pepper hell was coined, but it wasn’t until that night when I went to sleep where I dreamt of bell pepper hell. Thus the song was written. I also love the fact that this song contains about five layered guitars all playing stupid guitar lines with the space echo pedal maxed out. For me personally, that’s a great thing to have recorded. I’m happy about that.
‘the chair mountain’
the chair mountain was again written some time between 2022/2023, when I was primarily writing songs from dreams. I fell in and out of sleep on the way to a rehearsal and when we got to the rehearsal I had the song ready to start working on. I think at the time this song was really me trying to come up with something that showed off a darker more math rock instrumental influenced side of me. I’ve definitely had some criticism about epic the movie (our previous EP) being very simple and not complex. I think it would be silly to say that that wasn’t on my mind and I wasn’t trying to prove some point to myself. Stuff like going from the over the top tapping guitar parts into pure delay repeats with the double pedal is like cowboyy’s version of punk rock.
‘chewing’
chewing is a song that’s been in our set forever. I had the structure of the song and all the parts, but for a while it was a song that we used to jam and mess about with live in the very early days of cowboyy. I’d say it’s the most colourful song on the EP and maybe even has the most pedal effects. I wanted the song to equally show off guitar armament, play and pedals. I think it’s very easy to just press a million pedals (which don’t get me wrong, I do) and I also think it’s very easy to be tasteful with pedals. I think with this song I was trying to find somewhere in the middle. The lyrics reference personal struggles I’ve had with food and eating in my life, but they’re very loose lyrics and have very loose interpretations.
‘melancholy (chain)’
melancholy for me personally is a throwback to the kind of music I made as a teenager. A tribute to that if you will. It was the most reverently written song on the EP with very big 90s inspiration. I’m very inspired by bands like the Pixies and Smashing Pumpkins. I wanted a song where I could project my voice more and show off a more traditional song writing style. The lyrics have themes of separation and splitting of two people; whether that’s lovers, friends, you name it…
‘I want to be’
A creepy robot voice says creepy things. Microsoft SAM
‘drawbridge , castle’
drawbridge , castle is another song written from dreams. There’s a loose story of a battle between a cowboyy and a castle, with the steal knight saving the cowboyy. I was very inspired by the works of Hieronymus Bosch when it comes to this song, bell pepper hell and the chair mountain. I wanted an audio version of that chaotic imagery. drawbridge , castle is a song we love to play live. It features heavy use of the EarthQuaker Devices Rainbow Machine Polyphonic Pitch Shifter Pedal, and the song wouldn’t have been made if I hadn’t had an obsession with that pedal a couple of years ago. It’s amazing how a new guitar or a new pedal in the right hands can unlock all these ideas and songs. You get infatuated.
‘incomplete’
incomplete is a song about feeling incomplete. The lyrics and themes stem from feeling like you have no progress and you’re stagnant doing the same task forever and dreaming of breaking free. Again there’s heavy use of that EarthQuaker Rainbow Machine in this one. We used to call it “the Palm rip off song” because it was very much written as a rip off of Palm’s EP ‘Shadow Expert’, but I think because of my musical influences it ended up taking a more 60s psychedelic influence.
‘collide’
collide is a funny song. It’s an excuse for cowboyy to make some kind of rock anthem type song with a ridiculous solo. I do have to say it’s a song I personally intended to be a joke, but I’m not sure people will share that opinion though. It’s a crowd pleaser for sure. I think that’s part of the reason why I made the vocals so unacceptable. I’m not saying it’s intentional, I just don’t think I could allow myself to go full rock anthem with singing. The lyrics were written in 2022 when I was not going through the best of times. I find them funny…and yes the lyrics are supposed to be funny!