Bananagun’s Nick van Bakel on July – S/T

Got another great Hidden Gems this morning, this time from the ranks of Aussie favorites Bananagun. The band has worked up a lounged and languid form of internationally informed funk that brushes the ‘70s while devouring a cross-section of similarly minded indie from the last 15 years. The band’s songwriter and multi-instrumental secret weapon Nick van Bakel steps up to explore the debut album from July, a ‘60s curio baked with psych-pop splendor.

On how July came into his life, van Bakel explains, “My old band the frowning clouds was playing a festival in London and Rhys from the horrors was DJ’ing and he played something off it so we asked him what that was and i think it was maybe the song “Dandelion Seeds,”
but he showed us the record and we were all obsessed for a bit. I never get sick of that record, it’s always sounding fresh and fun. It’s kind of like an amalgamation of heaps of bands I like. It’s got the earthy R ’n B energy of The Pretty Things, equally poppy Piper at the Gates of Dawn type songs, and Beatles psychedelia, but way tougher and more twisted than any of those things. It also has my favorite quality of when you listen to a record and you can tell that everybody in the band really believes in their mission. The songs have an awareness and boldness and twist and turn at the coolest most unpredictable places.”

As usual I ask if this record’s influence seeped into Nick’s own music. “Definitely!,” he responds, “I really like that thing of unpredictable left turns in the song structure, a habit of almost just picking a random chord and forcing it to work. And another thing I really like in a record is that it’s balanced, not just all goofy positive, and not just whiny and complaining, but a more Yin Yang — light and dark balance. More honest representation of being alive. I love when bands from places further afield maybe don’t realize when echo is an effect and they sing their own echo manually, Ha Ha. I guess it’s about spirit outweighing equipment.”

That spirit is certainly present on Bananagun’s latest, an album that solidifies the ‘60s psych-pop sway of their debut and pushes it further than ever before. July’s album has been through the bootleg and bonafide reissues mills, and it’s one that you can pick up with a bit of digging and as part of some larger explorations of the band’s catalog. It makes a nice pairing with Bananagun’s upcoming sophomore release, Why is the Colour of the Sky? out November 8th from Full Time Hobby.

Support the artist. Buy it HERE.