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In a time of derivative music trends, Shrapnel is a breath of fresh air. With a great ear for neatly crafted, mildly offbeat, intricate pop songs, the creative progression of Sam Wilkinson, Matthew Neville, Ben Schattner, Nick Johnson, and Toby Baldwin pushes more towards complex ambitions and unexpected twists than most of their contemporaries in Sydney. Across the new 17-track album Sedan Crater, the groups sets off a glandular jolt, sounding more distinctive and intelligent than ever. The lead cut "Turning The Knife" is a fully-fleshed out, quirky psychedelic experiment that carries a dreamlike quality. "Taking Hold" is a scattershot jingle-jangle that expands out into a wide circle of sound, reminiscent of Let's Active, The dB's, and Double Happys. The newly recruited Schattner delivers the ridiculously catchy and galloping bubblegum pop on "Bugged Anatomy." What’s most special about this record is how it’s a triumphant return to the completely unorthodox and rough sounds of pop music with a palpable sense of possibility. To dive further, I chatted with the Sydney group about what the people need to know about Shrapnel and
What have you all been up to as of late? Any good music or books you've been digging into you'd like to share?
Sam Wilkinson: At the moment I'm listening to Sex Clark Five, The Raspberries and Alice Cooper.
Nick Johnson: I'm reading House of Leaves. it's a story about a haunted house, but it's all formatted like a marked essay. Lots of weird liner notes and asides, it's really cool!
For our readers unfamiliar, tell us about the origins of Shrapnel. How did you all meet and decide to start making music together? Also how did Ben Schattner recently join the group?
SW: Shrapnel was originally a solo endeavor of mine. I did a couple of cassettes but pretty quickly turned it into a group. I guess we mostly know each other through shows and previous bands of ours. Ben and I became friends a few years back and have since worked on a heap of music together. Seemed like a natural progression.
What do you have to say to those who think there's only one band named Shrapnel and they were from New Jersey, not Sydney.
Toby Baldwin: They are the kind of people who think there is only one flavor of ice cream, and that flavor is dog water. Also, New Jersey is a fake place.
What are some fun facts that every fan should know about Shrapnel?
TB: Ben is the only person in history to eat two double-decker buses. Nick sings like an angel with an artificial larynx. Sam is the acting Minister of Funk for the People Democratic Republic of North Korea. My nostrils were used for the pan-pipe solo in "All That She Wants" by Ace of Base. Nev is currently part of an exchange program with Bonneville's Crutch Elementary School third-graders' pet hamster, Patricia, and is enriched by the many toys inside the terrarium in which he is housed.
This is possibly a big question, but what excites you to play music?
SW: Quite a few things—new tunes and the hunt for your next best one, the people, all the life long friends I'm lucky to have crossed paths with.
I first found out about you guys after the release of 2021's LP Alasitas. How do you feel looking back on your catalog? Do you still like or relate to your past releases?
SW: Alasitas was a cool era and I'm proud of that album. We didn't really get much of a chance to play it live due to Covid. Not long after it's release a couple of us became parents so that line up fizzled a bit sadly.
NJ: Some more than others. We try to keep familiar with a handful of songs off each release for the live show, but in terms of listening to the records themselves, it's not something we do often.
What can you tell me about your new full-length album Sedan Crater. What insight can you share about how and where it was recorded?
SW: We rented a country house and re-located my home studio for a few days. Rigged up two cassette four-tracks. One of mine had carked it so the second one was on loan from Ishka. Toby did pretty much all the production stuff as well as overdubbing his synth parts in the evenings. I think there was about 23 songs once all was said and done. Not a bad hustle.
Who's idea was it to name the album Sedan Crater?
SW: I was researching explosions and nuclear craters as a sort of reference point for the song "Colossal failure." At the time I had been working at a chemical plant. My colleague had asked his teenage daughter to do my induction without my knowing. I had no idea of the potential dangers and I was really paranoid about blowing a giant hole in the earth.
What's the story behind the cover art?
SW: The art is pretty referential to themes above. By Nicky Minus, fantastic artist.
Diving into the toons here, I really like the playfulness on "Bugged Anatomy." How did that song come about?
Ben Schattner: Yeah you're right that song is definitely playful! It was really cool working on that album because Sam would often say can you write some songs for next practice and I would scramble to quickly pull some stuff together so there wasn’t a lot of time to overthink. Because we were making so many songs at that time I was always trying to make the songs really different from each other. I think that's where the playfulness came from. When we made "Bugged Anatomy," Nick had been talking about Link Wray self-titled so I had been listening to that a lot. The lyrics are pretty random but Toby and Sam are gear heads and are able to fix everything so it was kind of a song for them. The song is from a robots perspective that is malfunctioning. The owner has decided to pull apart the robot and sell its individual parts.
Chris Stamey would probably really like the track "Turning The Knife" as he would arrange pop music sorta like an equation. How did this one come to be?
SW: I guess my writing approach is problem solving to some degree. The dB's Stands for Decibels is a favorite for a few of us. Music was written first, from memory while watching TV. Lyrics are loosely about the negative affects of vaping and a collage of weird shit overheard on job sites.
"Fountains of Ute" sounds like classic K Records. What can you tell me about this one?
SW: This tune has my favorite synth performance of the album. Claps for Toby.
What's the story of "Taking Hold"?
NJ: I wrote this one. It's about what happens when you stop learning new things, when a person starts to think they have it all figured out. The death of curiosity, essentially, and what that does to people, especially people who have a responsibility over others. Everybody's had a boss that can't open a PDF.
What can you recall about the origins of "Starless Eyes"?
SW: "Starless Eyes" is an older tune. Originally released on one of my solo Bakers Pace cassettes. The first version was two songs together so this is just the second half. No doubt some heavy listening to Chris Bell and Big Star around that time.
What would you like or hope fans come away with after hearing Sedan Crater?
TB: A confirmatory revelation of the true nature of being as manifested in extreme tinnitus, and a near-imperceptible fungal infection attacking certain parts of the extended electro-kinetic aura.
What are some future plans for Shrapnel and other groups you're all part of?
TB: Death. Maybe eating ramen, but probably death. You got any plans?
Any advice or last words you'd like to share with our readers?
TB: Shrapnel should not be used to treat symptoms of impetigo. Human hair makes a neat, affordable habitat for spiders and cockroaches.
Sedan Crater is out now on Tenth Court.