.png)
Following up 2021's nine-track EP Syrup, enigmatic Melbourne punks It Thing have shared with us today "Constant State," the feverishly catchy A-side to their upcoming 7" that will be out June 23rd on both Marthouse Records and Feel It Records. To dive further into the new single, we caught up with frontwoman Charlotte Gigi to discuss how it all came together, its diary-like songwriting, and hopes of a larger project now with all four members living in the same city.
Formed in Hobart's beloved Brisbane Hotel beer garden in early 2019, Melbourne punks It Thing quickly developed a reputation from their fierce live shows and powerful visual persona, taking cues from punk juggernauts like Ramones, the Rezillos, and Divinyls. Due to the various lockdowns in Australia in 2020, It Thing was restricted from playing shows, leading them down the path to releasing their debut EP Syrup in November '21. The mini-album showed the four-piece cruising through 25 minutes of blistering garage punk and hook-filled power pop while weaving in clever social commentary with an added kiss-off quality and a load of razor-sharp power chord riffs.
Now with the lineup composed of frontwoman Charlotte Gigi, bassist Tamara Kempton, guitarist George Odell, and drummer James Nutting, It Thing is back today with the new single "Constant State," the feverishly catchy A-side to their upcoming 7" that will be out June 23rd on both Marthouse Records and Feel It Records. The new single is an air-pounding anthem with its lacerating, frenzied guitars that boosts Gigi's nitro-fueled vocals and shouty proclamations to the max. To dive further into the new single, we caught up with Gigi to discuss how it all came together, its diary-like songwriting, and hopes of a larger project now with all four members living in the same city.
Paperface Zine: Take me through the origins of your new track "Constant State." How did this track come together and what was the initial vision of it?
Charlotte Gigi: We wrote this one pretty quickly after Syrup came out in one of the rare moments we were all together. Very soon after came "P.C.H." and we recorded these tracks in November '22 in the basement of the shared house/practice space in Hobart. "Constant State" is about my eternally waxing and waning mental state — just trying to run a balance between feeling some extreme emotion and then feeling stagnant and dead. I also want to mention that our original guitarist Caleb Yaxley plays on this single and the guitar work was something he'd been working on for a long time.
PZ: How did the single's B-side "P.C.H." come together?
CG: P.C.H. came together very quickly and we played it live a couple hours after we wrote it. Caleb's guitar intro was what made this one so exciting to me. I had some of the lyrics jotted down, the computer hacker theme comes from the idea of like how strange it is that you can be hurt by someone you don't know.
PZ: What was the idea behind the single's artwork?
CG: The artwork is of the 24hr laundromat across from my building. I wrote some of the lyrics of "Constant State" there. We were sort of stuck on a cover so I chose to do this painting. I like how liminal it is there, on theme.
PZ: Are you excited that an American indie label like Feel It is co-releasing this single with Marthouse? Do you hope it reaches a larger audience outside of Melbourne?
CG: We are very happy that Sam from Feel It wanted to work on a release with us! It's always a pretty big honor when someone you don't know personally likes your music enough to invest so much time and energy and money into your project. As for further reach in the U.S. — sure, I hope the yanks like it!
PZ: Aside from the single, what's the rest of the year looking like for It Thing?
CG: Now that we are all living in a new city with James Nutting (our original-original drummer) back on the tubs and a new guitar player too (George Odell), I suppose we will be working on establishing ourselves here, and heaps of new songs which we have already started.
"Constant State" b/w "P.C.H." is out June 23rd on Feel It Records. Pre-order the wax at feelitrecordshop.com and purchase tickets to the upcoming Oddball showcase here.
