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Bodyjar.
 Ask their fans, and they'll tell you there's only one real way to enjoy Bodyjar: pissed, happy, and dancing like a tool at one of their live shows. And with this month's release of the new single Lights Out, as well as a much-anticipated album hitting the shelves in September - Adelaide: get ready for a double assault.
Guitarist Tom Read describes the first tour as somewhat of an entree. "It's a short little tour, because it's only in support for our new single. We'll be going to Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Adelaide. One show for every major city... well, except Perth and Tasmania. They're too far away," he laughs. "We want to hold off the really big national tour for now until the album comes out so we can get all excited properly. Plus Grant [Relf, bass] has his new baby, so he couldn't be away from home a hell of a lot at the moment." Read pauses for a minute then cheekily adds, "But we'll convince him by the time the album comes out that he needs some sleep, dammit, so he better come on the road with us!"
Adelaide's The Hot Lies and Line Of Departure will be accompanying the 'Jar as they set off on the upcoming mini-tour, and Read is especially excited about hanging out with the latter's singer/guitarist Kyle Webber, whose former band 99 Reasons Why had previously toured with Bodyjar.
"We needed a new band, that's why we chose The Hot Lies, just someone who's new and young, you know. But with Line Of Departure we're friends with Kyle, and we all wanted to just hang out with him and get really pissed", Read chuckles. "We like hanging out with the guys we're playing with. When Blink 182 and the Offspring came to Australia they didn't really hang out with us, they had their own agenda and stayed in fancier hotels and whatever. But Australian bands are good. One Dollar Short, Blueline Medic... we've had some boozy affairs with those dudes."
The Bodyjar guys are also looking forward to getting their new drummer, Shane Wakker, out on the road for the first time, "He's a crap drummer but he's got a great name," Read jokes. "We're a bit of a family unit when we're on the road. We go fishing together and stuff. It's noice. We haven't done a proper tour with our new drummer Wakker, so we can't wait to play some tricks on him, like wiping our asses on his pillow and shit like that. Actually, we all went to his 21st birthday a few months ago and that was cool fun. We all got really pissed, it was at a golf club, then we went to a pub, and he had all his young friends there and we just had a great time. Then the next morning his parents put on a massive barbecue."
But as much as the band still likes to run amok, their first full-length album since 2002's 'Plastic Skies' is sounding very different and much more grown-up, according to Read. "I think Lights Out is a pretty good indication of what the record's gonna be like. There are some slow songs on there, mainly at that rock pace, and there's no fast shit on it really. The last two albums were very similar to each other - they both had punk-rock songs - but this time it's definitely different and more rock. And the guitars are a lot heavier, there's a metal influence behind this record. I guess we all sort of went off and listened to different stuff and came back and it all blended in. I've personally been listening to a lot of old shit and imagining how it would sound if you made it tough", he explains. "Oh god, Grant [Relf]'s got this song with like a nylon string guitar and violins and stuff... I don't know what the hell he was listening to in that period." He laughs. "Nah, it's a really nice song. I think we might have maybe matured or something. I don't know what happened".
Nina Bertok
 | Lights Out is out now through Shock and Bodyjar play at Flinders Uni Tavern on Sat 13 Aug with The Hot Lies and Line of Departure. |
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