Falling Is Pretty Normal is out now!
Image: Rhys Bennett.
Sydney-based punk quartet FANGZ have dropped their third EP, Falling Is Pretty Normal . If you're loving the release and want some insight into each song, we've got you covered! The band have treated MILKY, taking us through the EP track by track.
"Falling Is Pretty Normal was written just after I lost someone close to me," says Cottreau. "I wasn’t coping at all, and I found myself spiralling without even realising. I would have these vivid dreams in which the departed would be there and it’d feel so real. In that moment I’d be happy. Then my alarm would sound, and the reality would hit me like a tonne of bricks. It’s about learning to deal with loss and knowing that the person maybe gone but the lessons they taught you still live on as long as you remember." shared Frontman Joshua Cottreau.
To celebrate the release, the four-piece are hitting the road on an east coast tour. Kicking off in Orange on March 5, the run of shows will continue on to Newcastle, Sydney, Canberra, Katoomba, Mansfield, Frankston, Fitzroy and Ballarat, before wrapping up in Wollongong on May 28.
SELF MEDICATE
Self Medicate is the by-product of listening to The Used on and off since the eighth grade. I think a big part of growing up is going back and listening to the music people used to tease you for liking and realising that you were right, and they were wrong, and they have bad taste in everything, and you have good taste in everything. Dear high school bully that told me The Used suck, I hope you’re doing terribly and still listening to the John Butler Trio. Sincerely, scenekid4lyf2107@hotmail.com.
At first the lyrics were about going out and joining an endless party with the chorus originally being “I can take you higher, Higher than you’ve ever been before” which reflection could also make us sound like a Christian band. The final version of the song is about learning to deal with your anxiety and using self-care rather than substance abuse.
PROVE ME WRONG
In doing this walkthrough I thought a good place to start would be to listen to the original demo of each song. This track has a very rude working title that I will leave out, the riff itself was a lot more metal sounding to start with. I remember being really surprised with how heavy it sounded when Sam first showed me his riff and I can honestly say I felt like a 14-year-old badass tracking the demo. Which is funny because the result might be the most pop sounding song we’ve ever released.
Prove Me Wrong came about after discussing the murder of George Floyd with a friend. My friend said to me "I don’t see colour," which made me think, "Well, then you don’t see others experience or struggle". Another friend said, "The system is broken," instead of recognising that the system isn’t broken; the system is working exactly as it was designed to. The song isn’t just about racism but it’s also about how one person controls 90% of our media and most of the time we’re only hearing one side of the story.
FALLING IS PRETTY NORMAL
Originally titled ‘Pope Shit in the Woods?’ this song was probably the least changed in preproduction and features the only guitar solo on the record. Depending on the day I listen to this song it goes from heavy rock song to almost ballad. I don’t know if that means it has dynamics or if I’m just emotionally unstable. This song is a perfect track to add to my Spotify playlist titled: ‘Samuel McDonald Sheumack is good at guitar’. Josh wrote the lyrics to ‘Falling Is Pretty Normal’ and this is his explanation of the song:
Falling is Pretty Normal was written just after I lost someone close to me. I wasn’t coping at all, and I found myself spiralling without even realising. I would have these vivid dreams in which the departed would be there and it’d feel so real, that in that moment I’d be happy. Then my alarm would sound, and the reality would hit me like a tonne of bricks. It’s about learning to deal with loss and knowing that the person maybe gone but the lessons they taught you still live on as long as you remember.”
I DON'T LIKE ME
This song was written to sound as much like FEVER 333 as possible with so much whammy pedal it was almost bordering on rap-rock. The finished product sounds nothing like that and if you want the demo version, you’ll need to hack my Dropbox somehow because I’m never showing anyone that version. This song ended up being rewritten in the studio and ended up being a lot more skate punk. Woodie absolutely nailed the drum tracks which would have been extremely tough as we were literally coming up with parts on the fly and then tracking them. This song is an example of why it’s important to trust your producer and work with someone who won’t let you go full Limp Bizkit on the third EP, so thanks Stevie Knight!
One thing that remained the same is the message. The song is about the version of ourselves we publicly present to hide our true experience and what we’re really going through. Faking it and saying everything’s good, when on the inside you’re crumbling and need support.
WON'T BE ME
I remember Josh hearing this demo for the first time after Sam and I tracked it and saying, "it sounds like something from the 10 Things I Hate About Your soundtrack”. He wasn’t the biggest fan and leant into it hard and wrote a singsong chorus. Funnily enough I think that chorus and this song is Josh’s shining moment of the EP. I remember walking back into the studio after he’d finished his takes and just laughing at how good it sounded. I had no idea he could sing like that. What an angel.
Won’t Be Me is about staying in a relationship with someone you love even though it seems destined to fail. It follows the thought process and battle of knowing when to let go of the person you care for. I guess it’s a breakup song and a love song at the same time. It felt like the perfect way to end the record and the last major chord always makes me smile.
Falling Is Pretty Normal is out now!
FANGZ FALLING IS PRETTY NORMAL TOUR
SAT 5 MAR | 4 ON THE 4LOOR, ORANGE, NSW Event
SAT 12 MAR | HAMILTON STATION, NEWCASTLE NSW Tickets
FRI 25 MAR | CROWBAR, SYDNEY NSW Tickets
SAT 26 MAR | THE BASEMENT, CANBERRA ACT Tickets
FRI 1 APR | THE BAROQUE ROOM, KATOOMBA NSW Tickets
SAT 2 APR | HALLOWEEN HYSTERIA, MANSFIELD QLD Tickets
FRI 22 APR | PELLY BAR, FRANKSTON VIC Tickets
SAT 23 APR | THE EVELYN, FITZROY VIC Tickets
SUN 24 APR | THE EASTERN, BALLARAT VIC Tickets
SAT 28 MAY | LA LA LA’S, WOLLONGONG NSW Tickets
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