Australia seems to be on quite a roll when it comes to churning out top-tier psychedelia. Sydney-based artists Jono Ma and Gabriel Winterfield make up the genre-bending oddity that is Jagwar Ma. With only two singles floating around so far, it doesn’t take long to digest their handful of finished material; but if you like what you hear, a debut LP is reportedly somewhere on the horizon. Their recently released single “The Throw” is more an expansion than a departure from their very first single put out last year. Together with the B-side “Four,” Ma and Winterfield delve into the world of electronics and processed dance patterns to broaden the scope of their atmospheric sound as well as their prospective audience.
Beginning with live drums, guitars, and bass, the intro to “The Throw” falls nicely in line with their older material’s formula of straightforward instrumentation and generous layering of effects, not unlike The Vines’ sound that erupted from down under over a decade ago. It’s only when the drums and guitar leads fade into rippling synthetic basslines and a steady house beat that we discover a whole new dimension of Jagwar Ma’s sonic profile. The second half of the track carries a unique melding of their echoing falsetto with a bouncy array of synthetic experimentation very deserving of a dancefloor.
If “The Throw” intrigues you, I suggest you take a gander at their Soundcloud page and sample their other available tracks. It’s a pretty even split between the more Tame Impala-type psychedelic rock tunes and the dance synth-inspired material more akin to a LCD Soundsystem vibe. I always give a little extra respect to artists who make a conscious effort to merge what used to be the separate worlds of rock and dance into a common scene both audiences can appreciate, and Jagwar Ma is certainly a group worthy of making an enjoyable effort to do so.