by Meaghan Weiley (@weileycyrus)
Geelong’s Vintage Crop - Jack Cherry, Tyson Harper and brothers Luke & Tyler O’Brien - are one of many nestled on the ever-growing roster of Anti Fade Records. Debuting on the label with 2018’s New Age seemed fitting; it was riff-heavy, wrought with angst, semi-comedic, and often at times a kind of ‘fuck you’ to the scene they inhabited.
Receiving a stellar reception locally, the four-piece drew almost immediate comparisons to Uranium Club - perhaps more so a by-product of the Minneapolis band being high on everyone’s radar at the time - but Cherry’s wry stage presence, paired with Harper’s equally as witty lyrics and sharp guitar work, was contagious. 2019’s corporate rock opus Company Man only further contributed to the hype, which was expanded on the band’s first international tour.
Now, Vintage Crop offer Serve To Serve Again, a mature return. From the turbulent ‘Jack’s Casino’ to particularly incestual ‘The Ladder,’ the record still upholds the hilarity and tongue-in-cheek attitude of the band’s previous releases - expanded sonically this time round with layers of synthesizers.
“My neighbours said only selfish people get depression,” Cherry says on ‘Life and Times’. “I voice my concern with a blank expression”. It’s the more mundane topics that stand out - the common frustrations with ignorance, inflated postcode egos (‘Streetview’), the somewhat selfish satisfaction in being “number one” (‘First In Line’). It’s comforting in its relatability.
Vintage Crop have a remarkable skill in being able to produce chronically tense rhythms that compliment these topics. Guitars skewed, yet in line; drums pounding - an ever-steady drive that never falters. It’s also worth noting the refreshing surprise of bassist Luke O’Brien, as his vocals take centre stage on ‘Just My Luck’ and ‘Everyday Heroes’ - his timbre complimenting Cherry and Harper perfectly.
As the curtains close on the record, it’s kind of perfect that its title is a shared slogan of the well-loved Piedemonte’s supermarket in Melbourne’s northern suburbs. Like goods being offered at the checkout, Serve To Serve Again is an ode to the people, to music & society as a product - a welcome commentary on privilege, egocentrism, and the minuscule frustrations of a run-of-the-mill lifestyle.