From the very moment I laid my naïve eyes on a picture of Ciggie Witch I knew that I was to be corrupted by something strange and abrupt and oh boy, was I right. Ciggie Witch are a Melburnian six pack, consisting of one female, five guys and a whole lotta layers. The band have been known to experiment with a swirl of wonderfully Aussie themes and their latest track Look of Pain, shows no signs of them slowing down on the good ol’ Australian stylings.
Ciggie Witch smoke out the mysteries of the average in their new track Look of Pain. An eclectic mix of guitars and chanting, it’s a a song for the ponderer.
Look of Pain is smothered in Aussie vocals, much alike Allday’s and helped along subtlety by sweet, flow-y female harmonies. Recorded at Hot Ham studios, and in the comfort of their own home, the two minute and 58 second track reflects the bands’ desire to experiment and come up with sounds so completely of their own class.
Starting with an almost haunted chant-like mixture of keys and guitar, they suddenly fall in amongst the array of other ill-fitting sounds, that weirdly enough work together to create a strange aural escapade of drums, guitar, keys, vocals and whatever else they’ve chucked in for good measure.
The lyrics featured question the routine of the average life, and flirt continually with the mysterious encounters we as humans experience with those around us “People in the street they are smiling at me, I don’t know what they are looking at… you see me here again, and again and again”.
Ciggie Witch have created something quirky, and overtly Melburnian, and with each listen a new layer emerges. Beneath the whirlwind of instruments, sounds of the 70s and 90s can be heard mushed in together, whilst contemporary indie is splotched right across the top.
The song concludes with the lyrics “It’s my groundhog day” which was a rather snazzy move on their behalf. Firstly, when one thinks of ‘groundhog day’ chances are Bill Murray springs to mind, so, all the die-hard fanatics of his will feel obliged to listen to a song which mentions the title of quite possibly one of his greatest film.
Secondly, with most having seen the film they will know exactly what it’s about… A man living the same day over and over, therefore making the point of the song clearer and providing you with a fun little tangent of thinking, all at once!
