With their second album Lo, Melbourne six-piece Bollard tread new territory without sacrificing the sounds that define them.
Bollard have released their sophomore album, Lo. An eight-track collection spanning post-punk to indie-rock, the Melbourne sextet’s latest offering stands as a culmination of their years-long presence in the scene, with their arrival marked from the outset with album opener and lead single Ziggurat.
Coasting on groovy bass strings and dotted by spacey synth sections, the track sees Bollard vocalist Tom Walsh adopt an enrapturing talk-sing delivery, as punctuated by clashing cymbals. There’s an infectious and lulling rhythm to Ziggurat, which later swells into more clamorous instrumentation and grittier vocals.
These momentary bursts of energy are helped along by ear-catching flairs like glitch-distorted guitar strings and subtle melodies, with the result feeling like something you might hear as a sleek antagonist is introduced in a classic Spaghetti western.
Changing tacts on the second track, Montreal Donuts aligns more closely to a fuzz rock sensibility, complete with sunnier strums and an overall softer feel.
With the stylings of acoustic-driven indie-pop, Walsh leads his bandmates to summery retreats with the assist of catchy sing-along hooks.
There’s a free-spiritedness to the track, to the point where it could easily comprise the playlist of an afternoon bike ride. This is echoed in the carefree lyricism, as Bollard sing blissfully of the joy that comes when you simply “forget it, forget it, forget it.”
Meanwhile, on Between the hemispheres, glittery, xylophone-like percussion sets the scene for one of the album’s more upbeat vignettes, with the kind of poppy sound you might find on a Lime Cordiale project.
Here, the band ruminate on “all the things you could’ve done better,” before extending upon their reflections on I Don’t Think Time Will Tell.
This track opts for a slower tempo and moodier lamentations around the uncertainty of the future. The track pairs simplistic instrumentation with earwormy repeated refrains, making for a more meditative track only intensified with screechy guitars.
Elsewhere, on New Way In, Bollard incorporate a groovy, James Bond-like guitar throughline as Tom Walsh adopts a more rustic timbre.
Later, the sound dissipates into a celestial white noise section, before closing out with country-esque guitar twangs. The band’s efforts culminate on final track and album standout Lumber, a sun-drenched entry brimming with soft-rock attitude.
Circling back to talky delivery, Walsh evokes the vocal candour of classic rock stalwarts like Midnight Oil, without sacrificing the harmonic reaches of his range.
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The result is an effortlessly cohesive and altogether engaging tracklist, one that carves out new directions for the Melbourne band while refining the sound first introduced on their 2018 debut Trawlers.
With both projects — and the 2019 EP Beware the Atto Fox — under their belt, it’s clear Bollard are just getting started. Listen to Bollard’s new album Lo below.
