“Goblin is a warning,” Melbourne band MILKSICK said of their teeth-baring new psych-rock single
MILKSICK have today (March 1) released their sophomore single Goblin, a blistering slice of retro psych-rock.
The track — a follow-up to the Melbourne band’s 2023 debut Midas — carried by fuzzed-up basslines and a restless, teeth-baring energy.
There’s a demonic feel to the aptly-titled Goblin from the outset, with shrieking and angular guitars and an explosive, nitrous-fueled chorus that delivers a dose of sonic mania.
For all its head-thrashing potential — which comes to include thrashing percussion and noisy instrumental climaxes — MILKSICK maintain an ear for the more melodic moments, too.
There’s a surf-rock rhythm that underscores Goblin, with fuzzy psychedelic flairs that make it suitable for both a dimly-lit garage and a horizon-bound road trip.
It’s within these less noisy moments that Sam Birkhead’s retro vocals bring a lightness to MILKSICK’s sound, with the band toeing the line between gritty revelry and sunlit rock with finesse.
All of it amounts to a manic surf punk rattler, which sees the band deliver a searing manifesto on the world-burning perspective of internet trolls and children who are now chronically online.
There’s mentions of the internet haters who “live under the bridge” and those who are “a child of the internet,” forming part of a broader message about “the ills of modern technological lives,” Birkhead explained in a press statement.
“Being a kid of the 90s have seen this whole juggernaut of internet culture give birth to new forms of human interaction,” the MILKSICK bandmate said.
“Goblin is a warning, a character study of internet trolls and forgotten children left to their own devices.”
The single is accompanied by an official music video from the mind of William Parker, which sees the band jam in various locales as witches and goblins run amuck.
To celebrate the release of Goblin, MILKSICK will host an official launch party at Melbourne’s Shotkickers on March 9. Tickets for the show — which will also feature fellow bands SCUD, Licklash and LegMouth — are available here.
Goblin is the follow-up to MILKSICK’s debut track Midas, which arrived last November. The band’s latest effort solidifies their place as imminent psych-rockers, and it’s well worth the listen.
Listen to MILKSICK’s new single Goblin below.
