Recording of the Week, Surprise Chef - Daylight Savings

As we edge into the final chapter of the year, sometimes you need something to take you back to the sun-soaked summertime just passed. For those down under, of course, that time of year is just beginning. The comically-named Surprise Chef are a four-piece band from Melbourne, playing a style of psyched-out jazz-funk with a decidedly DIY approach. Recording everything to tape in their shared home/recording studio - from which they also run their own label College of Knowledge Records - the band’s vintage-inspired sound is described by the quartet themselves as ‘cinematic soul’. Founded after guitarist Lachlan Stuckey and keyboard/synthesiser player Jethro Curtin had already written a handful of tunes together, they were joined by drummer Andrew Congues and bassist Carl Lindeberg to complete the band. Crate-diggers by nature, the band describe their style - as well as other bands on College of Knowledge - as taking cues from the obscure records for which they trawl through record stores. Embracing the sounds of 70’s psychedelia with their extended jamming and use of vintage synthesisers, the quartet’s latest is a real sweet treat for the ears.

Daylight Savings is a follow-up to last year’s full-length debut All News Is Good News, again bringing in engineer Henry Jenkins from local band Karate Boogaloo to handle production, with the band citing the sound of late-1960s Capitol Records albums as a particular inspiration. Recorded over the weekend when the clocks move to daylight saving in Australia, as the title suggests, with the huge Jasmine bush filling the group’s home studio with the smell of the oncoming summer, the album encapsulates the season's warm days ahead. Founding members Jethro Curtin (keys) and Lachlan Stuckey (electric guitar) had previously worked together with a more pristine digital setup, very deliberately choosing to record analog-only for Surprise Chef to capture a more raw and unedited sound of the four-piece, even going so far as working with a limited amount of recording tape to deter re-doing small mistakes. It’s a process also echoed by fellow Melbourners, the ever-prolific psychedelic sextet King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, and Surprise Chef definitely make the most of these limitations.

Immediately apparent from the very first track is the incredibly crisp production on this record. As mentioned before, the analog-only recording process was all home-recorded, and as a result there’s a distinct warmth and rawness to the texture of this record. The group’s use of synthesisers sees some very tasty leads like on the track ‘New Ferrari’, though the bass guitar remains the centrepiece of the ensemble, driving the tunes with either a steady punching rhythm or a repeating ostinato. Stuckey’s guitar is generally kept quite low-key in the mix, supplying funky accents to the tunes with the odd bit of wah-wah action, while the bulk of melodic work is done by Curtin’s sickly sweet synthesiser tones, which make for some especially juicy moments when layered on top of each other. This isn’t to say that this is merely repetitive psych band jamming through-and-through; while the track ‘New Ferrari’ does couple its blended synthesiser leads over a repeating bassline in the first half, the latter half of the track veers off into more out-there jamming. Other sweet spots on the record include the climax of ‘College Welcomes Carl’ which almost reminds me of Norwegian producer Todd Terje’s work in the mid-2010s, or the track ‘Leave It, Don’t Take It’, with its hurried percussion and funk guitar evoking a 70’s spy thriller.

Surprise Chef definitely embrace the ‘analog aesthetic’ with an old-school sound, and clearly have fun doing so. Daylight Savings makes for a nice, tasteful slice of funky goodness that doesn’t overstay its welcome while making for a filling listen. Fans of psychedelic rock, spacey synthesisers, exploitation film scores or otherwise juicy jamming will feel right at home with this record.