Borneo Are Back And As Fiercely Weird As Ever With Rebel Mindtricks
The new Borneo EP starts with 52 seconds of straight harmonica solo, because of course it does. One of Sydney, if not Australia’s, most fantastically odd bands have returned early in 2018 with their sophomore EP Rebel Mindtricks and let me just say straight off the bat… It’s bloody great.
Every time you hit play on a new Borneo track you are confronted with the realisation of having to realign your expectations of the band. Never politely palatable and always at the forefront of flexing their furiously fringe sound, Borneo’s Rebel Mindtricks, sounds like Midnight Oil in a cocktail shaker. Every sound is unexpected yet never out of place and drenched in a thick sense of Australiana.
Lead single and intro track Jesse is quite possibly my favourite song of the year to date. Soaring from the get go off the back of the aforementioned harmonica solo before launching into a coming of age story. It’s an intense listener experience that feels like a musical dunking into the absurdity and brilliance of Borneo. All in all it can only really be described as a real deal fair dinkum vibe.
The entirety of Rebel Mindtricks sounds like a group of ridiculously talented musicians hit the studio with the mantra of trying to record every-single-thing they’ve ever wanted to try musically. Which in all honesty sounds like a recipe for disaster, yet somehow in this instance, has produced a steaming hot bowl of musical miso. Expect over the top guitar solos, weird conversations, gang vocals galore, soup and to find yourself questioning whether Monster Mash might have been an influence on the band’s sound.
Borneo are really quite weird, but that’s what makes them beautiful and in turn Rebel Mindtricks such a success.
Catch the band live as they tour the country extensively this March & April:
Friday March 2 - Byron Bay Brewery, Byron Bay
Saturday March 3 - NightQuarter, Gold Coast
Sunday March 4 – The Foundry, Brisbane
Friday March 9 - Yarra Hotel, Melbourne
Saturday March 10 - Yah Yah's, Melbourne
Saturday March 24 - Captain Cook Hotel, Sydney
Friday April 6 - Transit Bar, Canberra,
Sunday April 8 - North Gong Hotel, Wollongong
