Brisbane’s pop-punk upstarts Two Times Shy are soaring lofty heights as they let loose their …
Punk and positivity go hand in rollicking hand on the brand new track The PMA Effect from the Gold Coast’s The Final Fall.
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Packed full of sizzling guitars, glimmering basslines, cascading drums and copious amounts of good ol’ fashioned punk‘n’roll, the The PMA Effect is sonic debauchery and lyrical positivity at its finest. The band’s first new material not only for 2023 but also their first release in over a decade, The Final Fall are undeniably roaring into a new creative chapter; and, as frontman Benny Whiskey recently revealed to HysteriaMag.com, it’s been a long time coming to finally release new music – but the excitement has lost none of its lustre despite the length of time between tunes.
“We’ve been a band since 2008,” Whiskey reveals, “back in the days of the Shark Bar, and the Kirra punk shows, that’s where we crafted The Final Fall!”
“About six years ago I went to London,” Whiskey continues. “The band didn’t split up, but we just sort of parted ways. And all these years later we’re back together. We’ve been writing songs for probably two years now, and we’re excited to finally release some music to the world!”
Conjuring a new single as well as an accompanying music video, showcasing the band busting out moves in a hazy room interspersed with some skateboard delights, The Final Fall explosively capture lightning in a bottle with plenty of punk, hardcore and metal flavours combusting throughout the upbeat new track. And while absence has certainly made the rock grow stronger, it was also a fortuitous series of events that organically led to the creation of The PMA Effect and some significantly levelled-up sonic waters for the Gold Coast group.
“For myself, Paulie and Clintos – we’ve all been in a very long list of bands on the Gold Coast,” shares Whiskey, “and it just so happened that all of the other bands parted ways. So, we got the band back together a couple of years ago, and we just wanted to take where we left off – but also push ourselves with the musicality.”
“It’s a bit more technical, it’s certainly heavier! And we chose this song because there’s still a lot of shit going on, obviously after the pandemic and everything. The song is called The PMA Effect, and the reason I went with that title is … there’s still a lot of people that I meet who don’t know what that means. It’s: Positive Mental Attitude, so it’s just about the way you think.”
“I heard of it from a hardcore band back in the 90s, and it was this whole movement. It was a little bit involved with the straight edge sort of thing. But you watched a real heavy band and it seems so aggressive, and yet all the songs were positive. And it’s just about helping people with depression or losing friends and family. And just trying to get the positives out of the negative is pretty much what the song is trying to say.”
It’s a bit more technical, it’s certainly heavier! And we chose this song because there’s still a lot of shit going on, obviously after the pandemic and everything.
[ Benny Whiskey – The Final Fall ]
Wholeheartedly embodying the positive mindset driving The PMA Effect alongside some old school elements, the track utilised new and old friends to help conjure the track and accompanying music video. And while ultimately presenting as a clip thriving in its ecstatic subject matter and showcasing the band back in full swing, The PMA Effect’s video also offered a genuine chance for its featured on-screen skaters to shine in more ways than one.
“Our man and brother who did our first clip back in, I think, 2009, it’s pretty funny, it’s on YouTube,” Whiskey laughs. “It’s called TRIAL BY FIRE, it was our first and only single we did. [Brendon] Bock at Oneway Boulevard – he’s the absolute master, he helped us heaps with that. And I’ve gotta shout out to Scotty from Love Street Studios too, he’s so good at what he does, he gets the best sound.”
“The PMA Effect clip is sort of special, actually, there’s a bit of skating in it,” Whiskey continues, diving into the making of the latest video. “For the next clip, I’ll probably put surfing in, you just don’t see that stuff enough anymore. Nothing against electronic music, but these days that’s just all you get on a surf vid. I guess skate stuff is more hip hop these days, which I love anyway. But I just wanted to put that old school feels into it, skating and surfing, motocross, whatever extreme sports with some punk rock and hardcore.”
“We got Banjo Golder, he’s only 14 and an absolute shredder on the skateboard. Plus, he’s one of my students at Yodelay Music, he’s got a band too, and they just won Bluesfest Busking Comp! They’re on fire, so I thought what a great idea to get him on there skating!”
“Then we’ve got the legend Jake Duncombe, who is the OG Gold Coast skater, I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure back in the day he was the first Gold Coast skater to get sponsored by a big label, he got sponsored by Nike back in the day. He’s the OG, but the crazy other story behind the clip: you only see Jake for a little bit because he had a huge accident about a year ago, he almost killed himself, he hit his head so hard on the pavement and did a lot of damage.”
“I didn’t realise when I invited him, he’d actually never been back to the skate park! So he rocked up, and I was like: “oh, shit! Dude, sorry man!”. But he was like: “no, thank you!”. He had his wife Izy there, she absolutely shreds too. And she had a skate too, it was kind of special. When Jake got this trick – I could tell he was really pumped!”
“It’s a whole other message, every time I watch it I’m just super proud of the boys and everyone who made the song. But then I see Jake land, and just that feeling – it’s very cool. You wouldn’t think it when you hear the song, it’s got some very heavy bits, but it’s all pretty wholesome.”
Fans can not only enjoy the brand new track right here, right now on HysteriaMag.com, they can also gear up to witness The Final Fall back and better than ever, next week supporting American rockers He Is Legend and fellow Goldy rockers Hammers at Mo’s Desert Clubhouse next Wednesday 17 May. And, as Whiskey, concludes, it’s set to be nothing but a good time: “If it’s not fun, we wouldn’t be doing it!”
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