MEGAFAUNA

On April 28, Austin-based psychedelic rock band Megafauna will release their latest full-length album Olympico. The band has shared "Dozer," the first single to be released from the upcoming release.

 
On "Dozer" the band's Dani Neff says:

'Dozer is one of the most aggressive songs on Olympico. I'd even call it metal adjacent. In this song, I plead to Dozer, a symbol for Shiva, the Great Destroyer, to take down our patriarchal system. My bandmate, Winston, brought me the song as an instrumental piece with the name Dozer. Hearing the name and how heavy it was, I felt the song should be about destruction to make way for something better. This was right around the time that Roe was overturned. After a heavy guitar driven first half, followed by a mellow Portisheadesq middle section, the song culminates in a raucous festival of voices and a guitar driven climax.  Over the end I sing, "Did you think I would freeze in a cell? I'll retire with my ladies in hell. With my foot on the gas I'm a goblin... Dozer start it over right now." 

Jolting from headbanging math rock to an ethereal wash of psychedelia to grungy, garage riffage in an instance, Megafauna blend angular rhythms with beautiful melodies in a way unlike their Austin, TX rock and roll peers. Led by the ethereal vocals and guitar wizardry of Dani Neff, Megafauna draw from progressive powerhouses like Rush and The Mars Volta, avant-indie instigators Radiohead and Unknown Mortal Orchestra and contemporary shredders like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and Mastodon. The band has evolved over the years to the current lineup of Zack Humphrey on drums, Will Krause on bass and Winston Barrett on guitar/keys, each bringing a precision and edge to the outfit.

On the band's expansive sixth full length album, Olympico, they worked with producer/engineer Charles Godfrey (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, …Trail of Dead, Swans, Holy Wave). Together, they collectively shaped an energetic and diverse record that adds to the Megafauna canon. The opening line sets the tone as Neff curiously sings "Say goodbye to normal people" on the track "Sunday Saturday." The following tracks pulse with their signature rock sound before giving way to lighter moments like the psychedelic bossa nova of "Sometimes Island" and the indie math rock number "Dozer," highlighting the band’s wide palette and sonic range. The album confidently meanders through touches of shoegaze, doomy stoner rock, sludge and various corners of the heavy, progressive and alternative rock esotera.

Neff titled the album Olympico after a character in Claire Lispector’s novella "The Hour of the Star."  This character is the epitome of a sexist man but for the purposes of the record, Neff turns him into a woman and changes the spelling. One theme winds its way throughout the album: women grappling with the patriarchy. On "Sunday Saturday," Neff sings about wanting to leave the world and break the frame.  In Dozer, Bi Postal and Rage of the Queen, we hear of revolutionary protagonists actively attempting to upend the system, pleading in "Dozer" - "Dozer, start it over right now."

Megafauna once again venture to provide "a psychedelic excursion" (SPIN), "[steal] all the gnarly riffs in the world" (NOISEY), balance "the perfect mix of brainy and brawny "(Pop Matters) to blow your mind and "shatter your car windows" (Consequence of Sound). Fittingly the album ends with "Rage of the Queen"’s final lines - "Make waves. Don’t wait. Choose fate. Checkmate."

Performing at Levitation Festival, curated by The Black Angels and The Reverberation Appreciation Society, Megafauna flexed their latest material alongside French psych-rockers Slift, as the show was lauded by the festival community. No stranger to touring, they have sharply cut their chops across US and European stages, performing alongside Cursive, Unknown Mortal Orchestra at Treefort Festival, SXSW, Joshua Tree Music Festival, Norman Music Fest,  and more.

Such as their namesake, the band crafts massive, heavy and momentous musical moments but with a beautiful, natural and melodic touch. To that end, Megafauna carry the weight of their sonic forebears while they define their own path and break the neurotypical patterns of heavy rock.