METHYL ETHEL
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METHYL ETHEL

Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Australia | Established. Jan 01, 2013 | INDIE | AFTRA

Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Australia | INDIE | AFTRA
Established on Jan, 2013
Band Alternative Pop

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Press


"Methyl Ethel / Rogues"

The intriguing Methyl Ethel is gearing up for the release of their debut album, the creation of Jake Webb (who enlists a number of local artists when playing live). I was first entranced by their single "H1 N1 A" earlier this year, a track from one of their two EPs released to date.

The first single off Methyl Ethel's debut full-length record is "Rogues," a pretty promising glimpse of what we should expect from the artist. This is a track of endless substance that touches on a variety of different styles and genres, a track that really captures one's imagination. Webb's particular focus on layering results in an engaging soundscape, drawing similarities to some of Atlas Sound's best work.

Methyl Ethel has really set himself apart with his early work, and looks to continue that pattern with this upcoming record. Stay tuned. - Indie Shuffle - Hugh McClure


"Methyl Ethel / Rogues"

Love the guitar lines in [Rogues], it has that dreamy 80's quality about it and coupled with the vocals makes it a really warm song. Great pop song. - triple j Unearthed - Zan Row


"Methyl Ethel - The Bird"

...initially settling the crowd into the evening with some super-smooth and twangy guitar work, accompanied by steady drum beats and atmospheric use of effects. The X factor in their performance and sound, however, was Jake Webb’s voice – his tones were weighted with emotion and looking around at the audience, each individual seemed to be caught up in their own sense of enjoyment, looking undeterred by what was going on around them. Methyl Ethel were captivating. - The Music - Kane Sutton


"New York Magazine Lists Methyl Ethel as One Act to See at CMJ"

Deriving their name from an organic compound is just one of METHYL ETHEL‘s many idiosyncrasies. Another is a self-description — “poltergeist infomercials between your ‘sleepisodes,’” — that tells you less about this pop outfit’s sound than it does their general aesthetic. “Rogues,” the first single of the band’s recently released debut album, On Inhuman Spectacle, is a good example of what you can expect from METHYL ETHEL’s “stream of conscious pop”: pretty from afar and slightly incomprehensible upon closer inspection. - New York Magazine


"Faster Louder Names Methyl Ethel One Act that Justified the BIGSOUND 2015 Buzz"

Perth’s Methyl Ethel triumphed over a muddy PA at the Dot Dash party, blasting the crowd with the synthetic guitar sounds and swirling riffs of their debut album, On Inhuman Spectacle. More muscular live than their album suggests, the real pleasure of Methyl Ethel is Jake Webb’s voice, a broken pubescent yowl in the vein of Youth Lagoon. - Faster Louder


"Methyl Ethel’s Debut Album Named as Best 7.5 Albums Starting '15 on news.com.au"

Methyl Ethel's most recent gig wasn't your standard show for the Perth psych-rock combo. The trio played the 60th birthday bash for the father of frontman Jake Webb, delivering a set of learnt-for-the-night Neil Young covers. "Everyone was pretty sauced by the time by the time we played, so we got away with it," laughs Webb.
The idea of Methyl Ethel as cover-band isn't far-fetched. Webb conceives of their regular set-up – him on guitars and vocals, Thom Stewart on bass, Chris Wright on drums – that way. "To me, Methyl Ethel is the songs, and I'd like people to discover the songs by themselves," the 27-year-old says. "The songs come first, and the band –Thom, Chris, and I – should always be just secondary. We're just the cover band for these songs."
Webb cut his musical teeth playing drums in school jazz and swing bands, but in high school he also got his first in a long line of four-track recorders. "I've got a huge collection of them, now," he says, "but they're all broken."
He started Methyl Ethel as a four-track project, conceiving of it – as the onomatopoeic band-name suggests – "as a nameless, faceless entity that no one knew the gender of, and that never played shows". Between bouts of working for his dad in the family fibreglass business, repairing boats in Fremantle, Webb would retire to the family holiday house in Quedjinup, three hours south of Perth.

The recordings for a pair of 2013 EPs, Guts and Teeth, were made by Webb in isolation. Methyl Ethel, the band, came when there was a demand for live shows. Stewart and Wright were on deck for the recording of the debut LP, Oh Inhuman Spectacle, but the album maintains the insular, oddball, experimental qualities with which Webb founded the project.
Ariel Pink, Godfather of the new generation of tape-recordists, lingers over Methyl Ethel; but, being a psychedelic recording project from the west, the constant comparison is to Tame Impala. "When you're from Perth, that's just what happens," Webb shrugs.
Webb sees both the possibilities and the limits of Perth's music scene, refusing to buy into any hype. "It's inspiring to be surrounded by people, your friends, who are making music all the time and putting it out in whatever form they can," he says.
"There's this perception that there's a lot of great music that's coming out of Perth, but the reality is that music is the product of a small handful of people." - Sydney Morning Herald


Discography

Still working on that hot first release.

Photos

Bio

Jake Webb
established Methyl Ethel in 2013, as
an outlet for his adventures in reverb-soaked home recording. Webb’s ambient, textural guitar sound was
developed over several years, whilst playing with the likes of Perth bands Sugarpuss, Rabbit Island and Grace
Woodroofe
.
 
Wholly devised and
performed in various bedrooms, friends’ studios and quiet caverns, the
exceptional EP diptych Guts and Teeth were released in
quick succession. Together, they explore themes of anxiety, disillusionment and
stasis. These intricate tapestries of melody, dripping with lush eccentricity,
ascended through the ether and onto the airwaves, with Indie Shuffle, Happy, triple j, FBi Radio, RRR, RTRFM and more taking note.
 
On stage, the band is an
audio-visual journey into pop experimentalism. Methyl Ethel have captivated audiences; whether at their own sold out
shows in Perth, during a coveted set at Southbound,
while supporting acts such as Courtney
Barnett
, Holy Holy and Abbe May, or while accompanying Sunbeam Sound Machine on their East
Coast album tour. Methyl Ethel is
such a dynamic force live, in fact, that they had the honour of leading RTRFM's online short film series, The
View From Here
.
 
Methyl Ethel
entered 2015 by signing to Remote
Control Records
and joining the label’s impressive local roster, which boasts
high profile Australian acts such as Courtney
Barnett
, King Gizzard & The
Lizard Wizard
, Teeth & Tongue
and Client Liaison. Methyl Ethel also
took out the Pop category at the 2015
WAM Song Of The Year Awards
with 2014’s single Rogues.  Most recently, the band was handpicked by San Cisco to support them on their
upcoming album tour.
 
With Methyl Ethel’s debut album Oh Inhuman Spectacle due in May 2015,
the band show no sign on slowing down.
 
PRAISE FOR 'ROGUES'


 
"METHYL ETHEL has steadily evolved over a series of debut EPs that
were released in 2013. Exploring elements of glam rock, and having a distinct
lo-fi feel, new single Rogues fits along nicely with King Gizzard’s latest
offerings from Oddments and artists such as Ariel Pink, making his forthcoming
debut LP a record one I’ll be looking forward to." - Adam Christou
(RTRFM)



 
"...it has that dreamy 80's quality about it and coupled with the
vocals makes it a really warm song. Great pop song." - ZAN ROWE (TRIPLE
J)



 
“Big Methyl Ethel fan right here… [Rogue’s] woozy, dreamy vibe has
totally won me over.” - DOM ALESSIO (TRIPLE J)


 
"I’ll drag myself bare-knuckled and intoxicated across a breathing
hallway to a door without a key to unlock this song over and over again in the
place where it will live in my heart irreplaceable." - LOUDERSOFT


 
"Starting with lyrics about drinking oneself to sleep, the new
single ‘Rogues’ is really quite nice on all fronts, dripping with sincerity
despite mentions of alien abduction." -MESS + NOISE


 
"I’m stuck on the swirling guitar work that casually glides like
only the dreamiest pop songs can. A nice little echo on the vocals smooths
things out just a bit, completing my love of the tune." - AUSTIN
TOWN HALL



 
"This is a track of endless substance that touches on a variety of
different styles and genres, a track that really captures one's
imagination." - Indie Shuffle 
 
"Methyl Ethel were captivating." - THE MUSIC
 

"Jake Webb has really set himself apart with Methyl Ethel, and
looks to continue that pattern with this upcoming record. Stay tuned."
– AXS
 
“In an age where it is getting harder and
harder for rock music in all it’s forms to get a break, maybe it is these Perth
legends who will buck the trend” – Table IX Mutants
 
Management: Monster Management

Label: Dot Dash / Remote
Control

Publicity: Dot Dash / Remote
Control (AUS) // Tell All Your Friends PR (US)


Legal: Media Arts Lawyers

 

Band Members