Bus Vipers Releases Debut EP Today on Future Classic

Today Sydney-based multi-instrumentalist Daniel Ahern releases his debut EP as Bus Vipers. Federal Highway is the first peak into the brilliantly bizarre world of Bus Vipers, a six-track EP filled with melodic power-pop, kaleidoscopic textures, electronic flourishes, garage rock and funk pulses. With visual direction from renowned Australian artists and Gucci-collaboratorsPrue Stent and Honey Long, Federal Highway shows Ahern playing virtually every instrument on the record, embracing his alopecia (extreme hair loss, which he developed at 11 years old) and exploring the feeling of being an outsider.

"Federal Highway evokes the feeling of being stuck in a liminal space or caught between two dimensions - between childhood and adulthood, between relationships, and between Sydney and Canberra," explains Ahern. "The EP is my first attempt to create a cohesive record as opposed to writing single songs. I wanted to make something that felt warm and lived in - partly to soothe myself, while also being energising and perhaps even ominous. Prue Stent and Honey Long complement the music perfectly with their visuals."

Bus Vipers first appeared in 2013, when Ahern - then a 19 year-old college student writing in solitude from his dorm room - quietly self-released his first single entitled "Lonely Ghost." He caught the attention of triple j Unearthed where he was named a Featured Artist, and was brought into heavy rotation. Since then, Ahern has been preparing for his first official release, signing to Future Classic earlier this year, as well as collaborating and playing live with Stones Throw/Future Classic artist Jonti.

Federal Highway is a product of catharsis and introspection. The title refers to the main road that connects Canberra to Sydney, a road Ahern drove many times in the three years he spent as a Sydney native attending university in the isolated Australian capital, Canberra. Written in his basement studio space in Sydney after returning home, Ahern explores confusion with his own identity, unhealthy relationships, and the universal feeling of otherness.

It might seem uncanny then that Bus Vipers creates rapturous and sunny garage pop. Across six songs, Federal Highwaybursts with trippy guitar licks, distorted synth and giddy psychedelia. The result is a rich and sprawling world that echoes with the warmth of the '60s, and the kinetic energy of psych-rock.

Bus Vipers' Federal Highway is a fully formed and self-assured debut, and an exhilarating first look at this up-and-coming artist. Watch this space for more: busvipers.com.

Tracklisting

1. CSIRO Weeds
2. Palace
3. Daniel's Dreams
4. Fluid
5. Daniel's Exercise
6. Federal Highway

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website

Stream or buy Federal Highway, out now via Future Classic, HERE.

Watch the music videos for singles "Fluid" HERE, and "CSIRO Weeds" HERE.

To post a comment, you must register and login.