Anyone who has experienced Royal Headache perform “Girls” in full flight can vouch that the song is one of the most manic in what is usually an already manic set. They probably still have the bruises to prove it.
Sydney’s Low Lux – Daisy Dowd and Alister Hill – offer a dramatically slowed down reworking of the modern garage rock classic recasting it with lush guitars, synth and Dowd’s melancholic and dreamy vocals.
When Dowd (formerly of Bridezilla) whispers, “Didn't I tell you? Over and over, I want the key to your heart,” you realise just how fine a song "Girls" is even without Law’s blown out guitar, Shortty’s frantic drumming and Shogun’s masterful voice.
Listen to the track below and read a short interview with Alister.
Noisey: Can you remember the first time you heard Girls?
Alister Hill: I'm not really sure. I don't listen to heaps of rock and roll to be honest. I saw another band called Low Life (who are incredible) while Shogun was playing guitar with them, and I was interested as to what this super intense guy would be like singing in his other band. I like re-interpreting songs but hate stripped down acoustic covers. About a year ago I was listening to Drake's "Take Care" and that first Royal Headache album on repeat, and thought the song's melancholic themes would work in a colder musical context.
Oh the other reason is that we didn't have enough material for our first show. I guess we'll keep playing it if people are into it.
What do you think Shogun is going to think of the song?
He said it's good, but needs more rave. I dunno, he probably hates it, then maybe later think it's alright for a second then hate it forever. It was a fun thing to work on. I hope he thinks we're not arses for doing it. We just like the song a lot and the band makes classic tunes.
The song marks a new direction for the band. Why the changes?
We were working on some new tunes as a 5-member band and I wasn't crazy about the direction. It probably would have subsided as band stuff is always a bit overly dramatic but I saw the Dirty Three again at Sydney Festival, and just figured some ensembles have something special and others don't, and kinda figured we were the latter. I had been tracking this "Girls" re-work in the meantime over Christmas/New Years like a lonely grinch with the intention of it being a bandy thing, but then it ended up just being Daisy and I and we both thought it sounded really good. So in short, I saw the Dirty Three and quit the band, then Daisy wanted to keep doing tunes together, and so here we are now. It's probably morally messed up somewhere along the lines, but I think we're all still cool with each other. That's bands for ya I guess. Daisy and I get along most of the time so it's probably the most semi-functional project I've been a part of.
'Girls' is available now as free download.