Maroota Joe mean business with their debut single ‘Scum’.

If you were to ask anyone who plays in a heavy prog, metal or psych band what would be the best part about living out in the bush, nearly all of them would have the same response – you can be as loud as you want. With no restrictions on noise or time, bands really have the chance to push things further than they could within the confines of city lounge rooms and rehearsal spaces, and that’s exactly what it feels like has happened on Maroota Joe’s debut single ‘Scum’.

Written and rehearsed on a property in the North West town of Maroota, ‘Scum’ is five minutes of huge riffs, sizzling drumming, and soaring vocals that set the tone for the group’s forthcoming debut LP. “We would go back to this song as a reference point because we believe this song is done really well, so it was just super exciting and we’re just so happy with it,” singer/guitarist Scruffy McAuley says.

Lyrically, the song conjures plenty of fittingly dark imagery. It’s the kind of phrasing you could imagine the group chanting as they dance around the fire in the bush, throwing petrol onto the flames. According to Scruffy, however, finding the right words is a delicate precess. “I find lyrics really hard, the lyrics that you hear that are finalised in a song have usually gone through a lot of trial and error as well,” he says.

Whilst there’s no doubt Maroota Joe with the help of Dave Bleus (Bleus Studios) have captured the energy of the track in this recording, you can imagine it being a different beast in its live incarnation. Fortunately they’ll be performing it at the second instalment of their annual festival, Joestock, where you can see plenty of bands turning the volume way up past 11 – info here.