The Rookies - Stay Weird
The Rookies were born in the spring of 2014 on the forgotten end of Brunswick Street in a dimly lit room full of sweat and beer at The Rooks Return. What started as a quiet set of background jazz for punters while they imbibed their cocktails quickly devolved into an uninhibited, drunken dance party reminiscent of a time almost forgotten.
In their second LP Stay Weird, the cult jazz quintet offer a quirky and diverse journey into the minds of frustrated jazz musicians seeking more from their genre; an album that nods to the hard bop and spirit jazz of their forebears. Stay Weird is a collection of wonky originals and obscure treatments of standards by the likes of John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders.
Featuring guest vocals from Melbourne-based soul/exotica phenomenon Laneous (Laneous, Kafka, Laneous and the Family Yah), and Australian jazz legend Ben Gillespie (The Hoodangers, The Four Scoops), Stay Weird is an ode to the unique energy when people shed their pride to collaborate and honour each other’s creative offerings. It is a celebration of the raw energy of improvisation, where anything is possible if you can just let your weirdness shine through.
The Rookies stay weird, and so should you.
TOP TRACK'S WE'RE LOVING
SUNN O))) - 'Kingdoms (G)'
OK Sure - 'Severance ft Evangeline'
Qais Essar - 'Ahesta Boro'
Mindy Meng Wang - 'AAO Solo Series'
Lewis Cancut - 'Metal On Metal'
Mike Nock, Hamish Stuart, Julien Wilson and Jonathan Zwartz - 'Riverside'
Taylah Carroll - 'Sometimes Good People Do Bad Things'
Meara O'Reilly - 'Hockets for Two Voices'
Phaedo - 'Ain't No Use'
Ausecuma Beats - 'Aida'