In the world of music today, there is a lot of diversity in style and genre. As always, contention and debate over the quality of modern music is very prominent. However, many music fans across the stylistic landscape have been taking notice of a classic rock revival going on. There are many musical artists who have been reviving somewhat forgotten styles of rock n’ roll. Geese, The Budos Band, Thee Sacred Souls, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, and many more are among this style! Unfortunately, many of these sorts of artists go unrecognized and don’t see the sort of popularity they deserve for their talent, dedication, and wonderful art. Among this class of musicians are Australian Psych band, The Babe Rainbow.
The Babe Rainbow have a very unique sound. Their most prominent and notorious influence is the psychedelic rock sound of the late 1960s. They are also largely inspired by funk, surf music, garage rock and indie. The music itself sounds extremely fun and light and very funky. The surf influence is obvious in just how summery and beachy the records are. The bands singer, Angus Dowling, has a very soft voice, that draws out over the melodies and is very chilled out and calm. And Elliot “Dr. Love Wisdom” O’ Reilly always gets in a great groove on the bass. The band members are all wonderful in their own right, all contributing to a great summer soundtrack.
The Band is from New South Wales – a state in Eastern Australia. They play a mix of psychedelic and funky pop and rock, with a lot of influence from afformentioned ’60’s surf music. The band was founded in 2015 by Angus Dowling and Jack Crowther, who had met in high school in Byron Bay, New South Wales. They were students of English who shared in their love of permaculture, surfing, and psychedelic music from the 1960’s, and came up with the band in 2014. The band became whole with the additions Elliot O’ Reilly and Lu-Lu Felix Domingo. Domingo, being Venezuelan-born, helped give the band’s music a slight Latin influence.
The group was signed to Flightless records in 2017, the record studio of fellow Australian psychedelic band, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Their debut album – The Babe Rainbow – was also produced by Stu Mackenzie, the front man of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Between 2015 and 2025, they have released 6 studio albums, 3 EPs, and one live album. More recently, they signed to p(doom) records, a record label also founded by King Gizzard as a fusion of their indie label KGLW and their online merchandise store. Their most recent studio album, titled Slipper Imp and Shakaerator, was released under p(doom). The album featured singles such as “LONG LIVE THE WILDERNESS” and “Like Cleopatra”.
The newest release from the band saw a lot of interesting factors that went into its creation. The album was recorded on a banana farm alongside producer Timon Martin. And was recorded using a more back to basics approach in comparison to their previous albums, focused more on the demos and styles of songs and using less features. In an interview with Off Shelf, Babe Rainbow’s Angus Dowling said, “Spending more time on demos was the plan and it allowed the songs to grow well. It created a happy garden of songs. We have no solid current plans for a collaboration, but we’re definitely keen on it!” (Dowling, May 5, 25). The description of the album Dowling gives is very reflective of the record. It’s an incredibly fun, groovy, summery record with many danceable tracks, and a light, beachy vibe throughout!
