I'd pray to some moth gods. Introducing: Mothball Deities, by Pollinator.

Mothball Deities by Pollinator.
Artwork by Lyle Hope-Bailey. 

Let's rewind the clock here for a second.

In the time building up to-, and since Dystopia's formation I have seen too many live local shows to count. It was never a single band, (nor even a select group of bands) but rather a collection of a handful of those live performances which in some way more than the others ignited my desire to make this ludicrous idea a reality.

Evert Snyman of Pollinator.
Captured here by Dark Wolf Photo Art, Verdine Daniels. 

When I say handful I am not being figurative. I could count these instances off on one hand. Medicine Boy, Hello Beautiful and The Tazers at Arcade. Mouse at Thrashers. Black Lung at Endless Daze 2018. Ruff Majik, Mad God and co. at Mercury. Black Math at That 70's show. That's it.

Pollinator added a show to that list with their Mothball Deities launch at Railways. I haven't seen a better performance in 2019, and possibly even ever. From the set list, to the atmosphere, to the ridiculous amount of people playing on stage, and especially the absolute, unbridled ecstasy on every person's face all night made something truly and uniquely special happen.

I was lucky enough to hear Mothball Deities a few weeks early. I naturally threw myself into reviewing it as soon as I could. Now, after a couple million rewrites and edits, I think I finally found the right words. This third release is my favorite of all their material, and I am absolutely floored by the fact that they're going to be a part of Dystopia's first ever event.

Buckle up, and enjoy the ride.

Louise Eksteen of Pollinator.
Picture taken from Pollinator's Facebook Page. 

"I See You. "



Straight away a seering riff announces Pollinator's arrival. They've used repetition in previous releases, but (in line with a major difference from the past I will highlight in a minute) "I See You" uses repetition in a way that feels much more deliberate. It also serves as a welcome reminder of Pollinator's signature sound and style which I've come to know and love. One track in, and they've already grabbed my curiosity in a big way.

"Dorothy"

I don't like to place an album or artist in a certain genre, especially subgenres. "Dorothy" is a great example of why that is. It's got the archetypal repeating riff of many a stoner rock song , but also a vocal-line breakdown that screams of dirty Rock n' Roll and psychedelia. The track uses this vocal-line, with a gorgeous guitar lick hanging over it, to incorporate their defining sound and use of multiple, layered vocal voicings and melodies. Evert's murderous scream at the tail end of this vocal line is the proverbial lemon to the song's tequila, except in this bar you squeeze the lemon into your eyes instead of eating it. The vocal line is absurd. It's evil. It's my favorite solo on the album while in reality it's still a fucking chorus. It's ridiculous and beautiful, and it's the perfect track to keep the album's momentum going up.

"Truth"

I love how the members of Pollinator are slightly different creatively and musically. I instantly recognised Tim's signature on "Truth". It starts off as soulful, jazzy, almost hip-hop/RnB like. I absolutely adore the brass section from Deon Bakkes's trumpet and Garnet Müllers trombone in particular. Then the other two come in and bring with them the heavy-, gorgeous rock sound that is essential to Pollinator.

"Truth" is my favorite track on "Mothball Deities." (Thanks, Tim.)

Tim Edwards of Pollinator.
Image by Keets Productions. 

If I
had to
narrow
down
exactly what makes Pollinator
so great, and why I love them
so much,
it would be
experimentation,
and their damn near-flawless chemistry. "Truth" is my favorite song on this release because of exactly that.

"Serpent's Stance"

I had to listen to this track a few times before I was really invested in it. At first, it seemed a little out of place. The more I listened to the album however, the more I saw the role "Serpent's Stance" plays on it. It is slightly slower paced, but builds itself up piece by piece, trading tempo for impact and intensity in the process. Louise has one of the most ridiculous vocal ranges of anyone I know, and fuck does she push it to the peak here, or does she? It seems like every time I think she can't go higher, she just shrugs it off and tops it again. The track is a great bridge between the soulful "Truth" and the rest of the album as it progresses and intensifies.


"They're On To You"


It's hard for me not to make a Queens of the Stone Age comparison here. "They're on to you" is hard-hitting, dirty Rock and Roll at it's finest. It's quintessential Pollinator, drawing from the band's influences (e.g. Queens of the Stone Age and, to a lesser extent on this track, The Pixies) while still absolutely standing on it's own two feet and crucially also still standing shoulder to shoulder with the greats of Pollinator's Rock contemporaries both locally and internationally.

I'm also a sucker for great lyricism, and this track contains my favorite line from the EP: "I'm here for you, taking you to my happy place. Debating with the other me, in my Psyche. Not you again. I thought I was rid of you, but I was wrong. That I should've known all along." The track also features Tristan Dos Santos on piano in an interesting twist.  I could go on about the different components of what makes this track so good. I won't, for your sake, so:

In short, "They're on to You"
absolutely fucks.

Evert and Tim Harbour of Mad God, one of many guest features on the EP. Pictured by Vernine Daniel's. 

 "Another Rule."


It's a hard task, finding a song to end off a release that up to this point has had an excellent and immersive layout and structure. I have criticized many a album, including Pollinator's previous full-length releases "Fruit" and "Honeyeaters", for exactly this. Personally, I think a final song could be an invaluable tool in crafting an album or EP. "Mothball Deities" utilizes the shorter EP format where "Fruit" and Co. were longer, full-length releases. EP's have the unique advantage of arguably being simpler in terms of format and layout, where full-length albums can be somewhat more complex and more dependent on the amount of "singles" vs "filler songs". This doesn't mean a cohesive EP is easy to pull off however.

"Another Rule" contains much of what made the tracks that prefaced it on this release so good. It uses varying tempos, the inimitable Tim Harbour of Mad God's guitar skills (along with most of the album's other featured contributers too), beautiful and intricate vocal parts, Pollinator's signature heavy sound, an insane rythm section, and all these things amongst so many more carefully placed, deliberate and effective components that crash over your ears as though they were waves.

This track is not the best part of "Mothball Deities". But what it does do, is encapsulate and compliment my favorite release from a band that is always adapting and challenging itself, a band that never fails to grab and hold my attention, and that never ceases to impress me.

I love Pollinator. I love every single person in it, I love every album and every project they've made or been involved with, and their live performances in many ways are an amalgamation of all of the reasons I love them. These live shows were the beginning of my love for their music, the beginning of my incredible and unlikely friendship with the three of them, and a crucial, massively influential, and indispensable part of creating and growing Dystopia.

Pollinator being Pollinator, by Pollinator. Celebrating shortly after their phenomenal album launch.

Track list: 1. I see you 2. Dorothy 3. Truth 4. Serpent's Stance 5. They're on to you 6. Another Rule.


 Listen to Mothball Deities.

Follow Pollinator on Instagram and Facebook

Images courtesy of :

Dark Wolf Photo Art, Vernine Daniel's.

Keets Productions