Thematically anchored in the netherworlds of dealers and degenerates who idle away their daytimes in cheap motels, Melbourne indie-rock act Western Stars' debut single 'Mexican Motel' affectionately harks back to the lackadaisical heyday of slacker-rock deities Pavement and Dinosaur Jr, pairing a hearty blast of paranoiac guitar solo overload with Xanaxed pop vocals.

The basic tracks for the song were recorded at Headgap Studios in Preston (Melbourne) last winter, with guitarist/singer-songwriter Nick Roe wailing licks whilst confined to an in-studio bed with a broken back and a brainful of painkillers. That studio experience took place under the searching ears of engineer Robbie Adams (The Bowers, Kamikaze Trio, River of Snakes), and merely catalysed the onset of an epic gestation period; a period in which around 70 tracks were overdubbed – on iPads in cars, in an abandoned Indian restaurant, above an old morgue and during a one week-long narcotic-fuelled bedroom session.

Mexican Motel

‘So Long, Gene’ is a loving tribute to the troubled lead singer of Ween and tells the tale of the combination of events that led to one of the band’s close friends unwittingly being the catalyst for the break-up of the greatest band of our time.

So Long, Gene

‘So Long, Gene’ is a loving tribute to the troubled lead singer of Ween and tells the tale of the combination of events that led to one of the band’s close friends unwittingly being the catalyst for the break-up of the greatest band of our time. 

Thematically anchored in the netherworlds of dealers and degenerates who idle away their daytimes in cheap motels, 'Mexican Motel' affectionately harks back to the lackadaisical heyday of slacker-rock deities Pavement and Dinosaur Jr, pairing a hearty blast of paranoiac guitar solo overload with Xanaxed pop vocals.

The basic tracks for the song were recorded at Headgap Studios in Preston (Melbourne) last winter, with guitarist/singer-songwriter Nick Roe wailing licks whilst confined to an in-studio bed with a broken back and a brainful of painkillers. That studio experience took place under the searching ears of engineer Robbie Adams (The Bowers, Kamikaze Trio, River of Snakes), and merely catalysed the onset of an epic gestation period; a period in which around 70 tracks were overdubbed – on iPads in cars, in an abandoned Indian restaurant, above an old morgue and during a one week-long narcotic-fuelled bedroom session.

westernstars