Atolls was an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

surf-rock Surf music (also known as surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is inst ...

trio from

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

fronted by

Lucas Skinner Lucas Harwood () is an Australian bassist known for his role in King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard as well as Atolls (band), Atolls and Heavy Moss. Biography Early life Harwood is a native of Geelong, Victoria (state), Victoria. When he was a ...

from ''

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard (KGLW) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in 2010 in Melbourne, Victoria. The band's current lineup consists of Stu Mackenzie (vocals, guitar), Ambrose Kenny-Smith (vocals, harmonica, keyboards), Coo ...

'' alongside

Sam Ingles Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictional ...

and

Oli Grinter Oli or OLI may refer to: Places * Oli-ye Jonubi, a village in Bushehr Province, Iran * Oli-ye Shomali, a village in Bushehr Province, Iran People * Óli, a Faroese and Icelandic given name * Oliver (given name), nickname * Oli (footballer), a ...

that existed from 2011 to 2014.

History

Atolls was described as the leading

band coming out of the crowded Geelong surf-rock scene. Their debut singles; ''Mumble'' and ''Water'', would be released as a joint

b-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

which won ''

Time Off ''Time Off'' was a free weekly Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid-sized music magazine (Music Street Press of Australia, street press) that was originally distributed in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The magazine began on campus in 1976 at ...

's'' "Single Of The Week." Lucas is a strong supporter of preserving cassettes as a form of media, and advocated strongly for the bands music to be released on tape. ''Mumble'' and ''Water'' would later be released as part of the band's debut EP ''Hair Machine'' which was largely based on demos that Skinner created that fell outside ''King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard's'' style. ''

Inpress ''Inpress'' was a free weekly tabloid-sized music magazine ( street press) that was published in Melbourne, and was released in the Geelong and Mornington Peninsula areas of Victoria, Australia. The magazine was published by Street Press Austr ...

'' considered ''Hair Machine'' a potential "slacker anthem-of-the-year." The band would release a second EP, ''New Dream'', the following year described as a "mixture of high and earthy tones" and "laidback, garage goodness." In the buildup to its release the band released one of the EP's songs, ''Dwell Breaker'' as a single.

Style

The band was described as a middle ground between The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and

The Dandy Warhols The Dandy Warhols are an American psychedelic rock, psychedelic/ band, formed in Portland, Oregon, Portland, Oregon, in 1994 by singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmström. They were later joined by keyboardist Zia Mc ...

with a blend of

psych-rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound effects and recording tec ...

and

similar to

The Black Lips Black Lips is an American garage rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1999. History The band formed in Dunwoody, Georgia, after guitarist Cole Alexander and bassist Jared Swilley left the Renegades, and guitarist Ben Eberbaugh left the ...

. Near the end of the bands existence it was described as "criminally undervalued and perpetually overlooked."

Discography

Singles

*''Dwell Breaker'' *''Mumble'' *''Water'' *''Worn''

EPs

*''Hair Machine'' (April 2013) * ''New Dream'' (April 2014)

Legacy

Lucas reunited with Ingles to form ''

Heavy Moss Heavy Moss is an Australian psych-pop quartet led by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard bassist Lucas Harwood alongside Sam Ingles, Kyle Tickell, and Bec Goring. History Foundation Heavy Moss was formed due to a "spontaneous reunion" between Lu ...

'' a

psych-pop Psychedelic pop (or acid pop) is a genre of pop music that contains musical characteristics associated with psychedelic music. Developing in the mid-to-late 1960s, elements included " trippy" features such as fuzz guitars, tape manipulation, b ...

quartet In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quar ...

Notes

References

{{King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Musical groups from Melbourne Musical groups established in 2011 Musical groups disestablished in 2014 2011 establishments in Australia 2014 disestablishments in Australia Surf rock music groups Australian musical trios Heavy Moss