Scizzorman ‘How To Get Your Life Right With What’s Left’
Scizzorman’s HOW TO GET YOUR LIFE RIGHT WITH WHAT’S LEFT is an album that seems to have been assembled from fragments of a strange contemporary dream. Across seven tracks and just over 30 minutes, the Australian alternative funk-rock outfit move restlessly between psychedelic rock, glam, stoner grooves, swamp blues, retro funk and atmospheric passages, creating a record that is less interested in genre boundaries than in the possibilities that exist beyond them. Its title suggests self-help, but there is nothing prescriptive about the music. Instead, Scizzorman embrace confusion as a creative condition, turning post-pandemic uncertainty, writer’s block and existential questioning into something colourful, rhythmic and frequently very funny. It is an ambitious return that never loses sight of the simple pleasure of making a compelling noise.
The band’s chemistry is central to the album’s success. Terry J Vinci is both drummer and vocalist, and his dual role gives the record an unusual sense of physical immediacy. His lyrics are outrageous without being empty, moving between cultural observations, absurd anecdotes and questions about where modern life is heading. Cody Robson’s bass is the stabilising force, supplying the kind of fluid, muscular groove that allows the music to travel into stranger territory without losing its centre. Stewart Herbertson’s guitars and synthesizers provide the colour, moving between sharp rock textures, psychedelic washes and more understated atmospheric passages. Together, the three musicians create a sound that feels spontaneous while remaining carefully shaped.
The album’s sequencing is particularly effective because every song seems to open another door. “The Lesser-known (Pts 1-3)” introduces the band’s fragmented worldview, establishing a musical vocabulary in which unexpected shifts are part of the appeal. “The Next Gen Is Broken” turns towards generational anxiety, while “Narcissistic Nymphs Of The New Age” brings a more flamboyant satirical energy. “Cavalcades” broadens the musical landscape, and “The Great Unknown” leans further into uncertainty and atmosphere. Then comes “Mystical Yeast”, a gloriously eccentric title for a track that captures the band’s refusal to take the conventional route, before “Get With The Program” closes the record with an appropriately knowing sense of irony.
There are plenty of recognisable influences in the background. The rhythmic intelligence of Talking Heads, the theatrical experimentation of David Bowie, the surreal humour of Frank Zappa and the psychedelic freedom of Jimi Hendrix all provide useful reference points. The Beatles’ appetite for studio exploration, the funk-rock energy of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the alternative edge of Arctic Monkeys and the hazier qualities of The Dandy Warhols also appear in different shades. Yet Scizzorman’s greatest accomplishment is avoiding the trap of sounding like a collection of tributes. These influences become ingredients rather than identities, allowing the band to create a musical language that is eccentric but recognisably their own. Adrian Vinci’s mix helps preserve this distinction, giving the record enough clarity for its various textures to coexist without becoming a sonic jumble.
What makes HOW TO GET YOUR LIFE RIGHT WITH WHAT’S LEFT ultimately rewarding is its willingness to remain curious. This is not an album that claims to have solved the problems it observes, nor does it attempt to turn uncertainty into a grand philosophical statement. Instead, it finds freedom in the unresolved. Scizzorman understand that music can question the world while still making people move, and that humour can sit alongside genuine existential concern without diminishing either. The result is a concise, adventurous and highly individual record that feels refreshingly unconcerned with fitting neatly into the present musical landscape. It may not tell you how to get your life right, but it offers something arguably more useful: permission to embrace the weirdness of what is left.
