Australia’s best-loved (and possibly only) Simpsons-themed doom metal band, Dr Colossus, will return to Geelong for one show only to celebrate the second anniversary of their latest album.
The seven-track album, I’m a Stupid Moron With an Ugly Face and a Big Butt and My Butt Smells and I Like to Kiss My Own Butt, is named after a Bart Simpson prank call.
While not as long as the Guiness World Record-holding 156-word title of Chumbawumba’s 2008 album, it may well be the longest titled album to reach the top five of the ARIA Australian album charts, which it did in May 2021.
Dr Colossus’ music fuses deep metal grooves with deep cuts from Simpsons’ dialogue and storylines, permeating their tunes with a definite comedic element.
They also tend to start their sets walking through the crowd to the stage in full Stonecutters regalia (Homer the Great, s6 ep12 for the uninitiated), setting the tone for their performances.
Lead singer and guitarist Jono Colliver said he loved that the band could bring together metal heads, Simpsons fans and people who were simply curious.
“The beauty of our show is that there’s a lot of people that are going for the comedic element, who may not have ever been to a show like that,” he said.
“They probably have expectations of (a metal show) being quite exclusive, gate-kept, or kind of machoistic.
“The joy I get out of it is seeing people that have never been to a heavy show who end up coming away being like, wow, I’m going to go and check out a lot of other heavy bands and start going to more heavy shows because it’s not what I expected.
“There’s something they might have missed out on unless they’d been coaxed in by the lols. Melody is pretty much universal; in essence, (metal is) riff-based pop music.”
Dr Colossus will perform at the Barwon Club on August 5 and, unusually for a headline act, open the show soon after doors open at 6pm.
“(Bassist) Mike (Findlay), he’s like our ambassador at the Barwon Club, it’s his home ground; he wanted to make it so we would play first and we could enjoy the show afterwards,” Colliver said.
“So we’re going to play first and then we’re going to watch our favourite bands in our favourite venue and hang out with everybody rather than missing the social atmosphere of it.”
Dr Colossus will be supported by Planet of the 8s, Two Headed Dog, Spawn and Full Tone Generator.