A QUICK CHAT WITH CANNON

Melbourne rock trio Cannon, featuring Mitchy McIvor, Dave Mudie and Adam Green, were everywhere on the Australian live circuit during the mid-2000’s. While their raucous single “Hell” from their debut Hardwood Hits EP, was resonating loudly on the national airwaves, they crossed the country with the likes of Jet, fellow locals Dallas Crane and internationals including Tenacious D and The Black Keys.  

Pausing after this initial burst of activity in 2008, Cannon returned more than a decade later with their debut album Connexion in 2021. The album was a chance for a reunion of good friends and a re-exploration of the explosive chemistry that won the band initial acclaim in the mid-2000s. Their second album, the just released Comet’s Coming, is a perceivably darker affair, with rawer tones soundtracking deeper themes and concepts, telling the trio still have plenty of fresh ideas to explore. 

We caught up with Cannon’s Mitchy McIvor for a track by track rundown of Comet’s Coming

Lithium Springs

A play on America’s real-life Lithia Springs – and Cannon’s holiday destination of choice. Mitchy explains, “it’s as close to a summer beach song as we’ll get, and while ‘the sky is blue and the hummingbirds hum’, we still end up in a spring naturally laced with lithium – about right.” The video was shot outside of Castlemaine on 8mm and directed by the band’s very own Adam Green.

Comet’s Coming

Inspired by the Australian Nobel Prize winning author, Patrick White’s epic classic, Voss, the title track for the album is a triumph of construction – a compelling bass hook meets an explosive chorus – as big themes of mortality and metaphysical connection are explored. The video for the second single and title track for the album, was produced by American super talent, Mary Streepy, who also designed the album’s artwork.  

Water Over Our Heads

In 1934 the Kanes Bridge in Yarra Bend was washed away in a Melbourne flood. It was reported that “water was over their heads.” Inspired by this description, “Water Over Our Heads” is about the feeling of being left behind. 

Mind Screw

Looped drums, synth arpeggio lines played with guitar, and delay pedals with minds of their own. This is a clash of styles as the band embark on a new frontier. 

Skim The Scum

“Skim the scum that simmers in you.” Brutal, honest, and classic Cannon.

Ride The River

Every couple of years Cannon routinely get together and watch 6 hours of the brilliant Tom Petty documentary by Peter Bogdanovich. On one such occasion, as Tom Petty was curiously described as someone you’d want to ‘ride the river with,’ Mitchy got thinking and asks…. “who’d ride the river with me?” 

Box Cat Blues

This song recognises that true love is about allowing people to be themselves. In an enlightening moment of clarity, it was Mitchy’s cat, Boo, who literally inspired this figurative analogy. 

Last Call

This song features the wonderous sound of a 12-string Rickenbacker. It’s an English style drunken singalong to mark the end of a binge. There is both melancholy and optimism in the concession that the night is drawing to a close. And thus, so does the album.

Cannon – Comet’s Coming is out through Cheersquad Records and Tapes .