Described as “the ear rattling psychic dream of choked up acid punks”, MOOF chat to garage-punk noisemakers Oral Habit…

MOOF: Take us back to the beginning, how did you come together to form Oral Habit?

Charlie: It began as a home recording experiment for my own entertainment in late 2023, recording psych pop songs to show friends whilst I playing in various other projects. Slowly it began to branch out when my younger brother Felix joined on drums, for a while playing as a two piece relentlessly between London and Brighton, this formed the backbone of what the band would become. At the beginning of 2025 Tippi my partner joined the band on bass guitar.

We loved your first single “Sauerkraut” and liked that you had a jar of the stuff at one of your gigs. How much does humour and silliness play into the band?

It’s important to have fun and not take yourself too seriously, I like to act instinctually when it comes to creating so if something sticks, it will. Don’t think, do. The Sauerkraut thing came about as I was eating a lot of it when writing the track, slightly disgusting but a sauerkraut sandwich for some meals. Our friends Manchester based Wax Head gifted the jar to us before our set, it now sits uneaten on my desk (sorry boys).

Your debut EP ‘Garage Frock’ came out earlier this month on Sour Grape – can you tell us a bit about the making of that?

We recorded it in a day then overdubbed the day after in January of this year with our good friends Harry Hayes and Rory Lethbridge. The EP was a self release, the lovely guys at Sour Grapes just put it out on cassette for us. Felix played drums and I played everything else, it was super refreshing to freak out with the guys in the studio running down the rabbit hole and experienting with things we haven’t tried before. 

What’s been your most memorable gig so far?

A few months back we played at the Windmill in Brixton for our mate Hope’s night ‘Knee Jerk‘. It really felt like this new lineup and setlist of songs clicked perfectly and marked a new chapter for the band.

Can you tell us about some current bands you’re loving?

I’ve been digging the dude from Lifeguard‘s solo stuff Sharp Pins. Looking forward to The New Eves debut album. And Hitmen have recently been on heavy rotation.

If you could play a show with anyone dead or alive who would it be?

CAN (in 1973).

What have you got coming up for the rest of the year?

We are going on a UK tour to support our new EP ‘Garage Frock!’ so come and see that!

08/09 Edge of the Wedge, Portsmouth

09/09 Hope & Ruin, Brighton

10/09 The Boileroom, Guildford 

11/09 The Lab, Northampton 

14/09 The Purple Turtle, Reading

16/09 The Chintz, Falmouth

18/09 Nice N’ Sleazy, Glasgow

19/09 Big Hands Bar, Manchester

27/09 The Shacklewell Arms, London

Keep up to date with Oral Habit here:

Instagram | Bandcamp