The "new sound" was described as, "made up of greater rhythmic diversity, looser song structures, that less constricting for live performances" Critics noticed that the, "intricate drum patterns imposed a heavy bottom-end groove." Walker said, "Steve and I were doing a lot of experimenting in the studio with rhythms based on toms- just big tom sounds repeated over and over again. So that turned up on "Taipan", "Numbers Fall" and "Wild Colonial Boy"." In the lead up to the recording, the band was playing concerts in pubs and clubs in regional centres such as Wollongong and Newcastle. Band members were encouraged to improvise and change song structures. Barnes said, "It was a really loose free-form thing. We were developing and changing the songs every night to suit the atmosphere we were in." Walker noted, "A song like "Taipan" you can do just about anything you like and it won't fall apart."