The COVID-19 pandemic shut a lot of people in due to lockdowns. With nowhere to go, many people found their only escape through phone screens and computers, but out of that came a lot of instability. You could be fine, sure, but others found themselves falling into conspiracy theories and bigotry, or just trolling and provocation. The result of this loneliness and the echo chambers of extremism can be tragic. In 2019, a string of shootings at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand took place, with fifty-one dead and forty injured by the end of the attacks. The perpetrator was a right wing extremist who was described as a “recluse” by neighbors. He was a product of racist, conspiracy-minded online communities. Reports state that he had been a 4chan user since 2014. His manifesto was released on 8chan before the shootings occurred. These communities target young, disenfranchised men and lure them in with the “answers” — those being conspiracy theories, racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, etc. Dr. John Battersby, an expert on terrorism, said in the aftermath of the shootings "they feel as though they are losing their place as the dominant group and their culture is under attack from multiculturalism. What's happened since 9/11 is there's been this big international conspiracy theory that Muslims are the major threat. They think 'they're undermining our culture and identity and also physically attacking us so we've got to fight back.' The type of things these people think and write about ethnic and religious minorities are truly dreadful and hateful."
In response to the shootings and the tide of online right wing radicalization, Joey wrote the song “Minimum Brain Size.” While promoting K.G he said “2020 has been a lot of things, but it has mainly kept us confined to our homes and more significantly, to our screens. It truly is a scary world, the online mind-hive. We live in the age of the comment section. Where Trolls have their own farms and little Incels run free. But just remember… It's pathetic bro.” The lyrics tackle humanity’s ability to be cruel, presenting a middle finger to the incels and trolls of the world. Importantly, “Minimum Brain Size” does not fear them. It goes to great lengths to call them exactly what they are: pathetic and weak. The third song on K.G., released on November 20th, 2020, “Minimum Brain Size” is the first glance at the inner politics of the album.
A solo version of the song played by Joey is at the beginning of the documentary Sleeping Monster, making it the earliest archival material for the song. Liner notes state that Ambrose (harmonica), Cavs (drums/percussion), Joey (vocals/guitar/bağlama/JUNO/bass) and Stu (flute/sitar) recorded parts for the song, with Joey’s sister and member of Love Migrate, Bella Walker, adding backing vocals. The mixing session for the song, with an overdub by Joey, appears in the video KG LW MIX SESH with the band joking about a sequel for the song “Minimum Brain Size 4.” Joey was given the mixing credit for the song on K.G. On December 13th, 2020, as part of Gizzymail, the band released the only episode of GUITAR WITH “WALKY JAKE”, a short-lived series where Joey teaches viewers how to play a song. The video focuses on “Minimum Brain Size.”
Since K.G.’s release, “Minimum Brain Size” has been played consistently throughout the band’s tours. It debuted on 2021-02-23 at the Croxton Park Hotel in Naarm (Melbourne) as part of the first of many fully microtonal sets of 2021 and the first show post-lockdown. On the next night (2021-02-24) the song came out of “Honey,” marking the first instance of the song in a longer jam. Its next performance would be on 2021-02-26 where it would slide into “Sleep Drifter.” The next few shows move away from the jams back to the standalone rendition based on available info. The song would continue to be played after the microtonal sets were retired, starting with an appearance at The Return of the Curse of Timeland Festival on 2022-03-05. For 2022, the song appeared on 2022-04-11 after “Automation,” a pairing which would return on 2022-05-14. Other shows would see new pairings, such as “Minimum Brain Size” > “Billabong Valley” on 2022-10-27 and “Doom City” > “Minimum Brain Size” on Halloween night. Live versions are typically close to the studio version outside of any potential transitions to other microtonal songs.