(Fooftick)

Psychedelic grunge? O RLY?

Dane Certificate is a Melbourne-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who supposedly funded this release by gluing band posters around the town. That certainly wins some DIY points for Glue You, but it wasn’t lacking in those already. The ‘90s Australian rock is performed solely by Dane Williams, with fairly simplistic guitar, bass and drums layered under more esoteric synth lines and harmonised vocals. It’s then packaged into pop structures and given a sheen of polish. Unfortunately, the production isn’t a match for the lo-fi instrumentation, which makes the music seem disingenuous. Sure, it’s grungy, but only for being lethargic and needlessly obtuse. And the occasional psychedelic elements are never allowed to inhibit the staidly-tracked radio rock. The sad thing is the record has all these elements contained within, they’re just arbitrarily segregated so Dane can get on with being in a band ... with himself. The glitch synth symphonies from Lolly Mouse and Where Are You?, and the muffled, lysergic humming and strumming on Another Way’s intro sound great – turn them into Australian pop-rock. At worst you run the risk of sounding interesting.

JAKEB SMITH

Be first to comment on this article

Write Comment
Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Poster's IP addresses are logged.
Name:
Comment:
Code:*