If It Sucks, Turn It Up

If It Sucks, Turn It Up

Dune Rats wanted their fifth album to jump casually between stylistic approaches, evoking fellow Brisbane band Regurgitator’s channel-surfing 1997 classic Unit. Gurge’s Unit opener, “I Like Your Old Stuff Better Than Your New Stuff,” is also echoed in this album’s opening quip about how Dune Rats’ recent releases suck—kicking off the title track’s triumphant sing-along. As always with Dune Rats, these songs are equal parts bratty and catchy, balancing cheeky self-amusement with easy hooks and big vocal harmonies. The mocking commentary of “High Roller Selling Dope” and “Rich Kid Rehab” harks back to the beachy pop punk the band does so well. Other tracks follow through on their mission to mix things up more. “Solar Eyes” detours into softly strummed indie pop more akin to DMA’S before “Cheapskate” flashes back to 1990s radio catnip like Smash Mouth and New Radicals, reminding us just how malleable Dune Rats’ self-aware bubblegum is. Meanwhile, the party-friendly vibe stoked by singer/guitarist Danny Beus, bassist Brett Jansch, and drummer BC Michaels is very much confirmed on closing track, “Beers, Bongs & Bullshit.” Leading one more sing-along, Beus celebrates simply sitting around and doing nothing much at the end of a long day: “I want beers, bongs and bullshit with my friends/And you’re my friend.”

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