Dune Rats – If It Sucks Turn It Up

The Aussie pop punk trio Dune Rats (made up of Danny Beus, BC Michaels and Brett Jansch) are making a fine return with their fifth LP; ‘If It Sucks Turn It Up’ after an album release gap of two years.

Up first – you’re hit with the title track, one that opens their album brilliantly, taking me back to a lot of bands like Offspring and Blink-182 and other 90s/2000s pop/punk groups, with the signature driving guitar and poppy vocals quickly becoming one of my favourites from the album. 

Their second track ‘Be Like You’ is slightly edgier and has shades from the Green Day 2020 album, ‘Father Of All Motherfuckers’ which is a pretty high bar for anyone to be compared to. The third track, ‘Solar Eyes’ I feel departs in tone from the initial two tracks transitioning from pop punk to a more soft mature lo-fi Tame Impala-ish song, again a very favourable comparison.

Their fourth track ‘Cheapskate’ – which is the lead single release from the album, returns to that initial melodic pop/punk style and for me has a wee hint of The Clash during the initial few bars. Their fifth track ‘Main Beach’ takes that turn away from the pop-punk again to something a bit more softer but still retains that edgier pop sound to it.

Their sixth track  ‘High Roller Selling Dope’ again returns to the main album theme, and has become another one of my favourites with the energetic drumming and driving guitars at the foundation with the poppy vocals easily skating over the top. Moving through to the finale, ‘Beers, Bongs and Bullshit’ closes the album very well and it’s another favourite from this album.

Over the piece, this album is fantastic and – as CLASH noted up top – you can easily compare this album to releases from the successful groups around the 1990’s/2000’s in this genre. It’s perhaps slightly unfair constantly comparing the Australians to other groups, but whilst you can easily hear the influences from others in the genre, Dune Rats definitely have carved out their own identity whilst remaining faithful to the pop/punk energy, and they keep the appeal of this style feeling fresh. So if you were perhaps looking for an edgier Busted or McFly style record, ‘If it Sucks Turn it Up’ by Dune Rats  is the album for you – I thoroughly enjoyed this album, and personally cannot wait for what they come out with next.

9/10

Words: Jack Wilkie