Exclusive: Stream Dr Sure's Unusual Practice's debut album, The West

A few months back we were welcomed into the world of Dr Sure's Unsual Practice, a then-recently-formed super-group of sorts between members of Hideous Sun Demon, Hot Sludge Fundae and more, who under the direction of Dougal Shaw (Breve, Cracodile, Hot Sludge Fundae), create blistering post-punk that tackle important themes with strong lyricism and punchy, guitar-ridden instrumentals. At the time, we were premiering their single It's Alive, which tackled smartphone culture and technology addiction as dominating guitar riffs welcome a touch of late-80s punk nostalgia, bringing them forward to 2019 to create a "really impressive listen that keeps you on your toes as the melodies warp and spin and twist."

As it turns out, it was a tease of their forthcoming debut album The West, an attention-grabbing ten tracks arriving in full tomorrow - June 14th - through Marthouse Records and with it, further introducing the group as ones to watch amongst the heavier side of Australian rock music. With a little more room to move in the album format, Dr Sure's Unusual Practice has the opportunity to flesh out this 'peculiar punk' sound across the ten tracks, evolving throughout the album as they experiment and grow as a band primed to move into good things. There are moments that feel more anthemic and stadium-rock-esque, with punching guitar meeting dominating vocals that command above, while elsewhere, there are signs of more tender songwriting underneath, shining through as the album turns more reflective and intimate at latter points.

"I started writing these songs a year ago. My studio/warehouse/DIY venue I'd been putting all my energy into had just closed down, sold off to developers, and I found myself in a pretty dark limbo state. I started making these songs for a bit of release," Dougal says on the release, available to stream in full below. "They were raw and immediate and fun but mostly a good release of my weird existential vertigo. I layered up the instruments, adding each part as a reaction to the last part, no overthinking or rewriting. Lyrics were always the final bit, a kind of stream-of-conscious spew of my inner washing machine combined with the daily scroll, big news, whatever was floating at the top of the spin cycle. The album name The West came from the album closer 'Death Of The West' which is kind of referring more to 'the self'. The death of the self, ego, privilege - stripping back societies weights and floaties, trying to plug up the leaks in the tank and process the absurdity of the whole spectacle."

Click on the image below to stream the record via Bandcamp.

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