Album Review: Dune Rats - The Kids Will Know It's Bullshit

The boys have put two and a bit years, a slew of international shows and a release from their very own record label between themselves and their first album, but that's not all that separates The Kids Will Know It's Bullshit from their eponymous first release.

Dune Rats was drenched in bong water and gleefully invited all of a suburban busy-body's worst accusations ("unambitious", "good-for-nothings", "bludgey"). On Bullshit, the Brisbane boys up the ante and trade in their cones for a six-pack of stubbies: "We used to do it all the time, but something happens to your mind... Do it if you wanna, wanna cuz you gotta".

The shift in habit ushers in an aesthetic change that nudges their sound forward; gone are the mellow surf rock vibes and lethargic riffs, they have been replaced by DIY punk's frenzied guitar and boozy, swirling, can't-quite-see-straight vocals. Bullshit also doubles down on imagining a suburban wasteland — "I'm packing up, moving out of the basement, Mum and Dad fighting all the time, got a place where no one is ever sober". The boys are still having a laugh, but they have also found some well-placed anger and a dose of cynicism.

What bullshit will the kids recognise? Maybe the kids will switch out their spliffs for tinnies ahead of schedule, or maybe they will figure out at the future isn't quite what it's cracked up to be.