There are plenty of ‘on-trend’ musical genres doing the rounds in Australia these days: The lo-fi pop of Dick Diver and Twerps, the lyrically-driven rock of Courtney Barnett and Jen Cloher, the fuzzed-out psychedelia of Pond and Tame Impala.
In one album, Sydney collective Day Ravies has managed to harness elements of all three sounds and combine them into a surprisingly cohesive record.
No doubt contributing to the hotchpotch of sounds are the sharing by all band members of writing duties, but with each track delivered with focus and group mentality, this varied approach doesn’t lessen any song’s appeal.
The surf-rock channelled on Skewed is blissful in its sunny disposition, and other highlights — most notably the back-to-back Hickford Whizz and Halfway Up A Hill — prove that Day Ravies have some quality songwriting chops. In fact, the longer the album goes, the more cohesion and focus it shows.
Whereas Day Ravies’ previous record, 2013’s Tussle, was revered for its gentle nature, Liminal Zones sees the band raise the sonic bar, expanding some of the sounds Tussle explored. It’s this graduation from reserved sound to confident wall-of-sound that is most exciting about the band and their future.
There was potential for this album to get away from the band, to slip down a rabbit hole and lose the listener. But Day Ravies hold it together well enough for all the record’s competing sounds to stick together, and sets the platform for one of the feel-good stories of the year.
