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Perennial also-ran Dave Graney returns with a bigger record deal and a smaller moustache (he used to sport a truly hideous Buffalo Bill number) for his second album under the Dave Graney Show imprint. Formerly of The Moodists and in the early nineties, the Coral Snakes, Graney hasn't veered much from his previous work and once you're past the terrible cover art you get a well-crafted selection of songs that range from quiet acoustic strum to sequenced pop. Graney has a dramatic half spoken, half growled style of singing which is put to good use on his more narrative work. He's at his best on these slower numbers, such as I Need Some Scratch and Outing The Suits, where his voice does apt justice to the scathing social caricatures of his lyrics, evincing a sharp wit and sense of satire ("There was this metal head flaked out on the lilydale line/ Catchin' flies, mouth open wide/ Leather jacket, moto cross, quilted shoulder style.") Sometimes he can sound like Australia's answer to Pulp; the ooohhs and yeahs on Out Of The Loop are straight out of Jarvis Cocker's book of kitsch seduction techniques. Occasionally he tends to overstretch his metaphors as in Death By A Thousand Sucks, which despite being a comment on the music industry, descends into a finale of tourrette's and puerile sucking sounds, while songs such as Have You Heard About The Melbourne Mafia? and Drugs Are Wasted On The Young will never be as good as their titles. Overall this is a pleasant, unassuming album but probably not the blazing masterwork that Graney needs to break out of obscurity.

Stav Sherez
CWAS #7 - Spring 2001

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