Dragnet

Reviews

Dragnet Dragnet Reigns! LP

Third LP from Melbourne/Naarm-based DRAGNET. Sticking with their self-referential album titling (2019’s All Rise For Dragnet, 2023’s The Accession), we are presented with Dragnet Reigns! This six-piece fills every sonic space with peanut-butter-smooth bass, frantic yet precise drums, and gangly guitar riffs often as call-and-response with a jittery, eardrum-stabbing synth, all under the hypnosis of Jack Cherry’s (VINTAGE CROP) vocal conducting. Did I mention sax? Yeah, that’s in there too. All very of-the-moment Melbourne. This album marks a change-up, with Kailey Dick and Lisa Rashleigh (DELIVERY, SOURSOB) taking over for Meaghan Weiley and Alicia Nolan. Along with Tom Wooddruff (GONZO), this group is certainly filled out with heavy-hitters from (perhaps) Australia’s most prolific city. While they mostly deliver beat-driven, structured songs, I really enjoy the theme-divergent “Heroic Dose” that has single notes/beats/trills played by each instrument, one by one, under spoken word manifesto-poetry. Give this one a rip.

Dragnet The Accession LP

I sound like a broken record, but Australia is exporting some of the best releases in rock’n’roll at the moment. Gritty dance-punk similar to bands like BLOC PARTY and ADAM AND THE ANTS, but much more rustic, raw, and powerful. Drums and bass are massive and everything is just so damn catchy. Love the dueling harmonic guitars as they seemingly compete for attention with the keyboards. Somehow with all of this going on, the vocals still stand out front and center. Even within the chaos of having six members, the music never sounds cluttered or messy. Great stuff.

Dragnet All Rise for Dragnet LP

I take it this group of Melbournians are naming themselves after the FALL record, as this fourteen-track LP has a vaguely post-punk vibe, and they’re certainly cribbing the vocal stylings of Mark E. Smith. They forgo that band’s ramshackle charm, though, opting instead for the more fashionable, easier to imitate robotic rhythms of URANIUM CLUB or fellow countrymen VINTAGE CROP (now that I think about it, this might even be the same singer from that band). Unfortunately, the most distinguishing aspect of this release is also its most annoying. Throughout the record, the band peppers in these little lo-fi electronic interludes that come off more twee than what I imagine they’re going for. It’s a shame because it really undercuts what would otherwise be a fine, if not particularly original, record. The good news is these folks seem fairly young, so I imagine they’ll get another crack. And tracks like “Wipe it Off” showed enough promise that I’ll be keen to tune back in when they do.