Dallas Crane - Curiosity

Wed 13th Sep, 2006 in Music Reviews

In the build-up to the mid-September release of their new album, Factory Girls, Melbourne’s longest-working overnight-success Dallas Crane are ready to set taste buds tingling with their new single, ‘Curiosity’.

Following their 2004 self-titled release, packed with rock gems like ‘Ladybird’ and ‘Dirty Hearts’, fans might be caught off guard by the change in direction represented by ‘Curiosity’.

Don’t get the wrong idea; they’re still sticking to their pub-rock roots: no expeditions into trippy prog or disco beats on this track. Still channelling the fury and passion of blue-collar rock, the sound is instantly recognisable as it combines sharp guitar energy and raw-throated vocalising, but there is something different about this song.

Possessing a certain darkness heretofore inconsistent with Dallas Crane, Lead vocalist Dave Larkin barks lyrics like “I wanna be your pagan god tonight” with a slightly malevolent edge that speaks of shady scenes and pressing violence. The polarity of the verses, driven by lonely bass and drums, and the guitar thrashing of the chorus only serves to underscore this sinister edge, as Larkin builds towards an animalistic crescendo that makes manifest the barely tethered aggression at the heart of the song.