Roaring out of Sydney’s famed inner-west comes grunge/punk crossover act dip (lowercase for that added edge), a band born in lockdown and, judging by their latest single Joanne, are set on taking rock to the extreme.
Combining the driving force of 70’s inspired fuzz-punk and throwing in a splash of psychedelic, Joanne sounds like The Dead Kennedy’s met The Brain Jonestown Massacre in a bar, Kraftwerk dropped in for a pint, and all three acts enjoyed the Nirvana cover band that was performing that evening. Check it out below.
Check out dip’s raucous new tune ‘Joanne’
Despite only clocking in at two minutes, dip tells a pretty profound story on Joanne, with frontman Dil Hare noting that the tune was inspired by a real-life Joanne, a homeless woman, who revealed to the singer that no-one had asked what her name was for two years.
“Homelessness and, often by extension, the systematic abuse that so many people are born into from the day they are born, are issues that we all too easily turn a blind eye too, and we only really notice it when it affects those who are nearest and dearest to us”, he explains.
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“With this song, we really attempted to combine this sarcastic pessimism with raucous punk rock energy and a sprinkle of psychedelia, taking cues in equal part from bands like Sonic Youth and The Meanies.
Joanne explores the identity of those who have just as much of a story to tell as any artists, celebrity, influencer, corporate top-dog or whatever. We all do – and we’re running at a loss when it comes to the art of taking the time to just learn from other people, and shed our preconceptions about them, just because of where they sleep at night (for example).”
The group are yet to perform their first gig (although they plan on raising hell around Sydney’s best venues when they get the green light to start the stage hustle), but by all accounts using the afforded downtime (like many other artists) to focus on putting out great music first is paying off.
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It’s the second song for the group, who announced themselves earlier in the year with the Rage Against The Machine-esque existential warcry of ‘Bash Your Head Against A Brick Wall’– which also happens to be the only lyric of said tune. Check out the trippy lyric video below and approach all future walls and murals with caution.
Check out ‘Bash Your Head Against A Brick Wall’ by dip
