Dead Attention is the follow-up EP to Devin de Araujo and Nathan Morris’ debut, Sinners, and was produced by Neil Coombe, the chap who’s worked with DZ Deathrays, Robert Forster of The Go-Betweens, and The Grates.
Opening with the title track, it’s weighty and unforgiving, luring listeners as it charges through with the persistent and the unnervingly determined line “I’ve been thinking about it, oh, I’ve been thinking about it.”
The follower, “Swathe”, is a little more solemn and in the darkened vein of Joy Division than the opener, but affirms that Udays Tiger have an infallible capacity to sing lyrics that are exacted with precision and intent, well enunciated and lasting.
This precision is captured brilliantly by the following track, “Mean.” The line “I’ve got nowhere to be, but maybe I’m deluded,” is accompanied by a melody that has an onomatopoeic quality, sounding as if it could easily induce madness or delusion. Appropriately, the song spirals intensely, moments away from bursting point before it is quelled by a final crash of the symbol.
But the stand out track, “(I Need A) Summertime Hit” is both grungy and melodious, and it does a fine job of balancing these oxymoronic qualities.
Following this slower, more emotion laden track comes “Temptress,” a song that winds up like a trail on rains, whirring hypnotically until the acceleration is broken by reverting to the pacier beats and grittier, attention-demanding vocals Udays Tiger are known for and found slathered throughout Sinners.
Speaking of their 2011 debut, the six-track cracker was nothing short of impressive, but as sophomores tend to do, Dead Attention shows an improved musical diversity, a sincere and not overstated maturing, and overall an ability to reveal a softer, subtler side, without losing any of their rock-hard conviction.
