The Drab Doo Riffs Postcards From Uranus (Border) CD REVIEW

August 19, 2010

Word has it that the Drab Doo Riffs are a fun ensemble in a concert situation. Theyโ€™ve built up an ardent following in Auckland. Iโ€™m told that they are a lot of fun, and itโ€™s possible to get an impression of that through their second EP, Postcards From Uranus.

Helmed by former Supergroup guy Karl Steven, the Drab Doo Riffs seem dedicated to a goodtime, party aesthetic that hinges on their love of rough and ready early forms of rockโ€™nโ€™roll. Itโ€™s clear just from these six tracks that their influences include surf music, novelty b-grade โ€˜50s rockโ€™nโ€™roll and rโ€™nโ€™b, and the result sounds not unlike early B52s, who hooked onto a similar mishmash of influences back in 1980, but honed them into a New Wave context.

Thereโ€™s a lot to be said for fun in music, and although novelty is often frowned on, Iโ€™d rather start the day with a smile on myself than the sense of impending doom so many musical peddlers of precarious mental states seem to want to push onto our plates.

Some of the groupโ€™s energy, at least, translates to this EP, and the songs, though incredibly slight, do have their charms. The real litmus test will come with the debut album.

Sound: Just okay, but it does capture the rawness of the groupโ€™s presentation reasonably well. ย GARY STEEL

Sound = 2.5

Music = 3

Steel has been penning his pungent prose for 40 years for publications too numerous to mention, most of them consigned to the annals of history. He is Witchdoctor's Editor-In-Chief/Music and Film Editor. He has strong opinions and remains unrepentant. Steel's full bio can be found here

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