They say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away but I’m not sure there’s anything in this world that could keep Dr Sure’s Unusual Practice away from releasing music for long. Total Reality marks the third full length release from the Naarm experimental post/art punk five-piece and it makes a worthy addition to their already quite impressive discography.
With another two previous albums, three EPs, a split, and a 7-inch under their belts since 2019, they’ve definitely got enough music out for you to base your doctoral thesis on. A lot of other bands would struggle to put out two EPs in the same amount of time, so that should give you an inkling that there’s something secret going on with Dr. Sure’s formula.
Initially formed as a solo project, the band are centered around the central nucleus that is their multi-instrumentalist frontman Dougal Shaw AKA Dr. Sure. The rest of the band tend to dip in and out of contributing to each release. This time around, Shaw is joined by Miranda Holt on drums, Jake Suriano who plays bass and saxophone, Jack McCullagh on guitar, Alannah Sawyer and Stu Paterson who also play saxophone, and Mathias Dowle on synths. Suriano and Holt also provide backing vocals on the record as well as Tali Harding-Hone who usually plays guitar with them live. Apparently, a dog named Daphne also provides barking throughout.
Dr. Sure’s earlier work as a solo project was compared to Tropical Fuck Storm by Triple J and was more about the guitars. Since then, however, they’ve followed more in the vein of post-punk and new wave acts like DEVO, progressively adding more and more electronica their sound. Total Reality sees the band move in an increasingly synth-based direction while exploring an even wider range of genres than they have previously. One foot of theirs is still firmly in post-punk and new wave territory but the other stamps its boot down into everything from krautrock to trip hop. It’s an eclectic and experimental mix of sounds, instrumentation, and samples that manages to run the gamut while still maintaining a cohesive whole.
The opening track Slug begins with the buzz of synths and the warble of a saxophone before the relentless rhythm of the drums kicks in and the song begins in earnest. It’s a speedy synth-punk number that’s worthy of a place on Duty Now for the Future with its off-kilter synth phrases and warbly tones. Fittingly, the song is about feeling sluggish and needing to “see the other aisle” in order to break free of monotony, which perfectly complements the pace of the song. “It can’t be living if it feels like Hell!” cries Shaw during one of the verses, nicely encapsulating the oppression of ennui in the day-to-day.
The first single from the album, Celebration, features a rock-solid bass groove and lyrics that revolve around trying to keep things together in imperfect circumstances and look on the bright side even if one’s efforts are not always successful. The shoe is wrong but the foot is right and if it all falls apart, just try and hold it all together with superglue and hope for the best. This track really shows off some of the excellent saxophone work on the album as well, with most of the instruments taking a backseat at points to let the croon of the sax do its work. It also makes good use of gang vocals with Shaw gradually joined by both Holt and Harding-Hone in cries of “Celebration!”.
Elephant in the Room opens with a whining synth melody that repeats itself throughout the song. The synth starts out as the only instrument but the track gradually builds and builds until everyone is joining in and the song powers towards a blaring, screechy finale.
The fourth track Escalator Man has an appropriate title to suit its brighter and more upbeat instrumentation and speedy tempo. As the second single from the album, the track goes up, up, up like an escalator and talks about rising up from the basement level to embrace the light, shedding old skin to feel brand-new and ascend toward a new purpose.
Keeps Ya Head Up is the third single and is a slower, moodier sounding tune that implores listeners to find something to keep their head up above water even as it begins to lap at their door. It encapsulates one of the main themes of the album, finding something to hold onto, find comfort in, or to work towards despite the increasing problems of the world.
Kerosene takes things a step further. Instead of water, it’s now fuel that we’re all afloat in, but Shaw is insistent that he can keep on swimming despite the encroaching flame. “I haven’t given up!” he cries and is met with a supporting response from Holt and Harding-Hone.
Never Enough is about the constant hunger for more that seems to be inherent to human nature and takes aim at how it’s purposely stoked by bad actors to get us to push ourselves like machines and consume more than we actually need. The synths on this track blare like alarm bells and the cries of “Never enough!” become louder and louder as the song goes on before suddenly hitting the brakes and gradually petering out into silence.
All the songs so far comment on society and the current state of the world of course but Realest does so in the most direct way on the album. As it turns out the word “realest” allows for an easy lyrical transition into “real estate agent”, easily one of Australia’s most hated professions amidst the ongoing housing crisis. The bane of the working-class men like Shaw himself, real estate agents are but leeches on the face of society to him. If secret agent James Bond is double o’ seven, then dime a dozen self-important real estate agent is double o’ nothing according to Shaw. You expect the pounding synth and bass to come to end at a few points but it cuts out only for a moment, and then starts right up again as the real estate agent continues on his self-effacing rant.
Last Guy at the Disco is more of dancy track which fits the title of the song but this isn’t just meant to be a fun dance number. Shaw muses on the state of the world and everything that’s going wrong, but ultimately reaches the conclusion that one must still choose to find joy amidst all the doom and gloom. You are the last guy at the disco and if you get the chance, you should dance, because the only time you have is now.
All Good Ends Must Come to a Thing closes out the album. It’s less of a song and more of a blaring, extended outro. It features some cooing from Blue LeShaw (the next Dr. Sure perhaps?) and closes out with Shaw saying “This must be… Total Reality”. It feels a bit like when they finally say the title of the movie the very end and then the credits roll ha-ha-ha.
For me, this album hits all of the right beats, it has a cohesive sound yet manages to be out there and experimental at the same time. There are moments of great energy and also spacier tracks that give the listener a bit more time to appreciate the superb soundscapes that the album creates. I’ve mentioned it repeatedly already but I do love the themes and social commentary on this album as well. Shaw’s lyricism is political but he doesn’t beat you over head with it. It has this satirical bent that makes it as biting as it is funny. He likes a bit of wordplay with common expressions too as you might be able to tell by the last track and Celebration.
The spirit of transgression and experimentalism is alive and well in Dr Sure’s Unusual Practice. The only other band in Australia right now who make music in the same vein are their contemporaries Gut Health, but they’re not quite as off-the-wall. If you’re familiar with DEVO, it’s impossible not to see the influence but Shaw still manages to set himself apart from those that came before him.
Bands like DEVO and Kraftwerk were humans trying to make music like robots. Their approach to songwriting and aesthetic was quite prescient but not wholly in a good way which I guess was sort of the point. DEVO in particular warned us of de-evolution, where men would become little better than beasts, all the while corporations would try and create their own men that be little more than facsimiles of the real thing. Kraftwerk were more optimistic about the future but there is still an element of alienation in their music, and their visual style purposefully plunges far down into the uncanny valley, not unlike some of the algorithmically generated graphics that I’ve seen floating around the internet.
Despite the clear influence of both bands on Dr Sure’s sound, the album is thematically and spiritually antithetical to them. He’s not the robot or monstrous golem made hubristically in the image of man. Instead, he’s the cackling mad scientist behind their creation. Shaw lives in an age where the modern world isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be but he’s not utterly cynical and still manages to find something to hold on to. Total Reality is very much a human study, for only something that lives and breathes could experience the total reality of the world, from its soaring highs and crushing lows, and still remain hopeful despite its shortfalls.
In a world where there are machines making music in a pale imitation of man, Shaw is a man making human music from mechanical parts. In some respects, the future of Dune is already here. We have music made by Abominable Intelligence but those thinking machines pale in comparison to genius of the Mentat, Dougal Shaw.
That’s not to say that he’s the only one behind the brilliance of the album however. The contribution of his bandmates only furthers how human Total Reality is. Each member lends their own touch to the collective whole, whether that part is big or small. Collaboration, coming together and adding your experiences to create something greater than yourself, is something that only people can do. And in world where creating something entirely out of love with one another is becoming increasingly difficult, Total Reality is a triumph that’s worth holding a celebration for.
Total Reality is out now on all streaming services and can be listened to below but I’d encourage you to buy the album on Bandcamp because Spotify in particular are dogs that pay two parts of fuck all to artists. Hell, our own poddy has only earnt us enough for a paltry slap at the pokies!
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