Today two of Australia’s most intoxicating punk bands Dr Sure’s Unusual Practice (DSUP) and Bench Press have released A Split 7” Between Friends, the first new record since Bench Press’ Not The Past, Can’t Be The Future (Poison City, 2019) and Dr Sure’s Remember The Future? (Marthouse/Erste Theke Tontraeger, 2021). The future – it seems – is now, with the arrival of 2 fresh-cut tracks from each band.
After touring together in 2019, the 7” is a collaboration a long time in the making from two of Australia’s post-punk heavyweights – who’ve established themselves supporting the likes of IDLES, Clowns and Tropical Fuck Storm. While Bench Press were on hiatus throughout this period, DSUP have had a prolific 3 years (2 LP’s, a 7” and a Cassette release), establishing themselves as willing spokespeople for a politically engaged generation.
Opener The Realest is as topical as we’ve come to expect from DSUP as we reach the precipice of a national rental crisis – the Doc unloading on a ‘middle-man masquerading as a martyr’ and likening a landlord to a leech. It’s a lyrical catharsis that most of us (renters) can latch onto, a generational millstone that’s carried into The Great Pacific Garbage Island. Rhythm section Miranda Holt and Jake Suriano are a rallying force, relentless and motoring, allowing fidgety guitar and synth lines to gradually unwind into controlled chaos.
Following the release Dr Sure’s Unusual Practice kick-off a world tour with a quick run up Australia’s East Coast before taking UK/EU throughout October.
