Gary Steel
Word has it that the Drab Doo Riffs are a fun ensemble in a concert situation. They’ve built up an ardent following in Auckland. I’m told that they are a lot of fun, and it’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 rock’n’roll. It’s clear just from these six tracks that their influences include surf music, novelty b-grade ‘50s rock’n’roll and r’n’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.
There’s a lot to be said for fun in music, and although novelty is often frowned on, I’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 group’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 group’s presentation reasonably well. GARY STEEL
Sound = 2.5
Music = 3
