<p><span><span>- There’s an almost mythic status to Dollar Bar, the Brisbane stalwarts who have sporadically released output ever since first emerging in 1999. What started as a cassette with just <strong>Dale Peachey</strong>’s voice and guitar grew into one of Brisbane’s most beloved indie cult bands, culminating in this, their fourth and final album. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Like its 2015 predecessor <em>Hot Ones</em>, <em>Pyrrhic Victory</em> pieces together recordings made over the last decade, and compiles them into a diverse but remarkably consistent collection of indie pop. Peachey is joined by songwriting bandmates whose contributions enhance the Dollar Bar identity. So as well as Peachey’s own hook-filled winners like <em>Bonus Tracksuit</em> and <em>Come Out Swinging</em>, <strong>Patrick McCabe</strong>’s <em>Not A Dig</em> is a rollicking folk rocker while <strong>Chris Yates</strong>’ tune <em>James Brown</em> is pure power pop joy.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>As you might expect, the band’s known love of <strong>Guided By Voices</strong> is evident once again on this album, particularly with the lo-fi production that flits between home, venue and studio recordings. However, as <strong>Steve Bell</strong> so succinctly puts it in the liner notes, their songs have always been filtered through “a steadfastly Brisbane lens in terms of both lyrical content and their sun-dappled, oft-carefree delivery”. This is more than maintained on the new album, with fully-fleshed out songs and arrangements that nonetheless sound like they could be emerging from a big, yawning Queenslander share house on a summer’s day.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>But it’s a record for anyone who has been in thrall to classic '90's indie-fuzz, from <strong>Pavement </strong>and<strong> Dinosaur Jr </strong>to<strong> Smudge</strong> or even more modern practitioners such as <strong>Thigh Master</strong>. Or then again, this is an exciting release for anyone whose ears pricked up back in 2003 when Dollar Bar’s own <em>Cute Gurls Have The Best Diseases</em> hit the national consciousness. Fortunately, there are songs just as irresistible on <em>Pyrrhic Victory</em> that run the gamut from almost <strong>McCartney</strong>-esque classicism to downbeat discordance. If you like your rock and roll to be simultaneously majestic and ramshackle, this is the album for you. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>- Matt Thrower.</span></span></p>
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3188431520/size=large/bgcol=f…; seamless><a href="http://dollarbar.bandcamp.com/album/pyrrhic-victory">Pyrrhic Victory by Dollar Bar</a></iframe>