Drug Church: Hygiene | 4ZZZ Brisbane 102.1FM

- Drug Church have added another perspective to their mordant world view. The band's well-trodden, abstract, scumbag soliloquies are slowly being eroded. In place of the low-life-lustre, we’re now starting to see less narrative allusions and more pertinent questions to mull over thanks to a more earnest level of pondering and reflection.

Last year’s Tawny EP was a predecessor to the widened scope of Hygiene. The new record sees the band’s themes and their musical minds progressing toward something more accessible, thanks to a reduction in shrouding mystery and increased crossover appeal in the music, marrying robust and driving tunes with a flittering of pop sensibilities. Fans with Xs on their hand will still make up the front row, bellowing lyrics and performing Olympic diving routines off the stage but now they’ll be sharing the same space with kids who are on the precipice of wasting their lives obsessing over 7”s and cassettes from mysterious guy hardcore bands. The Albany crew have been building up this penchant blend for a small while now and on their fourth record, everything is being brought to the forefront.

Fun’s Over is short, sharp, and simple. It kicks the record off with bangs in the way of rattling riffs and then eases up for a smooth drum and bass only chug along. Across these ten tracks, there’s a great use of dynamics. Compare songs like Piss & Quiet and Plucked -which harken back to the band’s hardcore predilection- to Super Saturated and Athlete On Bench; the latter two being able to slide into an EA Games soundtrack. The middle section of this record features both Million Miles of Fun and Detective Lieutenant and these are as close to pop crossovers as Drug Church will probably ever create, although I wouldn’t mind being wrong with this one.

Vocalist Patrick Kindlon also broaches territory where you could actually say he’s singing, a far cry from the gruff barks we’re used to. His sentiment “Newsflash / I need news less” is a mantra that, through both simplicity and pertinence, will be burnt into many a listener’s brain. Speaking of mantras, it wouldn’t be a Patrick Kindlon affiliated project if he didn’t force in some meditation in an 'old man yells at cloud' sort of way. The aforementioned Detective Lieutenant compares bricklayers, masons, architects being removed from what they produce while musicians are held in a stricter association. Through a simple song structure and potent lyrics, we’re forced to reconcile with this fact in the line “If I do a double murder / What this song did for you doesn’t change an iota”. World Impact was a fantastic single and is reminiscent of previous Drug Church records: the musical vigour of hardcore tinged alt-rock with a detached detailing via the grimy reality of middling people. Hidden in all this is Premium Offer, a comparatively relaxed song with the inclusion of some tasteful and complementary vocal harmonies, again something outside the norm and leaning into the band’s expanded sound.

Genuinely, I think Hygiene is one of my favourite records from one of my favourite bands. In anticipation of the release, I went and replaced on old Drug Church shirt that was lost to time because I was so excited for this new release. The winning formula of intransigent vocals waxing lyrical over hard edged guitar music reigns supreme. Now it’s being worked and manipulated in interesting ways, making it a more welcoming listen. Once I finish writing about it, I’m going back to listen to the record again. Germs are everywhere, man and I gotta keep my Hygiene up.

- Matt Lynch.