There is nothing conventional about DUDS. On Immediate, they pick apart post-punk’s past and put it back together again, upside down. The result is a vibrant re-imagining of a genre that, in recent times, has become something of a parody of itself.
Immediate is not easy listening: it is dark, confusing, and sometimes alienating. It challenges the senses, and it makes you want to dance. There’s a timeless, anxious futurism to DUD’s sound. They repurpose guitar music tropes, and it’s not always instantly likeable. Traditional song structures are forgone in favour of intentional mistakes, and the stop/start arrangements give the music an anxious, unpredictable edge.
Immediate’s abrasiveness gives you the sense that DUDS probably don’t care what you think of them. They have everything going for them, though: they are now signed to California label Castle Face Records (home of Oh Sees, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, and Ty Segall, among others) and Immediate is a brilliant second album.
