Dizzy Planet leave you reeling from the intensity of their multi-pronged attack on their latest EP Shellshock — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
The western Australia power trio’s explosive three-track blast is a disc that hits you right between the eyes hard, fast and repeatedly. Armed with an idiosyncratic sonic arsenal of lurching rhythms, blazing riffs, grinding basses and cathartic vocals, these songs retool elements of alt-rock, punk, grunge and more into a fearsome weapon all their own.
Opening cut and lead single Break Me Down more than lives up to its title. Taut, propulsive and unpredictable, it keeps you on your toes with its everchanging rhythm and fits-and-starts arrangement, while singer-guitarist Bradley Campbell and his female rhythm section come off like a hardcore band with ADHD — and a few metal albums in their record collection. Naturally, the song features plenty of breakdowns — musical and emotional.
The middle-child track Headlights slows things down without lessening the tension. Written by bassist Hayley Wellington, the grungy throwback is the first Dizzy Planet song not written by Campbell. Adorned with some slinky power-chord fretwork, a nimbly driving bassline and accusatory lyrics, it spotlights the band’s new collaborative approach — which includes having drummer Carlota Rivera do the chaotic-collage cover art.
Last but far from least, the devastatingly heavy Eyes closes the EP like a coffin lid. Opening with a captivatingly mellow instrumental intro, Eyes soon gives way to wave after wave of wrecking ball power, while keeping the tempo firmly anchored in that sweet spot where the headbangers and the headnodders can all live as one.
Having honed the tracks that make up Shellshock on the live stage, the band tracked the EP live off the studio floor like the bosses they clearly are. As creative decisions go, it was a first for them — and a shrewd move that comes closer than ever to capturing the mayhem and might of their performances, which are presumably as wild, woolly, bizarre and lethal as everything else you find in Australia.
Listen to Shellshock below — if you know what’s good for you — and join Dizzy Planet’s army on Instagram and Facebook.
