Crannk Reviews the self-titled album Idly By

Idly By are a 3 piece punk band based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The band released their self titled debut album on the 2nd of August 2019. The album contains 10 tracks in total. 
The opening track “Concerned Realists Vs M&M’s” was co-written by Lindsay Mitchell and features guest vocals by Bec Stevens. It has a nice indie rock kind of intro and a soft verse but a garage punk kind of chorus. This song was uploaded to the bands triple j unearthed page on the 23rd of June 2019 so some people may have already heard it.
Track 2 “Dagget” was also released ahead of the album both as a music video and an audio file through the bands triple j unearthed page on the 15th of July 2019. Lyrically this song seems to be about pushing away the harmful stuff in life and doing what makes you happy with people who make you happy. Musically this song has more speed and distorted guitars but the soft/loud soundscape is still present.

Like the first two tracks “Idly By” was released on the triple j unearthed page. Musically it starts off with a different feel to the previous tracks adding to the albums richly diverse soundscape. The bass line and leady guitar bits are full of pop punk goodness, it even has a bounce to it similar to ska.
“Breathing” the vocal track is almost spoken word at times, perhaps a little comical in its presentation but I feel like that’s part of the appeal with this album, at least for me. The bass guitar on this track is great, musically it sits somewhere between pop punk and garage punk with strong melodic vibes throughout.
“Dumpstar” feels like a slow melodic start before bursting into a fast paced punk song with distorted guitars. The song has a breakdown that reminds me of Goldfinger’s ska style breakdowns. Before returning to the opening guitar part which has a very indie rock feel.
“Never Learnt To Fly” is probably my favourite song with fast paced distorted guitars and the vocals in this song have a hint of desperation mixed with urgency in its delivery. 
“False Starts” is similar to the other songs with a soft/heavy soundscape, a great bass line, melodic lead guitar fills and great sounding distorted guitar chords.
“Broken Screens” is a laid back rock type track that starts with open chord guitar parts, Wicked bass fills and it picks up the pace towards the end of the song turning into a big punk slap in the face. 
“Bench Seat” guitar intro both lead and rhythm. Faster pace, bass n drum parts in verse with guitar chords build up. Lyrically this is one of the strongest songs on the album. 

The final track “Lyrical Nausea” has all the elements of a good punk pop song with its fast pace, distorted power chords and melodic lead guitar parts. It also has the stop/start parts familiar to fans of the genre and leaves you wanting more like a good album should.
The band is putting on a launch show for their new album on the 13th of September at The Jade in Adelaide with The Beerbellies, Peanut Butter Crack Babies, Ventolyn and Two Sea Bee. 
Event Link

Idly By is Luke Davies – drums and moustache 
Christian (tbag) Hancock – lead bass and backing vox
Leith James – guit and vocals

Idly By Links

Bandcamp Link
Facebook Link
Triple J Unearthed Link
Instagram Link

Check out Idly By on spotify but if you really want to support the band and scene buy music/merch ,go to shows ,

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