Brisbane indie-rock outfit Dumb Things have teed up the soundtrack for the summer as their second album Time Again creeps closer. Their teaser single off their upcoming album, Today Tonight, brightened up my winter days when it was released a few months ago, and I can see it lending itself perfectly for a game of backyard cricket and some ice-cold tinnies as the mercury starts to rise. Dumb Things have now accompanied their single with a brand-new film clip, one that elevates its already nostalgic tone.
A vintage-tinge filters the lens as the band play live at St Paul’s Anglican Church Hall in Ipswich. The simple mid-century Queensland Hall, filled with furniture twice my age, transitions into film footage of iconic Australiana. Footage specific to Queensland; further emphasising what I said in my review of Today Tonight: “Dumb Things wear their influences on their sleeve, a proud statement of their Queensland heritage and the forefathers of Brisbane music before them.” There’s an overwhelming sense of home when I listen to Today Tonight, the nostalgic memories of my sunburnt childhood as a young Queensland boy brought to life by Dumb Things’ lyrics and melodies. And now even more realised as the film clip, directed by Kale McRedmond, takes me back to my younger years as I listen to my grandparents talk about the old steam trains, rotary phones, telephone operators, and real milk delivered in glass bottles every morning by the bloke up the street. I’m a child again listening to the stories of old. It’s as warm and comforting as the tune itself.
Dumb Things’ music embodies their physical surroundings, lyrically and sonically capturing the Queensland summer heat, the endless blue skies, and the quintessential laidback Aussie demeanour. Their upcoming album, Time Again, is bound to make the summer playlist as you run across the blistering pavement on your way to the cold relief of the pool. Dumb Things’ Time Again is out physically and digitally through Brisbane indie label Coolin’ By Sound and Redeye International on Friday 8 November.
radio friendly 