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ALBUM Surfgazing // ARTIST The Double Happiness
From lolling surf rock to gooey shoegaze, the extremely appropriately titled debut album Surfgazing from Brisbane quartet The Double Happiness is a waking daydream akin to The B52s wandering through a Tarantino soundtrack on a lazy summer afternoon.
Comprised of two couples and a love for sonic haze, The Double Happiness are a perfect amalgamation of stylistic symmetry and unique execution, with their love for pioneering shoegaze and post-punk artists like Slowdive and The Go-Betweens on permanent display with each new release. And after forging through the madness of 2020 unveiling three sunny singles along the way, the band are well and truly embracing the summer months ahead with the official release today of their debut album Surfgazing - and never before has one word readily set the scene for what lies ahead.
Throwing in everything from real-life locales (the very B-52s-ishRed Beach), to rollicking heart-starters (Kev (Rishikesh), Finish), fluttering dreamscapes (Oysters Can Dream) and languid, glazed odes (Coochiemudlo), Surfgazing is, expectedly, a surf rock and shoe-gazers delight. And while the entire album is laden with glimmering riffs at every turn, there's enough twists and turns beneath the bewitching tremolos and sodden reverb to catch you by surprise and offer some diversity beneath the overarching genres.
With the occasional spoken call-and-response moments and splashy, swollen dream pop at times inescapably recalling the band's more dominant influences, there's a significant sense of familiarity underlying Surfgazing as it coaxes you deeper into its viscous core (alongside a constant urge to jump in the car and drive down a long and dusty road to an exotic Palm Springs mansion). But there's ultimately more at play here deep down than just a static love letter to 60s surf jaunts and Tarantino playlists, with a welcome and fluctuating Australian flavour billowing through just enough to truly keep you on your toes and/or surfboard.
Full of bops aplenty and a calm menace that lures you from start to finish, Surfgazing offers a shimmering gust of fresh air for those willing to step into this alien world of wooze and charm. Perfect for endless summer days or riding off into the sunset, the debut album for The Double Happiness is a fascinating and ever-so-outré outing capable of transporting you at the drop of a hat to somewhere you'd much rather be.
SURFGAZING FROM THE DOUBLE HAPPINESS IS OFFICIALLY OUT IN THE WORLD TODAY VIA 4000 RECORDS. PLUS! THE DOUBLE HAPPINESS WILL BE LAUNCHING THEIR BRAND NEW ALBUM IN BRISBANE EARLY NEXT YEAR, FOR MORE INFO, HEAD HERE.
FOLLOW THE DOUBLE HAPPINESS:
THE DOUBLE HAPPINESS SURFGAZING LAUNCH SHOW
with Ancient Channels
SATURDAY JANUARY 16TH | The Old Museum, Brisbane
BY TIANA SPETER