Dick Diver - Calendar Days

One year after releasing Dick Diver’s third album, "Melbourne, Florida” Trouble In Mind is pleased as punch to re-present the revered Melbourne, Australia band’s first two albums 2011’s “New Start Again” & 2013’s critically acclaimed (and The Age-nominated Best Album) “Calendar Days” for eager & discerning listeners.

The band sprung to life in 2008 from four talented songwriters & members of Melbourne’s (still) thriving DIY/Punk scene who sought inspiration in the precious, yearning chords & poetic lyrics of Brisbane’s Robert Forster and Grant McLennan of the Go-Betweens rather than the squall & feedback of Aussie punk forefathers The Saints or the ugly, brutish pummelling of feedtime or the Cosmic Psychos. The band’s lyrics speak to a very real & present Australian existence, often referencing everyday slices of life and utilizing native turns of phrase, congealing it all into rich earworms with casual, affable, scrappy charm.        

It’s almost cliché these days to say an album finds a band at the “top of their game”, but “Calendar Days” does just that. Building on the promise of their debut, presenting a truly communal album with each band member contributing hit after hit, from the punchy first single “Alice” (penned by bassist Al Montfort) to Al McKay & Rupert Edwards’ elegant ditties & pop bangers like “Water Damage” “Calendar Days” & “Lime Green Shirt” (whose palpable sense of ennui & desperation make it a standout track). The real highlight is drummer/guitarist Steph Hughes whose vocal duties on the Edwards-penned title track & duet on “Two Year Lease” add a melodic richness. Not to mention her absolute classic tune “Gap Life” a beguiling & charmingly casual take on “Australian-ness”, cementing “Calendar Days” as an unquestionable modern classic. People started to take notice too, as the band was nominated for The Age’s Music Victoria Awards for Best Album & Best Band.      

For those who’d just discovered the band via their US debut “Melbourne, Florida”, or for those who missed out initially, Trouble In Mind presents the missing pieces of the puzzle from this truly essential & important band. Re-released in North America on cd & vinyl, housed in (nearly identical) artwork by Hughes, and includes a full color inner sleeve.

RIYL: The Go-Betweens, The Clean, The Bats, The Triffids, The Feelies, Twerps, Ultimate Painting, Courtney Barnett