There is a surreal quality to Dez Dare’s music that is distinct and menacing, and his latest single “Tyrannosaurus Shake” does not stray from that formula. Big throbbing bass with repetitive, antagonistic guitar runs covered by pounding drums and shouting vocals (reminiscent of earlier days of punk), is the canvas to Dare’s creative mind.
The song is a call to arms, not hands, to fight against the oppression tradition of handshakes.
In his own words… “My father always taught me you need a strong handshake, I have always hated them. The wide variety of shakes have always been of interest to me. The damp. The grip. The fingers only. Then there is what I like to call, the Tyrannosaurus Shake. When one dips their fingers downward, pinching the top fingers of the shakee. This sends shivers up my spine. Just like the little claw hands of the terrifying beast it is named after. I think the pandemic has given us the perfect opportunity to do away with this archaic tradition and simply say no! No more!!”
Dez Dare (aka Darren Smallman of BATTLE WORLDWIDE, Low Transit Industries, Thee Vinyl Creatures, The Sound Platform, Warped) grew up in Geelong, a port city located on Corio Bay and the Barwon River, in the state of Victoria, Australia where he became involved in the local punk and rock scene in 1990, playing in a band called Warped, sharing stages with the likes of 5678s, Fugazi, The Dirty Three and the Hard-ons, going on to play in multiple bands spewing out sludgy punk rock, heavy drone and noisy pop abundance. Darren was embedded in the scene, playing music, running labels (founding record label and touring company Low Transit Industries in 1999 working with bands such as The Essex Green, Lilys, Elf Power, Okkervil River, Of Montreal, Black Mountain, Trans Am and CW Stoneking) before moving to the UK in 2010 where he has operated ever since.
In 2022 Dez will head out on the road for the first time. The live performance will be a multimedia affair, incorporating Dez’s cartoonish and hellish visual aesthetics with fuzz, noise, beats, and more fuzz.
