Dragnet

Aussie punk stalwarts Dragnet return with a new record of jagged and jilted gems. The band’s slipped nicely between their contemporaries in the long shadow of the Suppression Ring over the years, feeling their way through familiar fires as Smarts, Vintage Crop, and Hierophants. On their latest they’re sharing some space with Uranium Club’s punk mangle as well. Picking up the pieces after 2023’s well received The Ascension, the band distills their damage down to it’s frayed roots on Dragnet Reigns!. They embrace the shaky shards of punk that have pushed them in the past along with some ‘70s deconstructions that pull them through Patti and Pere Ubu territory. The band follows a much looser line this time around, still skating the angles of their propulsive punk pummel, but allowing much more room to wander around the post-punk edges of the spectrum.

The guitars coil and unspool, circling snatches of synth and squalls of sax. The throbbing bass that acts as an anchor is still ever present, adding a breathless beat to “Red Square” and opener “What It’s Worth,” but synths blare like sirens on “Shadowboard,” before the song lets loose a Contortions-corroded second half. The propulsion drains on “Heroic Dose” entirely, a spoken word wobble that slips to the edge of the stage to soliloquize, building tension for the second half. That tension breaks, bubbling over into the burble of “Grandstand” and the neon blare of “Cutting Edge.” Whether its the swap in members, or simply a natural progression of punk towards entropy, the band feels more assured than ever on Dragnet Reigns!, an album that dispenses with formula and embraces friction.

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