by Meaghan Weiley (@weileycyrus)
It’s November, and here in Melbourne, Australia, we’ve just emerged from a strict 112-day COVID lockdown. Words cannot describe the overwhelming emotion & relief - the mental toll taken on a city of five million - but these feelings have only been quenched as the annual heatwave warnings start to emerge.
Across late 2019 / early 2020, the country faced an unprecedented summer. Hot days have always been the norm, but by December 2019, the country’s average temperature had hit 40.9°C (105.6°F). Cities and towns were engulfed in smoke. Small fires that had started over the course of the year gained traction, ribbons of fire littering the coastlines. Some of these burnt for over 200 days.
People were scared. Horrified. They looked to their government leaders - what were they doing to help? Unsurprising to many, Prime Minister Scott Morrison was nonexistent - in fact, he thought it was a great time to take a vacation to Hawaii... and try to cover it up.
Dougal Shaw, the mastermind behind Dr Sure’s Unusual Practice, released Scomo Goes To Hawaii on Christmas Eve. Written from the perspective of the PM on holiday, it was the jab at Morrison we all needed. Now, Shaw returns with While Aus Burns - an EP serving as an ever-relevant accompanying work.
The tape’s four tracks found a revival upon the recent announcement of Morrison’s ‘gas-led recovery scheme’ - essentially destroying the environment & Indigenous land to assist the country out of recession. In Shaw’s words, the tracks are “a reminder of where fossil fuels have got us so far. These pig-headed, pork-barrelled, narcissistic white men - so ideologically opposed to renewable energy sources, scientific facts, Indigenous knowledge, empathy/equality/equity - are leading us into the inferno.”
Laden with sharp, agitating rhythms, and Shaw’s iconic science lab-punk on full display, While Aus Burns is captivating - politically charged, musically vibrant - a glimpse into the mind of a person fed up and frustrated.
That’s the beauty of punk - its relationship with political and social commentary. In the rapidly evolving digital age, overwhelmed by screens and online media, thinking about something by the end of a record or EP feels rare. While Aus Burns doesn’t give you an excuse. You feel Shaw’s fatigue finally set in when the tape reaches closer ‘10 Million Acres’. Littered with percussion and scrawling ambient lines of synth, the song fades - and we’re posed with the statement:
“9 million acres… when’s it time to talk about that?
Or the climate
We can no longer be quiet.”
I am often quite thankful Shaw is part of Melbourne’s music community. He’s an artist with his finger on the political pulse, never shying away from utilising his boundless creativity to communicate a message. With its definitive sound, While Aus Burns makes such an impression. It ticks all the boxes - and we really could use more like it.