This cosy collusion belies the fact the band is made up of brother and sister duo James and Ciarn Gallagher (Jimmy and Seattle to their mates) and schoolyard mate Brent Lockhart.
“We’re from a town of about 2,000 people near Port Macquarie [NSW] called Bonny Hills,” establishes James Gallagher. Like the natural relationship of all three band members, so are the origins of the band.
Gallagher, 25, had moved to Melbourne four years ago and, as a budding guitarist and garage rock fan, had become friends with a group of people that included members of bands Drunk Mums and Mighty Boys. Gallagher started WOD with Drunk Mums’ guitarist Jake Doyle and vocalist Christopher Breeze. The share-house that Gallagher lives at in Windsor has a (barely) renovated garage out the back that has become an unofficial rehearsal space for all the aforementioned bands, known as the ‘Jungle Den’.
Enter: sister Seattle Gallagher and old mate Brent Lockhart.
“I didn’t think we’d start a band. They moved down here and they saw a WOD gig and were just frothing to play in a band,” states Gallagher. “So we started bashing about [on instruments] in the Jungle Den. They both were living at my house because they didn’t have anywhere else.”
Gallagher had written and recorded some songs on Garage Band that were the basis for the first Dumb Punts songs. Both Seattle and Lockhart picked up these songs very quickly – this was not surprising for Lockhart as he was in bands back in Bonny Hills. “Seattle said that she had never played drums but I am bit suss on that because she’s pretty good,” states Gallagher with a suspect chuckle.
Gallagher’s guitar sound and vocal style lends itself to the 1960s Detroit rock sound of Iggy Pop and MC5, but there’s also a depth and space in the sound that softens the impact of Dumb Punts’ music. The catchiness and quality of the Dumb Punts sound has seen them pick up the coming Dune Rats’ support.
The band’s debut single Chiller embraces the spacious facets of Dumb Punts’ sound, swinging the song in the direction of Dinosaur Jr, and also classic Australian bands like Goanna, Cosmic Psychos and Fuck Fucks. In contrast to the band’s more rambunctious songs in their set, the song literally is a Chiller.
“Yeah Chiller was the working title because it is a ‘chiller’. That song just came so easy – you have to understand that we had a week from our first jam to our first show with WOD and Charging Stallion (Gallagher is in both these bands). For the show we already had six or seven songs – they just came that easy,” laughs Gallagher. “When we first had a bash as Dumb Punts we wrote that song. The songs we write now as a three-piece seem to have a lot more drive and form. The stuff I was first writing as Dumb Punts and recording on Garage Band in The Jungle Den was a lot more psychedelic – like Ty Segall.”
Looking forward to Dumb Punts’ gig at Boney this Saturday September 13, Gallagher talks about the performance. For those who have followed Dumb Punts since their inception, this show is special for them because it’s a headline show without the support of related acts Drunk Mums, WOD or Charging Stallion.
“We are playing with Contrast and Zig Zag and they are really awesome bands who we only really discovered this year. We’re stoked with the lineup.”
BY DAN WATT
