In Review: The Bonnie Doons - 'Fred'

From the kaleidoscopic success of modern day music monarchs Tame Impala to the expert tongue-in-cheek brevity of The Chats, Australia’s vivid music scene has been a diverse spectrum in recent years and has fostered many great bands from a perplexity of genres, all of which have the same inherent ability to craft solid tunes. This, of late, seems to have become an uncanny similarity between Aussie bands. The Bonnie Doons are the latest name to fit this mould.

The Brisbane five-piece’s latest single ‘Fred’ is 5:19 of rhythmic guitar, deep, grooving basslines and immense splashy drums, all compounded by the multi-skilled vocal ability of lead singer Torian Brewer. ‘Fred’ embraces so many elements from what has become Australia’s archetypal alt-indie stoner rock genre, generating a relaxed, easy-listening sound that the likes of Sticky Fingers pride themselves in. Also like their fellow countrymen - and very similar in retrospect to the UK’s more electronic equivalent, Everyone You Know - The Bonnie Doons dip in and out of a quick-paced rap style of singing which, in theory, should conflict with the funky, 90s soundscape that sits behind it. This contrast, in fact, works perfectly, and contributes a large element to what makes this song so gratifying.

As the song moves forward, the band strip instruments away, leaving verses as simple as possible before turning the dial back up again, raising intensity with open hi-hats and deeper cutting guitar riffs, so as to send the listener into a display of head-banging, fist-pumping grandeur. Breaks in the middle-third make this song laid-back and chilled, yet the change in tempo and dynamic gives the tune gusto, while guitar solos frequently serenade said listener, the cherry on top so to speak. 

‘Fred’ is, on paper, a stoner, alt-funk triumph, only with added force, power, and energy. If that’s not enough to get you listening, what is?

To hear more from The Bonnie Doons, click here.