With Real Rare Whale, Dune Rats take this simple formula and kick it up an extra few notches - the final output representing a new phase for the group; perhaps their most ambitious and cohesive collection of work to date.

Released two years on from 2020’s Hurry Up And Wait, Dune Rats’ new album may see the band at a new punk-saturated, pun-filled peak, but when it comes to its composition and underlying intentions, Real Rare Whale captures Danny Beus (guitar / vocals), BC Michaels (drums / vocals) and Brett Jansch (bass) in a reinvigorated, refocused creative zone.
The melodies are strong, rhythms relentless; the way the group worked together over sessions under the production eye of Scott Horscroft on New South Wales’ south coast resulted in, as BC describes, ‘a bit more of a sophisticated album’. This doesn’t mean Dune Rats have lost their edge or have grown soft with age: they’re very much still about keeping that same energy fans have loved about them since Dune Rats first dropped back in 2014. It’s just manifested in new and different ways.

“We’re pretty honest dudes with each other,” Danny says. “We’ve grown up, but we’re pretty fortunate that we haven’t grown apart. We’re now twelve years in, but I feel like we’re writing better tunes and finding that we’re getting to the core of who we all are, even though we’re still changing.”

Previewing Real Rare Whale with the release of singles including ‘UP’, ‘What A Memorable Night’ and ‘Melted Into Two’, Dunies were showing fans early on that the album had different vibes to it. Love songs could meet songs that leaned heavy into nostalgia for days gone by. Moments of introspection could be threaded through ratbag-favouring arrangements and not feel alien.

“They still have the same energy, but they don’t lean on gimmicks as much.” BC says. “I don’t think there’s one swear word on this entire album, or any direct direct drug references, but it definitely still feels really fun. I didn’t even realise that until the album was written. I guess that’s part of growing older as well, it doesn’t mean it has to get boring, but it doesn’t mean it has to be cheap, either.”

Songs like ‘If This Is The End’ and ‘Space Cadet’ resonate with Dunies for their encompassing feeling of nostalgia and memory; tied into the overall experience of growing up and entering new life chapters, songs like these are a perfect snapshot of Dunies in the now. “‘Space Cadet’ is about the million things you wanna be when you’re growing up.” Danny explains. “Then as you’re getting older, certain things make you realise, “I can’t be that anymore, it’s gone too far”. You still wanna keep that buzz of being someone who could do anything. You don’t wanna be that person who ever shuts possibility down.”

“Driving around Brisbane, there’s places you can see where there are certain things in your life that are finished…like, that place is where the first band you were in started, or that’s a street where you went through a break up. There was the first place we played a show. That nostalgic vibe of going around a city you were in and having all these little memories. I love ‘Space Cadet’ and ‘If This Is The End’ in particular, it can have a bit of a nostalgic feel to it, but I do feel like it has an uplifting feeling too.”

The pandemic hasn’t stopped the Dune Rats train from steaming ahead - the band’s focus hasnever been more set on bringing their famous live shows back to crowds, bolstered by new music.

With over 150 million global stream, 2 consecutive #1 ARIA Albums including 2020’s ‘Hurry Up And Wait’ and 2017’s ‘The Kids Will Know It’s Bullsh*t’, not to mention the hunger for the liveDune Rats experience leading the band to sell out theatres across the country in 2020, it’s undeniable that hype for Dune Rats hasn’t slowed. If anything, it’s become reinforced.
They know it too, and have built their entire new record around it - this shared hunger and desire for impactful music, served up with a chaotic grin.

“Not to generalise everyone, but people going into lockdown were beginning to write more introspective songs about lockdown.” Danny says.

“We were on the flip-side, just wanting to play songs that would be epic live. It worked out pretty well. It’s a pretty fast album in general. There was never a moment like, “Where’s the song that brings them back down a bit?”. This is like 32 minutes of f*cking ADHD tunes!”