"Dez Dare blends squalid punk sounds with aspects of brown acid psychedelia, building into something uniquely wild and colourful. The Australian psych-punk legend is a true underground hero - 'Got A Fire In My Socket' is a real ear-worm." Clash
"There's an anarchic joy to Smallman's DIY production" The Wire
"Pulsing electro-punk." Vive Le Rock
"Infectious psychedelic punk trash like a Weird Al Yankovic from the happy part of hell." Luminous Dash
"The fierce delivery of the lyrics captures Dez Dare’s unique and powerful vocal style, searing through all the immense instrumentation components and marking the vision with this passionate punch." Circuit Sweet
"This is nuts, plinky plonky electro psycho nuts plinky plonky guitar lunacy!" Fighting Boredom
Dez Dare ventures further into the void than ever before on his 4th album and the 1st to be released via God Unknown Records, ‘A Billion Goats. A Billion Sparks. Fin.’.
On past records Dare has fought beasts and beats alike, waging a fuzz war and tackling the biggest topics the world has to face; Doom scrolling, capitalist demagogues, a passionate dislike of the beach in summer. On this record he leaves the sardonic frustration behind for sarcastic existentialism, zeroing in on the big philosophical questions, and the pedantic shards of nonsense that make up our existence.
Piling up the synths, noise boxes and guitar pedals, Dez set about building a soundscape of noise and ideas around the nature of reality, time, and how we interact with them. From the music you would play in your last moments, to the reverse Darwinism of modern society, to arguing with time itself, and very boring people talking at you, all is covered here for the aspiring existentialist.
The self-produced Australian has spent over 3 decades producing music, releasing and touring bands, and doing live sound for z-grade metal bands. Growing up in the coastal town of Geelong (Djilang) in Australia, he was introduced to the DIY punk and rock scene at 15 and this community and the ideas rooted in the underground music scene have guided his output and ethics throughout his career.
This year Dez will be joining forces with label titans God Unknown (Cassels / Duke Garwood / James Johnston + Steve Gullick / KLÄMP / Oneida / Laura Loriga / Monster Magnet / Wellwater Conspiracy [Soundgarden + Monster Magnet]) and will be producing a deluxe version of the album on blob colour vinyl and includes a comic book illustrated by Mike Keane. In true nerd fashion the comic also features top 10s by Dez, Jason Stoll (God Unknown), Matthew Barnhart (Chicago Mastering Service), Mike Keane, and the album illustrator MALMALL.
Across the drone of noise and washed out guitars of the final track, ‘A Billion Voices Screaming, Hello Void!’, the chant repeats “We all return to where we begun…” which encapsulates the message that Dare delivers. We are all made from the same stardust and we all return to the universe that spat us out, we just need to enjoy the many shards of nonsense on that swift descent into the void.