Tony Dork - Struggle Street

  Tony Dork (https://www.facebook.com/tonydorkband/) are the Melbourne garage punk 4 piece that came onto my radar a couple of years ago when I was tipped off about their S/T ep and in particularly the track Punt Road (https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2018/08/tony-dork-punt-road.html). Since then they've drip fed us a couple of tracks to whet our appetite for debut album Struggle Street and with that album being released last month on Stiff Richards' Legless label I think it's about time I chose a track from it to highlight on here.

  The album as a whole is a blast. It's in equal measures both (deceptively) sloppy and very tight. It's the sound of a band having fun singing about the state of the world around them but in a microcosmic way as opposed to sweating the big stuff. It's a band that are showing signs of growing up and writing proper songs but who aren't prepared to fully leave their slacker attitude in the past.

  The album's available on both black and yellow vinyl and it's streaming here :   https://tonydork.bandcamp.com/album/struggle-street

  This song is the title track, and I'm assuming it takes inspiration from an Australian documentary which "shed light on the struggles and aspirations of residents in public housing areas around Western Sydney; areas which have been commonly associated with high unemployment, drug use and problems with the law." It's called Struggle Street...

Tony Dork - Punt Road

 

  When Wassup Rocker Radio host Alex Kish recommended I check out a new band called Tony Dork, I was expecting an upbeat pop punk outfit from the US that would probably be decent enough but would struggle to stand out in a crowded field. What I was pleased to discover however was another cool Australian band (this time from Melbourne) that channelled the couldn't give a fuck air of slacker cool recently given off by the likes of The Chats, Tumble Turn, Dole Checque etc.

  Playing fun pub rock with the occasional surf guitar flourish, Tony Dork is a bunch of mates who were bored enough to start a band and despite claiming not to know what they're doing seem to have quickly picked up a decent following and have recently released a very good S/T ep. Featuring Jamie (vocals), Lachie (bass), Byron (guitar) and Will (drums) the ep features 6 songs and all are winners. You can find it (along with a couple of early songs) "name your price" here :  https://tonydork.bandcamp.com/album/tony-dork

  You can find more info here : https://www.facebook.com/tonydorkband/

  This song has recently been accompanied with a video so it's the one I'll highlight today but the rest of the ep is as good so make sure you snap it up. This is Punt Road...