Album review: Beddy Rays – Do What You Wanna

Life comes at you fast. Beneath its sunny exterior and the kind of irresistible punk hooks you would expect from four Aussie scallies who cut their teeth on Green Day’s Dookie, Do What You Wanna touches on losing loved ones, alienation and self-destructive patterns. It finds Beddy Rays, whose members have been mates since the school playground, attempting to face up to some of life’s hard truths without losing their mischievous side.

There’s certainly no shortage of riffy hijinks and buoyant choruses here. Pocket Rocket is an explosive blend of mosh-ready punk and gorgeous surf rock vocal harmonies, like NOFX’s Fat Mike crashed The Beach Boys’ pool party. Yet it’s followed immediately by Vices, where vocalist/guitarist Jacko Van Issum plumbs layers of uncertainty, his usually carefree bark stripped to a tobacco-stained croon as he sings, ‘Vices grip hard around my heart / Overthinking everything, the fastest way to fall apart.’ Accompanied by pared back guitar and subtle orchestral touches, it’s a disarmingly heartfelt change of pace.

Similarly, Stay The Same touches on Jacko’s grief after losing his sister, the bouncing groove and dreamy slide guitars lending a bittersweet edge to details like, ‘Your heart pours into mine and I will always have a room spare.’ The Redland Bay bashers’ sentimental streak – coupled with a knack for penning fiendish earworms – complements their more rambunctious songs and distils them with a sense of joyous urgency. Even the breezy Big Brekky sounds as wholesome as tea with your nan, despite describing being so regularly out of one’s gourd that Beddy Rays couldn’t find their arses with a map.

So Beddy Rays are growing up, perhaps only a little disgracefully. With a raft full of spirited tunes and laidback vibes on Do What You Wanna, there’s no better time to sniff the roses and catch some Rays.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: Green Day, The Menzingers, Dune Rats

Do What You Wanna is released on April 18 via Warner Music Australia