The Dawn Collective

Our Hopetoun gig last week got reviewed in Brag - in case you missed it here it is:

The Dawn Collective
Hopetoun Hotel, Surry Hills
Thursday July 31

Nothing reaffirms the reality of the Sydney music scene like a Thursday night show at the Hopetoun. It’s not all flash and pizzazz; sometimes it’s about solid songs played in a regular pub by regular people. And sometimes, the lights don’t even work.

…

For some reason, I’ve never seen The Dawn Collective before. And judging by the half-full Hoey, their reputation hasn’t spread around the music-loving public of Sydney, either. Which is a shame, because as much as this sounds like a dross line from a press release, these guys really are one of this city’s best-kept secrets. Sick of the vacuous, hollow bands that pride style over substance? Check out The Dawn Collective. Their music is hard to pigeonhole: it’s got the austerity of The Frames but guitar aggressiveness encroaching on alternative-rock territory. Marry that with melancholic cello lines, and it’s a sound that beautifully and effortlessly traverses territory that other bands wouldn’t dare tread.

They’re releasing an album later in the year, and I hope that it won’t be passed over as a throwaway disc from a small-time independent act. There’s a depth and substance to the music of Dawn Collective that demands attention.

Dom Alessio

The Brag Issue 273 - August 4th 2008