DR SURE’S UNUSUAL PRACTICE
Dr Sure’s Unusual Practice make modern punk music in the primordial sense of the word - no rules. Combining elements of post-punk, new wave, full power rock n roll, avant-garde and surrealism. Their ethos is creaJve resistance - innovaJve and poliJcally subversive - using music, performance, visual art and film to project a message that’s equal parts criJcal and hopeful.
“One of the most important bands in Melbourne... Dr Sure’s Unusual PracJce serve us legiJmate quesJons about coping with living in a Jme when everything seems to be falling apart around us” - ROLLING STONE AUSTRALIA
Dr Sure’s Unusual Prac/ce is most oSen compared to luminaries Devo & Talking Heads or contemporaries Total Control & Tropical Fuck Storm* (*who they’ve supported on mulJple occasion). Led by Dougal Shaw, Dr Sure was a nickname (Dougal’s iniJals, D.R. Shaw) that became a mulJ-disciplinary alter ego - encompassing songwriJng, film-making, design, taZooing, acJvism et al - which is disJlled into his Unusual Prac.ce.
The music is amplified by Miranda Holt (Drums), Jake Suriano (Bass), Tali Harding-Hone (Guitar) and Mathias Dowle (Guitar, Synth). The DSUP live show is formidable. The 5-piece coalesce through idenJcal stage wear and aestheJc visuals, Dr Sure’s lead vocal oSen reinforced by the gang vocals of the remaining members. 3 players merge for a pacemaker- precise rhythm secJon - a consistent drum, bass and guitar foundaJon - while the other 2 roam between synthesisers, sample pads, vocoders and 2 extra guitars, adapJng to different temperaments.
“There’s a brilliant versaJlity to be found in the music of Dr Sure’s Unusual PracJce, a project that has adapted between releases. Led by Dougal Shaw aka Dr Sure, the full band offers enormous post-punk with big grooves and poliJcal themes, but every now and then Shaw lets us in on music that feels more personal, constructed solo to capture moods and experiences between records. Dr Sure’s thrives in both formaJons, adapJng the post-punk of the past with an undeniably fresh perspecJve.” - POST-TRASH (USA)
Following 2 LP’s and a handful of 7” and CasseZe releases via Marthouse Records (AUS), Erste Theke Tontraeger (DE) and Swish Swash Records (FR), Dr Sure’s Unusual Prac/ce took their 'New Dream' worldwide for the first Jme in 2022, touring extensively across Australia, UK and Europe. Emerging from the underground as a clarion voice, Dr Sure’s Unusual Prac/ce document the dystopian absurdity of our Jmes, informed by an innate hopefulness and staunch belief in a beZer future.