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The Drones stir all of the pots with incendiary new single & video ‘Taman Shud’

If you’ve not ever read about the unfathomably creepy Taman Shud case then I would encourage you to do so immediately. It’s something out of a haunting thriller movie, a man’s body winds up on Somerton Beach in Adelaide in 1948. The cause of death was an unknown poison but the absolute kicker was that there were no means of identifying him; the only clue a piece of paper in his pocket bearing the words ‘Taman Shud’, which is Persian for ‘ended’ or ‘finished’.

The dude remains unidentified to this very day, 66 years later, coincidentally the last time anyone in Somerton Beach had a good night’s sleep.

That case also provides the title and the lyrical backdrop for the latest offering from Melbourne quintet The Drones, and boy, have they gone hard out on this one. Have a listen and watch the video here:

For such an unassuming track instrumentally, really just the bare bones of a backbeat and some quirky guitar picking, frontman Gareth Lilliard contrasts this by ripping absolutely everyone and their dog a new one throughout the lyrics. With a whole lot of barely restrained fury behind his unmistakeable voice, he proceeds to weave the story of the Somerton Beach mystery man in with taking aim at targets both easy (Rupert Murdoch, Herald Sun journalist Andrew Bolt, people with tribal tattoos and Master Chef) to the downright polarising (the ANZACs and Ned Kelly).

The song seems to rail against the kind of blind nationalism perpetuated by people like those Reclaim Australia assholes or that Great Aussie Patriot Fuckwit. Not only that, but also at overt political correctness as well. Seems as though The Drones are firmly against extremism at either wing. Whatever your take on it, it’s a song that’s sure to stir up a whole hornets nest of controversy from a lyrical standpoint. With their seventh album, the follow-up to 2013s I See Seaweed, on the horizon, Taman Shud is the first taste with hopefully more to come soon.

Read our chat with The Drones sticksman Christian Strybosch on the 10th anniversary of Wait Long By The River And The Bodies Of Your Enemies Will Float By here. Read our own retrospective of that album here and read our live review of The Drones when they took on The Triffid in Brisbane right here.