Dan Kelly and the Alpha-males
Pirate Radio EP
In-Fidelity/Shock

Dan Kelly is proving to be one of Australia's greatest musical assets. Unlike most 'wonder kids' of the Australian music scene, Kelly has followed up his successful debut without becoming pigeon-holed, temperamental or moving overseas.

After showing he could write an album-worth of catchy pop rock with the lyrical intelligence and vivid story-telling that his uncle Paul Kelly has become famous for, Dan Kelly has delivered an off-kilt EP of stripped back experimental folk, and it's surprisingly good.

The opening chords have all the hallmarks of the folk rock that the mild-mannered Jack Johnson and his short-haired, bare-footed comrades have successfully taken to commercial viability. It's an immediate left-turn for Kelly, who made a name for himself as a rebel and an anti-hero of the pop scene.

All is soon explained as the chorus of opening track Drunk on Election Night kicks in with his thoughts on the recent election. "I'm gonna leave on the next high tide / just to get away from that c*ck-sucking, mother f*cker / who's darkening these times".

While none of the songs are radically different in tempo to the likes of Ben Harper, Kelly is quick to separate himself from the scene with tracks like Shake Your Mood, calmly imploring the listener to cheer up or Dear Kyle directed at the commercial radio host telling him that he's not interested in the fame or money.

It's not only lyrically that Kelly adds a twist to the laid-back acoustic strum that is de rigueur at present. The drum kit is left in the rehearsal room as Kelly moves into a more experimental beat, using layers of percussion and programmmed beats for the first time

Kelly doesn't mince words, the record speaks straight to the point "you're making a fool of the country / holding hands with the Christian right" and doesn't delve into self-indulgent roots jams. The track Roots Lifestyle Jam clocks in under three minutes.

There is little doubt that Dan Kelly will return to his electric guitar, these songs would become an indecipherable wash if stretched out to album length, but this snapshot of self-produced, acoustic experimentation serves as a perfect reminder of the talent that Kelly and his Alpha-males ooze and it is only a welcome stop gap before his next full length record.