Image by @deanqiulinli //

Dick Dudley offer a tongue-in-cheek examination of manhood in ‘Handyman’.

Or do they? The bluntly delivered lyrics by Liverpudlian frontman Richard Harris go both ways. On one hand, he’s telling a story about a boy learning to become a (handy)man and the tasks associated with manhood that society assigns us. In the other, less-cerebral interpretation, it’s just a collection of provocative words, sprayed out with Mark E Smith-like inflections that simply sound nice in our ears. Either way, we fucking love this song.

The track follows singles ‘Soft Boy’ and ‘Daniel’, each of which established the band’s sound as one built on repetition, an aggressive guitar twang and Harris’ matter-of-fact delivery. They seem as equally influenced by British post punk as they are by Aussie acts like Eddy Current or UV Race. Cheeky and unpretentious, Dick Dudley are overflowing with sharp wit, but you’re in on the joke.

“Through placing a tool into a child’s hand for the first time, a caregiver provides one of many skills needed to survive in a hard and unforgiving world,” Harris says of the track. “‘Handyman’ is a delicate portrayal of a most fundamental human trait; the passing down of knowledge from one generation to the next.”

The clip for ‘Handyman’ pays homage to the Greek director and writer behind films such as The Lobster and The Favourite, Yorgos Lanthnmos. Replicating a scene from his breakthrough film Dogtooth, the band offer a delightfully expressionless performance of the song to a belligerent father that climaxes with a kooky dance performance from Libby Kay:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF9_h_plE6Y

“When I first heard Handyman it instantly reminded me of interactions I had with my old man when I was growing up. The main thing I wanted to do with the clip was tap into that nostalgic feeling you get from the music,” director Hayden Relf says. “I also wanted to have fun with it. As we pay homage to film-maker Yorgos Lanthimos, what I wanted to do with the direction of the clip, was to capture a portrait of Dick Dudley as they exist now. The performance Rich gives in Noona’s living room – this is what it’s like to see Rich perform at the pub.”

Dick Dudley are playing at the Botany View Hotel as part of 2SER’s The Band Next Door’s live event series on April 22nd, along with Moth King and Library Siesta (event info here). We will be there and you should be there too. Follow them on Instagram here.