There is a full rollercoaster cart pictured on the front cover of Forever Giving Handshakes, the debut LP by Australian post punk band Delivery – its five members are in the front of the cart. It’s a fitting image for the record, which shows a band that loves to mix it up in terms of intensity, pace, unafraid to take unexpected cuts and corners. Forever Giving Handshakes is the kind of record you can’t simply judge by listening to one song, you have to take the complete ride to get it. When you do, you’ll find a band that constantly balances between Aussie garagepunk and angular post punk. There is the angular guitar work and rhythms you normally associate with post punk – with plenty of bite I should add, but there are straightforward punk tracks as well. The vocals, that are best characterized as shouting and talking rather than singing, sprinkle these songs with that special magic sauce Australian bands have patented.
I didn’t intend writing about this record, but something keeps pulling me back to it, finding new things to like with each revisit. A grower of an album, out now on LP through Feel It & Spoilsport Records, and Tape via Anti Fade Records.