Dick Move – Dream, Believe, Achieve
Read our thoughts on Dick Move’s compelling third album, Dream, Believe, Achieve.
Words by Words by Will Oakeshott
“Poetic lyrics were important, but it felt like women sometimes hid behind poetry as a way to say something without actually saying it. I was on a mission to just fucking say it.” Kathleen Hanna, Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk (2024).
Lucy Suttor, the vivacious vocalist for Aotearoa’s punk prodigy quintet Dick Move, doesn’t hide behind ANYTHING! The singer has many scintillating messages to snarl about, mostly revolving around the current state of our world. Whether the growing economic divide, sexism, capitalism, inequality, misogyny, and even influencers with problematic “self-help” concepts that are more focused on status and income than actual assistance with “life improvement” via their platform. Beyond gratefully, Lucy wants to shine a blinding light on these issues and project discontent and disgust through a roar of monumental and delightfully deranged disquiet.
This poetic mission arrives in the form of 13 chapters of cathartic punk mayhem, known as Dream, Believe, Achieve – Dick Move’s third remarkable record. Be prepared to undertake this rebellious ride of lucid lunacy where Lucy, Luke Boyes, Justin Rendell, Lucy Macrae and Hariet Ellis will inspire a party punk psychosis in 25 minutes. Ready for this crazy ‘Carnival’? Dick Move ‘Double Dare Ya’ to undertake this ‘Rampage’!
Are there two better-suited words to commence an astonishing album than with a track entitled: ‘Fuck It’? In all sincerity, what an electrifying, rockin’ revelation to illustrate a raw and direct broadcast to the witnesses.
“I’d like to see you get ahead in a system built to fuck ya.” Lucy Suttor brilliantly bellows in a brash honesty that the universe needs to be deafened with. Assuredly, if The Bronx heard this riotous composition, they would be envious of its unbridled energy.
The indie-punk exploration of ‘Try Hard’ is charismatically conflicting. It could be used to promote and elevate the New Zealand Rugby League Women’s Team to be victorious and win the World Cup with its adrenalised vivacity. Or it could be used to call out the phony-wannabe-executives that require loathsome backlashes. Either way, the sensational spiritedness is above addictive.
Santa Cruz’s Scowl would cherish the rampant static melodic hardcore motif of ‘Run For Your Money’, and Amyl & The Sniffers would happily undergo the ‘Monsoon Rock’ of the garage surf punk rock belter that is ‘Shut Your Mouth’. The venomous ‘Bludger’ is a sacred song reflecting the state of the world’s ecoNOmy sublimely. The track’s “double-edged sword” artistry is a weapon that slices through immense levels of discordance entrancingly.
“80% of the world’s problems involve old men hanging on, who are afraid of death and insignificance, and they won’t let go.” - Barack Obama.
Now, imagine this almighty statement being phenomenally deciphered into a near three-minute eruption of uproarious rock. Dick Move have not only accomplished this spectacular achievement, they punk-pulverised it.
‘Nurses’ is a battle-cry war anthem that upholds a striking respect and deserved recognition for the heroic nurses around the globe. A fierce yet fantastic amalgamation of post-punk and magical madness, the line: “Keeps us tough, motivated!” blazingly showcases the unjustified nature of underappreciation that nurses, albeit “saviours”, encounter every day. Reflectively, however, the riveting track acts almost as a “fuck you” response from their perspective. Nurses possess a resilience that is beyond measure, and the universe should thank, reward and celebrate them excessively.
‘Cracks’ is a jangly-jingle rocker that Nashville’s The Dead Weather would be extremely envious of. ‘Up The Bus’ is a siren song of thrashing punk feverishness that provokes circle-pit ritual behaviours. Even if the listener is experiencing this composition through headphones on public transport, they should be somewhat cautious; it undeniably exceeds a “frenzied” calibre, and the urge to move erratically is practically impossible. ‘Good Time Girl’ then follows spectacularly, in a corrosive but cataclysmic onslaught of punk mayhem.
If ‘Ballroom Blitz’ by London’s The Sweet was to ever have a hell-raising sequel, Dick Move’s ‘Karanga-a-Hape’ is flawlessly that astounding achievement.
“No woman in a burqa (or a hijab or a burkini) has ever done me any harm. But I was sacked (without explanation) by a man in a suit. Men in suits missold me pensions and endowments, costing me thousands of pounds. A man in a suit led us on a disastrous and illegal war. Men in suits led the banks and crashed the world economy. Other men in suits then increased the misery to millions through austerity. If we are to start telling people what to wear, maybe we should ban suits.” – Henry Stewart.
This letter, written by Mr. Stewart to The Guardian in 2016, is unquestionably of grand significance. Radiohead’s Thom Yorke matter-of-factly read this document aloud at London's Union Chapel in 2019 - perhaps men in suits are the real danger to our world. Dick Move also believe in this danger (and evil); they wondrously portrayed that message with a metallic hardcore version of The Hives’ motivation in their poetic magnum opus, ‘Suits’.
“Know Your POWER!” Lucy Suttor breathtakingly screams in the musical cascade of charismatic intensity that is the closer ‘Handful’.
Planet Earth will know Dick Move’s power, it is triumphantly exhibited throughout their thrilling LP Dream, Believe, Achieve. Thankfully, they just fucking say it!
Dream, Believe, Achieve by Dick Move is out now.
