The Genevieves Reveal Their Most Intense and Honest Work Yet
Noise and reflection masterfully collide on their debut EP, Dog Dreams
In 2023, The Genevieves planted their roots in the Adelaide alternative music scene, establishing themselves as one of the city’s most enthralling young acts through their premier double-release, Nothing Happened and Words – songs that remain stirring mainstays of their live set – and a laborious gigging schedule that saw them performing virtually once a week.
In 2024 (“the year of friendship and new songs”), the alt-rock group scaled back their shows to prioritise penning new material and organising their breakthrough onto the interstate music stage. While continuing to break the sound barriers of live music venues throughout the year, The Genevieves released two singles, Adore You and Bloody Nose, recorded an EP, and arranged a number of successful interstate shows.
As of Saturday, the 1st of February, 2025, The Genevieves have, undisputedly, arrived. Mastered by James Brown from Wizard Tone Studios, Dog Dreams ties a neat bow around the band’s collective efforts with a handful of vicious, electrifying, yet deeply reflective new rock songs.
Baily Taylerson, Finn Larcombe, James Nisbet and Lara Patzel make up this freakishly-talented Adelaide band. As has become the group’s custom, the four of them escaped into the countryside to a secluded Jamestown farmhouse last July to record Dog Dreams. There, beyond the outskirts of the town and wrapped in a wintry embrace, they assembled a makeshift studio “with all the gear we could fit into our cars” and dialled the amps into the early hours for days on end.
Finn: “I don't know if we've ever been this cold in our lives. We were all wearing two pairs of pants, socks pulled over the pants, three jumpers…there was a fireplace that was genuinely our saving grace.”
Lara: “Those who were not recording were trying to keep the house warm, or making coffees or meals for the rest of us. The days were super long, one of them even being a 24-hour day of constant tracking.”
Baily: “I remember cooking heaps of food. I’m pretty useless behind the computer but I’m a gun on the stove. Some of my greatest hits were a nice curry and a questionable chilli. I loved being able to crank amps till about 4 in the morning and just grind.”
James: “I got super grumpy by the end; it’s tough constantly being in each other's space whilst working so hard and caring so much about something - no matter how much we love each other. I would never trade it for proper studio time though. We’re super lucky to have figured out this setup, and we’re learning how to make it more efficient.”
Their tireless efforts have proven unquestionably worthwhile. Dog Dreams, like their previous work, unleashes an inferno of noise-rock aggression upon the listener while leaving room for softer lulls of respite. This contrast is one of their finest qualities, and it certainly appears deliberate: 2023’s Nothing Happened combines mellowed guitar and vocals with well-placed escalations utilising noise, distortion, and feedback, while Words blows your ears off from the onset. Adore You and Bloody Nose from 2024 are consistent with this formula, as is Dog Dreams, which begins with three post-punk/noise-rock/art-punk face-melters before rerouting to a melancholic crescendo in the final two tracks.
Dog Dreams begins with the disorientating introduction of song one, Parts. Emboldened by a healthy dose of whining feedback, laser-like lead guitar jabs, and the dynamic interplay of their rhythm section, Parts explores some of Lara’s ongoing thoughts regarding gender identity and sexuality, topics she has “always been exploring”.
Lara: “The desire to just be seen as a person rather than being confined by labels. Labels have always been a sensitive topic for me…I don't want to be put into a box, I just want to be me.”
To create a compelling back-and-forth, Lara takes the lead on vocals in the verses, while Finn steps in for the choruses with lyrics that echo another of Lara’s written themes, that being “how much shit you need to pay for just for your body to function normally”:
Every day
A hundred dollars but i feel the same
You poke around you read me my full name
It takes up half my waking day
And then later:
What to do
If you cannot afford the things you need
I guess you go and get down on your knees
Or waste away like an old machine
The sonic barrage of Parts transitions seamlessly into the explosive Dreaming, Speaking, mirroring an identical manoeuvre from the band’s live set. Wasting no time, this “brutal and simple” song launches into distorted guitars, fierce drumming, and James’ guttural vocals. Between the verses, eccentric fragments emerge with fuzzy lead guitar and feedback, interspersed with rapid lead guitar, blistering riffs, and short instrumental breaks reminiscent of Sonic Youth. Lara's spoken-word vocals are calm, almost chilling in contrast to the ferocity of James’.
Lara: “Another favourite of mine is Dreaming, Speaking, purely because every time I hear Baily’s lead lines I get transported back to the 24-hour night that we were tracking guitars.”
Baily: “Dreaming Speaking was really fun [to record]. For some reason that night I was really feeling it and managed to conjure sounds from my setup that I struggle to recreate now.”
In track three, Bloody Nose, Finn’s vocals are sheathed in grungy distorted rhythm and non-stop punk drumming; James is scarcely afforded a second to rest on Bloody Nose, driving frenetic fills and dynamic beat patterns on the kick, snare, and cymbals for the entire three-minute runtime. A particularly strong moment comes after the second chorus, when the rhythm section take charge to offer a moment of respite in the midst of their frenzied blend of fuzzed-up riffs and screeching lead. Lara fingerpicks a back-and-forth bass line to accompany James’ compressed, papery sounding percussion. Before long, this neat breakdown is interspersed by another torrent of dissonance and feedback from Finn and Baily’s guitars.
Finn: “[Bloody Nose] was a tough one to record. We learned a lot about recording snares on that song. But it was also a great exercise in working out how guitar and bass tones fit together sonically, which is something we’ve been working on a lot over the course of this EP.”
James: “I think Finn nailed [Bloody Nose]. So intense and dense yet such a beautiful melody.”
Keith, initially released as a single in January, is a distinctively Baily-led song, opening with a slow, melancholic chord progression. This mournful ambience, mirrored by the steady hover of Baily’s forlorn vocal delivery, provides a noticeable tonal shift from the intensity of its predecessors. When first presented at a rehearsal, Keith proved an “instant hit” with the rest of the band, who established Baily’s guitar tone as the centrepiece of their recording.
Finn: “Keith is also a favourite. It was heaps of fun to record: Baily was the MVP of that song and nailed pretty much all of his parts on the first try, which made it heaps of fun to record.”
As The Genevieves’ typical set-closer, Coward builds its foundation on James’ steady kick drum and Finn’s mellow vocals. It’s a song that builds and builds, rumbling along to the tune of Finn’s rhythm guitar and Lara’s underpinning bass lines, slowly distorting towards the EP’s final moments. Finn’s mantra-like lyrics – “Like a coward, I’ll close my eyes/Like a man, I’ll brace myself” – are repeated as the song’s atmosphere intensifies. The tempo climbs, feedback screeches, and a faster riff steers the listener towards a cathartic finale.
Baily: “I love Coward. That’s been a favourite of mine forever. I just think it’s beautiful, both musically and lyrically, and I was super stoked to record it for purely selfish reasons of wanting to have access to the song at all times.”
Just like in the live set, Finn’s climactic scream unleashes “a big noisy crescendo” of “Liddiardish” noise and feedback. Honestly, it’s quite a terrifying listening experience, in just the right way. Both live and on the recording, this ultimate roaring sendoff compels the listener to marvel in awe of the dumbfounding sound penetrating their ears, and it closes the EP on a note of absolute release and abreaction, liberating the combined spirit, emotions, and efforts they’ve poured into this project.
Lara: “I think conceptually the songs were all written about things that had been influential to us in our personal lives. Everyone has a song that they’ve written on this EP that is very personal to them. Parts focuses on social issues, [Dreaming, Speaking] on envy and jealousy, Bloody Nose on mental health, Keith on being too comfortable instead of doing what's best, and Coward on coming to terms with the loss of loved ones. They're all very personal songs based on influential moments that have happened to us as individuals.”
With Dog Dreams, The Genevieves have not only fortified their status as one of Adelaide’s best rock bands: they’ve also created a body of work with immense re-listenable value, worthy of the countless spins they’ve been receiving on 3D Radio.
To commemorate their new EP, The Genevieves are heading on tour this February, starting with a hometown show at Jive on the 7th, joined by Placement and The Munch. Then, they’ll head to New South Wales for a show at Lazy Thinking in Gadigal Country on the 14th, shortly followed by a trip to Canberra at Dissent a day later. They’ll round out the Dog Dreams Tour with a two-night stay in Victoria on the 21st and 22nd at The Retreat Hotel in Brunswick and Nighthawks in Collingwood, respectively.
Once again, it’s been a pleasure to converse with the band and lend my words to their exhilarating sounds. I think they’ve got the potential to climb pretty high on the Australian music ladder, and I’m eager to continue cataloguing their journey, wherever it leads them.
This article was written and edited on the traditional lands of the Kaurna People. I observe that Country is central to the social, cultural, and spiritual lives of Aboriginal people. Sovereignty was never ceded. Always was, always will be Aboriginal Land.