Total Reality is the sound of a group in constant forward motion, finding new sounds and new ways to express their joy and catharsis in making music together. On album opener 'Slug' the band sing ‘I’m feeling like a slug so I gotta visit the doctor’, and though reliably tongue-in-cheek you get the feeling they mean it - the members using Dr Sure’s Unusual Practice as a vessel to lift each other up while unpacking the collective fatigue of life in late-capitalist society.

“A mood like that, you're apt to stay in it, not dial your way out. Despair like that, about total reality, is self-perpetuating." - Philip K Dick

On their third LP Total Reality - a title ripped from the classic sci-fi novel ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ - Dr Sure's Unusual Practice tackle lofty issues through a hopeful lense, avoiding the often cynical pastiche of modern punk music. Total Reality touches on varied influences - proto-punk to post-punk, new wave to no wave, krautrock to trip-hop - to concieve something fresh and inspired.

Beginning in 2018 as a solo project, here Dougal Shaw is joined by an ever-expanding collective. In addition to a core band (Jake Suriano, Miranda Holt, Tali Harding-Hone, Mathias Dowle) the new record features contributions from Jack McCullagh (Cracodile), Stu Patterson (The Empty Threats/Placement), Alannah Sawyer (The Great Divides/Mouseatouille), as well as Shaw’s partner Alivia Lester, and baby Blue - who also adorns the album cover.

An almost polar approach to the band’s acclaimed second LP ‘Remember The Future? Vol. 2 & 1’, which was tracked live in a recording studio, Shaw refers to Total Reality as a ‘collage album’. There are pieces of pandemic-era demo’s; drum machines coexisting with a live-tracked rhythm section; fresh collaborations; layers of guitars, synths, horns and percussion; collected field recordings and samples - all cut and glued in Shaw’s home studio to realise an expansive and colourful record.

- Robin Powell

1. Slug 02:21

2. Celebration 02:27

3. Elephant In The Room 04:24

4. Escalator Man 02:47

5. Keeps Ya Head Up 03:07

6. Kerosene 03:27

7. Never Enough 03:04

8. Realest 03:17

9. Last Guy At The Disco 03:32

10. All Good Ends Must Come To A Thing 01:16

Releases April 19, 2024

Dougal Shaw - Vocal, Guitar, Bass, Synthesiser, Drum kit, samples, percussion, trumpet, melodica

Miranda Holt - Drum kit, percussion, backing vocals

Jake Suriano - Bass, Saxophone on track 1, 2, 5 & 7, backing vocals

Mathias Dowle - Spoons & Ring Mod on track 1, Synth on track 5, backing vocals

Tali Harding-Hone - backing vocals

Jack McCullagh - guitar on track 3 & 8

Alannah Sawyer - Saxophone on track 1, 5, 8 & 10

Stu Paterson - Saxophone on track 1 & 3

Alivia Lester - Spoken word on track 7

Blue Bululu LeShaw - Vocals on track 1 & 10

Daphne - Barking throughout

Produced by Dougal Shaw

Arranged by Dougal Shaw & Jake Suriano

Mixed by Dougal Shaw

Mastered by Nao Anzai

Released by Marthouse Records (AU) & Erste Theke Tontraeger (EU)

Cover Photos by Oliver Shaw

Art & execution by Dougal Shaw

Additional design by Blue Bululu LeShaw

Back cover quote by Philip K Dick

Insert Photos by Alivia Lester, Danysha Harriot, Dougal Shaw, James Morris, Jake Brown, Oscar O'Shea, Rick Clifford.

Recorded in the Merri Bunker, Merri-bek, Naarm/Melbourne, the land of the Wurundjeri/Woiwurrung people of the Kulin Nation. All love and respect to the traditional custodians of the land.

PILERATS