Album/EP

Luca Brasi - The World Don't Owe You Anything (Album Review)

Walladmin

Heavy Metal Wordsmith

Sep 26, 2023

7 min read

Luca Brasi – The World Don’t Owe You Anything
Released: September 29^th, 2023

Lineup

Tyler Richardson | Lead Vocals & Bass
Thomas Busby | Lead Guitar
Patrick Marshall | Rhythm Guitar & backing vocals
Danny Flood | Drums

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I was first introduced to Tasmanian indie rock outfit Luca Brasi via their first music video from 2011, ‘Theme Song From HQ,’ a video that presented some great Aussie punk rock from a band with a ferocious spirit. Since then, they’ve earned themselves a place as a favourite among Australia’s indie scene, and they return in 2023 with their sixth studio album, The World Don’t Owe You Anything.

While the band have clearly evolved from their punk origins over a decade ago into the indie rock style they are today, with some excellent songwriting being showcased on this latest outing, I can’t help but hear a band that has a habit that I feel most Australian indie rock suffers from, which is this need to mould their sound to appease a certain youth national broadcaster (and the ‘hipster’ types that listen to it.)

https://youtu.be/JHgkGjXANBI?si=58GRKMpgMk3Jwsb6

I guess what I mean by this is - and this is just my opinion - I have a hard time getting past the vocals. Most of the acts I’m talking about (think The Smith Street Band, Hockey Dad, and Dune Rats) have this tendency to dial the ‘Aussie-ness’ of their vocals to 11, resulting in every indie rock outfit from the last ten years or so competing to sound the most like a Mitre 10 commercial. And while there’s nothing wrong with a bit of Aussie pride, when overdone this style probably isn’t for everybody – imagine if every Australian comedian went out of their way to sound like Dave Hughes, and that’s kind of what I’m getting at.

The reason I bring this up is that folks like Luca Brasi’s main vocalist, Tyler Richardson, prove to be great singers once you get past that ‘Aussie twang,’ I think there are moments on this album where Tyler really shines when he breaks from that and comes into his own style, such as the title track ‘The World Don’t Owe You Anything,’ which builds into a great chorus where Tyler really puts some volume into his voice.

To be fair, the ‘Aussie indie rock’ style Luca Brasi have refined results in some potentially iconic anthems for their fanbase, such as ‘Habits’ and ‘Sonny’. Some epic guitar moments crop up throughout the album courtesy of Thomas Busby and Patrick Marshall, my favourite from the whole album being the instrumental part in ‘A Place to Begin.’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roP-r26_zo0

However, the song ‘Party Scene’ is the best example of what I mentioned earlier – its chorus seems tweaked specifically to fit amongst that bracket of indie rock bands, while the more ambient tunes ‘Scars’ and ‘Concussion’ also showcase Luca Brasi’s evolution from Tassie punks to indie scenesters.

I’ve listened to The World Don’t Owe You Anything a few times now. There are some moments on this album that I enjoy and I’m certain that the mid-to-late 20-something Triple J hipsters will love this album to bits. But as someone who comes from a more 90s Australian Alternative background, I find myself missing that Tassie punk version of Luca Brasi that initially got me hooked.