ALBUM REVIEW: Radium Dolls – Wound Up

Australian four-piece Radium Dolls have taken the Alt- Rock scene by storm since the release of their first album in 2024. Known for explosive live performances, the band has a talent for combining humour and introspection with blistering, intense instrumentals. Their recent sophomore album ‘Wound Up’ is an eleven-part dive into raw storytelling and anthemic musicality.

Photo Credit: Danysha Harriott

The album’s second track ‘Scorching Heat’ exemplifies the band’s knack for offsetting weighty topics with playfulness. The lyrics ‘I will have to learn some things the hard way’  are followed by the facetious chorus ‘But it’s a lovely day to be sitting in the scorching heat’, as battering percussion drowns out the worries of today. Third track ‘Moving’ takes on a morose tone, recalling the quiet devastation of dismantling a once shared space with imagery like ‘dragging our old mattress up the stairs’. It launches into heavy guitar and percussion as the chorus, ‘all the while her heart was breaking just like mine was’, recognises a shared grief.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RDEjlZXzEUlLQ&v=EjlZXzEUlLQ

‘Rat Song (For a Film)’ opens with bluesy harmonica, creating the perfect backdrop for frontman Will Perkins’ distinct Queenslander drawl to conjure a visceral image. He insists ‘this town is a snake; it’s no place for a rat’, uncoiling a story of leaving home only to find it following behind, ready to strike. Later track, ‘Daddy’ mocks economic and generational double-standards, the rapid strings mirroring a rising sense of frustration as the repeated refrain ‘I get the gist’ drips with sarcasm.

Penultimate track ‘Favourite’ eases into a tender contemplation of the understated bliss of being in love. The confession ‘I don’t know how to say it, baby’, gives way to the disarmingly simple line ‘You’re my favourite thing’, a sentiment carried by buoyant yet morose instrumentals. ‘All That Falls’ closes the album with a lingering impact, weaving casually philosophical lyrics with reverberating strings and rhythmic percussion.  

‘Wound Up’ reinforces Radium Dolls’ masterful embrace of raw Australian Rock whilst bringing to light their talent for clever observations and restrained tenderness.