Double Allergic

While Powderfinger’s debut album, <i>Parables for Wooden Ears</i>, was hampered by overly complex songwriting and obscure, often-confusing lyrics, <i>Double Allergic</i> harnessed the power of focused, more accessible songwriting. Setting the tone was <b>“Pick You Up”</b>, one of the earliest songs written for the album, penned by vocalist Bernard Fanning in a reported 15-minute burst of inspiration in a Canberra hotel room. The reaction it garnered the first time the Brisbane band played it live was unlike anything they’d experienced when airing a new song, and so the course was set. In keeping with the mid-’90s, <i>Double Allergic</i> is an album informed by the echoes of grunge and alternative rock, particularly in the infectious <b>“D.A.F.”</b>, named after the song’s chords and inspired lyrically by the ongoing search for truth. Charles Manson and the misguided devotion of his followers inspired <b>“Living Type”</b>, while <b>“Take Me In”</b> was informed by police indiscretions. Though simplicity was the order of the day, the band still embraced their bombastic side on <b>“Oipic”</b>, a song that swaggers and lurches to a dramatic, cinematic, string-laden climax.