Since their early days, the Dukes of Windsor have always been met with mixed reviews. They broke onto the scene, as many may recall, with their single 'The Others', which saw them join forces with TV Rock and attain gold status in the ARIA charts in 2006. It was pop, it was dance, and it was certainly well-received; but they've come leaps and bounds since then with their more recent releases.
The Annandale was eagerly packed out to almost, if not full, capacity. In charge of warming up the crowd was The Dirty Secrets, who were hard to fault from a technical standpoint, but were ultimately just like what every synth-heavy pop-rock band is sounding like at present.
While the smoke machine was fired up to 11 and the infamous Annandale projector screen was waiting to be raised, the ridiculously good-looking crowd filed in for what their $15 bought them: a night out with one of Australia's bigger electro-rock acts of the moment; and the Dukes of Windsor entered the stage in a rather self-congratulatory manner - to the tune of a fairly long pre-recorded intro.
The basis of their appeal is obvious: the band deliver catchy, well-written, accessible songs that are laden with repetitive beats and on-stage antics aplenty. It's just unfortunate that there's nothing terribly different about the Dukes of Windsor that hasn't been churned out time and time again. Their material from their latest album Minus however, particularly singles 'Runaway' and 'It's a War' is some of the Dukes' best work to date, and the upbeat demanding crowd was proof aplenty.
Carrie Dennes
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