Dallas Crane are a triple ARIA Award–nominated Australian alternative rock band from Melbourne. Their self-titled third album was released on 10 July 2004, and it peaked in the ARIA Albums Chart top 50. Its lead single, "Dirty Hearts" (June 2004), debuted in the related ARIA Singles Chart top 50.
Dallas Crane's fourth album, Factory Girls, peaked in the top 30. Their highest charting single, "Sit on My Knee" – a duet with Jimmy Barnes – reached No. 14 in July 2005. In 2009 they featured as a support act for The Who on a national stadium tour. After re-grouping following a short hiatus in 2012, Dallas Crane began work on their 5th studio album "Scoundrels" featuring Chris Brodie on bass guitar, Dave Larkin on vocals and guitar, Steve Pinkerton on drums and Pete Satchell on guitar and vocals.
History
1996–1999: Formation and debut album
Dallas Crane formed in 1996 in Melbourne by Chris Brodie on bass guitar, Dave Larkin on lead vocals and guitar, Pete Satchell on guitar and vocals and Shan Vanderwert on drums. Satchell and Larkin were former school mates and Brodie and Vanderwert joined soon after. They rehearsed material for their debut album, Lent (1998), in a Port Melbourne oil shed on the property of Dallas Crane Transport. Larkin later recalled "We were pretty young and that was the swag of songs we had at the time. It's a fairly incongruous record when you look at it, but we probably rate it as our favorite for that reason. And because it was our first and the whole recording experience was new to us." it appeared on the Five Alive: Live at the Wireless (1999) live 2× CD compilation. Larkin later reflected that You Am I "were instrumental for us in many ways ... When we started out, they were the band that everyone wanted to be. If you could go really well in Australia, you would be going as well as You Am I. In terms of cred and how good you were as a live band, they were it." Shortly after its release Brodie left due to commitments with his brother Dan Brodie and their band, the Broken Arrows, which had signed to a record label, EMI. Chris Brodie was replaced in Dallas Crane by Pat Bourke<!-- Not a footballer --> on bass guitar in early 2001. was released as a single. During their shows with You Am I, lead singer Tim Rogers touted, "Dallas Crane is the best band in the country" and made reference to them in the You Am I single, "Who Put the Devil in You" (September 2002).
The album reached the top 50 on the related ARIA Albums Chart in July 2004. The group received three nominations at the ARIA Music Awards of 2004, Best Breakthrough Artist – Album and Best Rock Album for Dallas Crane and Best Breakthrough Artist – Single for "Dirty Hearts". In July they toured the Australian east coast under the pseudonym, Beige Visitors, alongside You Am I, which used the moniker, the Question Fruit.
In August 2005 the group provided a cover version of "Dig It Up" for the Hoodoo Gurus tribute album, Stoneage Cameos, by various Australian artists. Bourke was also a member of a short-term super-group, The Wrights, which provided their rendition of "(Let's All) Turn On".
2006: Factory Girls
In early 2006 Dallas Crane released a single, "Lovers and Sinners", making it freely available via their website. The band's fourth album, Factory Girls, recorded with producers, Connolly and Jonathan Burnside, was released on 16 September 2006. It reached No. 30 in October – their highest charting album.
thumb|Dallas Crane, headlining St. Kilda Festival 2007
In August 2006 the band commenced an east coast tour of Australia to promote their new material. A performance at Brisbane's The Zoo received positive reviews in local independent media and reaffirmed the band's popularity as a rock act. They undertook a more extensive tour during September, and then travelled overseas for their second United Kingdom visit, following with an appearance at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas. They performed in Japan on the way home from the tour which saw them garner interest from offshore recording labels.
With close to 1500 acts from around the world performing gigs, Dallas Crane joined a local contingent of Australasian artists at SXSW 2007, alongside Beasts of Bourbon, You Am I, Hoodoo Gurus, Expatriate, Youth Group and Airbourne. Their United States visit saw them also perform at the Los Angeles venue The Troubadour, New York's Bowery Ballroom, and Boston's Middle East Club. On returning to Australia, in early 2007, they headlined a national tour with support from burgeoining rock act Airbourne, their last for what was to become a brief hiatus away from the touring circuit.
2007–2011: Taking a break
After performing for almost eleven years Dallas Crane finished their tour with a headline spot at Melbourne's St.Kilda Festival in February 2007. In 2009 they reunited briefly after being asked to join UK rock act, the Who, on six arena dates of their national tour, which included a spot at Melbourne's Grand Prix.
During the hiatus Dave Larkin released two albums with his three-piece act, Gun Street Girls. Rolling Stones Jaymz Clements rated it as four out of five, and felt that "Dallas Crane have grown into a smarter, better band is no surprise. That they've given themselves a masterful Don Walker-ish overhaul certainly is. Scoundrels is intelligent, bluesy, mature and unpredictable..."
From late December 2015 and into April 2016 the group undertook a national headline tour promoting the album.
In October 2016, the band released the single "Cheyenne" (digital only) also recorded by Jez Giddings and Craig Harnath at Melbourne's Hothouse Audio.
In August 2022, Dallas Crane opened for Kiss at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena.
Discography
Studio albums
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
|-
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:14em;"| Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:18em;"| Details
! scope="col" colspan="1"| Peak chart positions
|-
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| AUS<br/>
|-
! scope="row"|Lent
|
- Released: 1998
- Label: Dallas Crane
- Format: CD
| align="center"| —
|-
! scope="row"|Twenty Four Seven
|
- Released: October 2000
- Label: Slant6 (DC-170689 2)
- Format: CD
| align="center"| —
|-
! scope="row"|Dallas Crane
|
- Released: July 2004
- Label: Albert Music Productions / Sony BMG (33810-2)
- Format: CD
| align="center"| 49
|-
! scope="row"|Factory Girls
|
- Released: September 2006
- Label: Albert Music Productions / Sony BMG (8869-701041-2)
- Format: CD, LP, Digital
| align="center"| 30
|-
! scope="row"|Scoundrels
|
- Released: November 2015
- Label: Nylon Sounds (NYLDCSC001)
- Format: CD, LP, Digital
| align="center"| —
|}
Extended plays
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
|-
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:14em;"| Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:18em;"| Details
! scope="col" colspan="1"| Peak chart positions
|-
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| AUS<br/>
- Label: Shock Records (BK001/ BK002)
- Format: CD, LP
| align="center"| —
|}
Singles
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Year
! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Title
! scope="col" colspan="1"| Peak chart positions
! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album
|-
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| AUS<br/>
| 70
| rowspan="3"| Dallas Crane
|-
| rowspan="2"| 2004
! scope="row"| "Dirty Hearts"
| 43
|-
! scope="row"| "Numb All Over"
| —
|-
| 2005
! scope="row"| "Sit on My Knee" <br> (with Jimmy Barnes)
| 14
| Double Happiness
|-
| rowspan="2"| 2006
! scope="row"| "Lovers and Sinners"
| —
| rowspan="4"| Factory Girls
|-
! scope="row"| "Curiosity"
| —
|-
| rowspan="2"| 2007
! scope="row"| "Tonight! (There's A Party Going Down)"
| —
|-
! scope="row"| "God Damn Pride"
| —
|-
| 2013
! scope="row"| "I'm Sorry Darlin'"
| —
| rowspan="2"| Scoundrels
|-
| 2014
! scope="row"| "Get Off the Dope"
| —
|-
| 2016
! scope="row"| "Cheyenne"
| —
|
|-
|}
Awards and nominations
ARIA Music Awards
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.
!
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2004
| "Dirty Hearts"
| Breakthrough Artist – Single
|
|rowspan="3"|
|-
|rowspan="2"| Dallas Crane
| Breakthrough Artist – Album
|
|-
| Best Rock Album
|
|-