DMA's

On debut single, 'Delete', Jaqwar Ma's best mates DMA's wear their Oasis influences on their sleeve with Gallagher-esque vocals pleading "don't delete my baby" and a video that has the band swaggering around in Adidas tracksuit tops. 'Feels Like 37' also boasts that Mancunian spirit but lends it with an Antipodean sheen of frizzing garage-pop riffs that swelter with the same sun-drenched aura of Splashh. - NME

Sometimes you hear a song or watch a video and just know that a band is going to be huge.

We felt it the first time we heard Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' 'Same Love', months before 'Thrift Shop' was even on the charts.

Now we're feeling it with new I OH YOU signing, DMA's.

They've just released their debut single 'Delete' from their first, self-titled EP, which is out March 28.

The band are from Sydney's Newtown but sound like a bunch of lads from Manchester rather than a handful of bro's trying to bum a smoke out the front of Zanzibar.

'Delete' is terminally infectious, with passionate verses and a soaring chorus that's going to sound massive on festival stages in the coming months.

Just remember, when you're arm in arm with your friends, in a big pile of mud, howling at the top of your lungs "Let it all oooouuuuttttt!" - you heard it here first.

'Delete' is out now on iTunes. - [V] Music

A rock’n’roll band’s growing up process typically involves getting well acquainted with the live stage and subsequently piquing people’s interest, while gradually developing the songcraft. Early last month, buzz about Sydney three-piece DMA’s started to spread online. But this was all before the trio had ever set foot on one of the city’s dimly lit stages. “We’ve been in bands before and we’ve slogged it out playing the early morning World Bars and all those kinds of little gigs around Sydney, and we just didn’t want to do that anymore,” guitarist/producer Johnny Took explains. “We thought that most of our energy should be focused on the songs. The way I think about it, it all revolves around the tunes. If there aren’t good songs coming out, then there’s nothing really.” Thanks to the heart-on-your-sleeve melodic appeal of their first single, ‘Delete’, a fair chunk of hype has quickly hit DMA’s. In fact, even before the band’s public launch, the track was enough to seal a deal with selective indie label I Oh You. Perhaps the group’s immediate appeal is due to its studious creative preparation. “We were writing for a few years before we released anything or played a gig,” Took says. “Two years ago I had a goal that I didn’t want to play any gigs and just wanted to focus on the tunes and keep writing music. I wanted to have over 100 songs and I wanted to do all the… not the ‘hard work’, because you never stop writing, but to give yourself a bit of a leg-up.” Took is joined in DMA’s by vocalist Tommy O’Dell and guitarist Matt Mason, all of whom have been active in the local music scene for the past half-decade. Took and O’Dell first came together (playing bass and drums, respectively) in Sydney foursome Underlights, which is where the seed for the songwriting collaboration was planted. “The first time I realised Tommy could sing was when we were in an Underlights rehearsal. Tommy was asking about the drum part and he was like, ‘Oh you know in the chorus where it goes…’ He started singing the part and I was just standing there in the rehearsal room going, ‘Fuck, this guy’s voice is crazy.’ “About three years ago now, when I moved into my place in Newtown, I used to spend lots of my Friday nights [getting] pissed and just record something. [Tommy] had written some lyrics and he was like, ‘Man, can I put some vocals down for this track?’ He put a vocal down and he’d never heard his voice back before. He was like, ‘Wow, I actually sound like that?’ It kind of flourished from there.” The self-titled DMA’s EP, released this week, doesn’t stick to the sparse acoustic quality of ‘Delete’. ‘Feels Like 37’ takes cues from early Britpop and shoegaze, while ‘Your Low’ gives the mod revival some LSD. This conflation of sounds makes sense when you consider the band’s leading influences. “We’re all pretty big Beatles fans,” says Took. “Tommy’s a big Stone Roses fan, Mason’s really into Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. I listen to lots of country music. I like listening to real deep bluegrass, like Bill Monroe. I grew up listening to lots of Dylan and Neil Young.” Despite the stylistic diversity, Took emphasises what’s tying it all together. “You take away all the noisy guitars and take away all the production aspects and they’re still good songs. They still connect with people – that’s the main thing for me. If you can’t do that with a song, you’re kind of missing the point.” - The Brag

How vain is rock’n’roll? Generally speaking, we prefer to see idealised human figures fronting of our favourite bands. But there are those (Rob Tyner, Frank Black and James Murphy for example,) who attract a devoted following while wearing skins that not many admirers wish to inhabit. DMA’s aren’t readymade poster boys, but tonight the Sydney band proved that if the songs are strong enough, then the surface details aren’t significant. You won’t read a word about DMA’s that doesn’t employ the Britpop (and chiefly Oasis) descriptor. However, there’s a difference between ripping off Oasis and actually sounding like Britpop. DMA’s aren’t just some cloying tribute to Northern England’s ‘90s saviours. These boys genuinely excel in big hooks. They mightn’t be miraculously unique, but since when was that how pop music worked? Crucially DMA’s exercise expert melodic command. At times tonight there was almost a surplus of melody, but their casual execution prevented the songs from being a bombardment. Another key phrase that’s been stapled to the Sydney three-piece since their emergence a few months ago is ‘garage-pop’. This stems from the fact that their debut EP is a nuts-and-bolts home recording. The garage ethos matches the average-guys shtick, but sonically speaking it’s actually a detractor. Playing as a stadium-ready six-piece, tonight it became clear DMA’s belong in an expensive studio with Stephen Street behind the desk. While there’s still some onstage settling-in to do, this gig was a great advertisement for the band’s future. Tommy O’Dell is something of a reluctant frontman. Even during the rousing demi-anthem, Delete, his gaze remained bored and aloof. Nevertheless, his vocals were flawless. Equally impressive was guitar player Matt Mason’s harmonies and supplementary vocal parts, which occasionally threatened to steal the limelight. Acoustic guitarist Johhny Took is the band’s spiritual nucleus and the member most willing to exhibit enthusiasm. What often afflicts much-hyped acts is the overwhelming praise that comes their way before sufficiently developing their sound. Thankfully, the masses of hype don’t appear to be distracting DMA’s. The handful of unreleased songs debuted tonight showed that they’re certainly not shy of ideas. And throughout the 45-minute set, the audience response stretched well beyond curiosity, all the way to committed adoration. - Beat

DMA’s walked on stage in darkness, bathed in hype, as the sold out Goodgod Small Club anticipated their entrance with bated breath. A cheerful “How ya goin’?” led into the rip-roaring Feels Like 37, which might be the band’s strongest song. The touring version of DMA’s appear to be a six-piece, allowing for doubled lead vocals and a rich, dense sound, made up of perfectly balanced effected guitars. All this just adds to the energy: a new song called Lay Down seems like it’s already festival-ready, with a huge chorus and rock-solid double-guitar solo to close it out. Delete led to a huge crowd singalong, akin to seeing Oasis play Wonderwall. - The Music

SOUNDS LIKE: A nineties Britpop explosion splattered all over the walls of a bedroom in Sydney's Inner-West.
FOR FANS OF: Oasis, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, unforgettably sweet melodies with loud guitars.
WHY YOU SHOULD PAY ATTENTION: DMA's were signed by I OH YOU label boss Johann Ponniah on the strength of a demo written and recorded in guitarist Johnny Took's bedroom in Newtown. The band had never played a gig. But DMA's are no overnight success. The core of the group - Took, Matt Mason (guitar) and Tommy O'Dell (vocals) - have played in various Sydney bands and have been ceaselessly writing and demoing tracks for over two years. With a backlog of tunes in their arsenal, they've recently recruited three mates to expand the lineup to a six-piece, and their exhilarating live performances (which have led to sold out shows along the East Coast) are a testament to the hard work.
THEY SAY: "We're not scared of being called a 'buzz' band", says O'Dell, a former drummer turned vocalist. "Having a lot of hype around us doesn't bother us because we can back it up. Most hype bands don't wait three years before they come under the public eye. They don't have 50 songs. They come out with one song and they might have five songs left over for an EP and then they're fucked. We could've released an EP two years ago. We didn't. We waited until we had heaps of songs. People are sceptical about anything that's thrown in their face without them seeing the groundwork that's been done. But we know we've done the groundwork, and when people come and see us live they'll know it's legit."
HEAR FOR YOURSELF: 'Delete is the stand-out on DMA's debut self-titled EP. One of their oldest songs, it was written by Mason six years ago when he was 19 and has gone through several different permutations. They refer to it as the "oldest cow in the paddock". - Rolling Stone