This summer, an acoustic ballad by a little-known Australian band called Rancid Eddie took social media platform TikTok by storm. The song, tentatively titled “Dry,” was posted onto the band’s official account in a very organic way — it showed the band performing the song live with only the aid of two acoustic guitars. The video racked up millions of views and left fans clamoring for an official release. Much of the song’s appeal comes from the DIY, low-budget nature of its composition, promotion and subsequent release. The song made its streaming debut on Sunday, Sept. 26, after months of speculation and waiting by casual and diehard fans alike.
The reworked version that has been released on streaming platforms features a more layered sound, with drums and bass included in the mix. However, the song sounds best as a purely acoustic track, with the band’s drummer and bassist focusing more on vocal harmonies than their own instruments.
One of the main reasons the song exploded was due to its earworm, sing-along nature; its chorus makes the listener want to belt along with the band. But the more refined version that was released onto streaming is notably not as anthemic, and the song builds into its climax much less organically than the original. Nonetheless, the framework of the song remains the same, and it retains much of its initial allure, especially as the rest of the band’s voices come in during the song’s final chorus. While many fans will ultimately prefer the original clip from TikTok, Rancid Eddie definitely did the song justice and hopefully disseminated it to a much larger audience by finally uploading it to streaming services.
Daily Arts Writer Ryan Brace can be reached at rcbrace@umich.edu.