Dappled Cities (formerly Dappled Cities Fly) are a five-piece indie rock ba… Read Full Bio ↴Dappled Cities (formerly Dappled Cities Fly) are a five-piece indie rock band from Sydney, Australia. Their music has been described as art rock or experimental pop. Their guitar-based songs typically combine melodies with the complex time signatures and tempo changes associated with post rock. Occasional falsetto vocals and the use of effects pedals (delay in particular) are also characteristic of their sound.

The band, originally called Periwinkle, came together in the suburbs in 1997 when 15-year-olds Dave Rennick and Hugh Boyce were joined by Alex Moore and English-born Tim Derricourt. The line-up has occasionally expanded on stage to include keyboardists Mark Bradshaw and later Ned Cooke who is now a permanent member of the band.

The band played at various all ages shows and charity benefits until they reached legal age to play in the licensed venues which are the focus of Sydney's live rock scene. The band members moved to the inner suburbs of Sydney and after various name changes settled on Dappled Cities Fly, chosen because its inappropriateness as a band name made them laugh at the time although the band 'have regretted it ever since'. Their frequent live shows drew a regular following of fans and the band became popular supporting international acts touring eastern Australia.

The band also regularly headline their own shows, very often at the Hopetoun Hotel, with bills showcasing new local groups.

Dappled Cities Fly have enjoyed and helped foster the revival since 2000 of Sydney's live music scene and the opening of several new venues. The band have made several extensive tours of Australia and toured New Zealand in 2004. In 2006 the band performed in London and at various shows in the United States, including SXSW.

Dappled Cities Fly's several early single and EP releases were critically well received and played Australia-wide on various radio stations. Their first album, A Smile, after several years in the making, was released in late 2004 and featured as album of the week on radio stations FBi and Triple J, in most of the Sydney street press and in various other media. Sydney Morning Herald reviewer Bernard Zuel wrote of A Smile that it "weaves between lo-fi indie rock, oddly bent pop and a kind of big-emotion, big-gesture music that seems refracted through a vaguely hallucinogenic mirror".

Their second album Granddance was recorded at various studios in Los Angeles, California. The album's cover artwork is noteworthy in having the band's name as just "Dappled Cities", minus the word "Fly"; however as Tim Derricourt explained to The Drum Media magazine, this was done mainly for artistic reasons, and does not amount to a formal name change for the band.

The band recorded a cover version of "November Rain" with local Sydney band Red Riders, a song which the two bands played together when they toured in 2007. They have also dropped the "Fly" from their moniker, simply calling themselves "Dappled Cities", though the band remains elusive as to why they have truncated the name.

On February 27th, 2008, a bulletin was posted on the band's myspace announcing that Hugh Boyce had left the band to pursue a career in bio-mechanical engineering. In the following months, the band announced the arrival of their new drummer, Allan Kumpulainen.

Work It Out
Dappled Cities Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Can't you say it's wrong
When you've seen it from the inside out?
We can go and have some fun
Our work is never done
The crash and ball is the exploration
So carry on

And we won't work it out someday

But I find it hard to believe
That all we've come up with is all can conceive of
And nothing more
But nothing is as nothing was
Always something we can't do without
And nothing more

And we won't work it out someday

So say we saw some sort of spectacle
The kind of sight that doesn't stay
Would you believe
That we won't work it out someday

Always finding something new
It's all I ask of you

With you and I it's something else
We can feel it, we can almost know it

We can know about ourselves
And we won't work it out someday

Overall Meaning

In this song, Dappled Cities explores the idea that despite our best efforts, some things may never be fully resolved. The opening lines "Can't you say it's wrong, when you've seen it from the inside out?" suggest that the singer has a deep understanding of a particular issue or problem, but can't seem to make others see it their way. They propose that instead of continually trying to fix something, we should accept it and "have some fun" with it. "Our work is never done" suggests that there will always be something to work towards, and that the journey is the important part, not necessarily the destination. The lines "Nothing is as nothing was, always something we can't do without" suggest that while things may change, there will always be certain constants in life that we can't escape.

The chorus repeats the line "And we won't work it out someday" twice, further emphasizing the idea that some things may never be resolved. The second verse explores the notion that while we may believe we have exhausted all possibilities, there may still be more to discover. "That all we've come up with is all we can conceive of, and nothing more" suggests a sense of limitation, but the following line "But nothing is as nothing was" suggests that there may be more to uncover. The bridge of the song poses a hypothetical scenario where the singer witnesses a "spectacle" that doesn't fit into their understanding of the world. Despite this, they are willing to accept that some things may never be resolved.

Overall, "Work It Out" is a song about acceptance and the importance of enjoying the journey, even when there may be no final destination or resolution.

Line by Line Meaning

Can't you say it's wrong
Can't you admit that something is incorrect?

When you've seen it from the inside out?
After having a deep understanding of it.

We can go and have some fun
We have the opportunity to enjoy ourselves.

Our work is never done
There's always something that needs to be done.

The crash and ball is the exploration
The ups and downs are part of the journey.

So carry on
Keep going.

And we won't work it out someday
We may never figure it out.

But I find it hard to believe
I'm skeptical about what we've achieved so far.

That all we've come up with is all can conceive of
I refuse to accept this is the extent of what we can think of.

And nothing more
There's no innovation past what we know so far.

But nothing is as nothing was
Everything changes, nothing remains the same.