Party Dozen – Special Unit
Party Dozen are Kirsty Tickle on saxophone and Jonathan Boulet on percussion and sampler, a semi-improvised psych noise duo from Sydney who have spent four albums building a cult following well beyond Australia’s underground scene. Guests like Nick Cave and billy woods have appeared on their records; festival bills across multiple continents have followed. “Special Unit” is out now via City Slang, their new European label home, and sits alongside last year’s “Mad Rooter” as a preview of the band’s fifth album, due later this year.
Written, performed, recorded, mixed and mastered entirely by the band themselves, the track packs everything into two minutes and 39 seconds. Tickle’s saxophone tears through the mix while Boulet’s percussion drives relentlessly underneath, the whole thing feeling less like a song and more like something about to tip over. That planned disturbance is undoubtedly what Party Dozen do best, and “Special Unit” is one of the tighter distillations of it they’ve managed. The band’s statement introducing the track reads like a Miranda warning gone wrong: “You have the right to remain stupid. Anything you say or do will be laughable. If you cannot afford common sense, a version of it will be provided for you.” It’s funny until you realise it isn’t, which is kind of the point.
2025 was a big year for them: a US tour with Lambrini Girls, headline dates across mainland Europe, Pitchfork Fest in the UK, shows in New Zealand, and a closing run with King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. The City Slang signing came out of that momentum, and “Special Unit” lands right as they head into their biggest North American run yet, including Sydney Opera House for Vivid Festival and Red Rocks with Amyl & The Sniffers. Two minutes and 39 seconds is all it takes.
Tour Dates North America:
- Jun 04 — Toronto, ON — RBC Amphitheatre (w/ Amyl and The Sniffers)
- Jun 05 — Montreal, QC — Place Bell (w/ Amyl and The Sniffers)
- Jun 06 — Kingston, NY — Tubby’s
- Jun 07 — New York, NY — TV Eye
- Jun 08 — Philadelphia, PA — Skyline Stage at the Mann (w/ Amyl and The Sniffers)
- Jun 09 — Boston, MA — MGM Music Hall at Fenway (w/ Amyl and The Sniffers)
- Jun 10 — Washington, DC — The Anthem (w/ Amyl and The Sniffers)
- Jun 12 — St. Louis, MO — The Factory (w/ Amyl and The Sniffers)
- Jun 13 — Milwaukee, WI — Cactus Club
- Jun 14 — Chicago, IL — The Salt Shed (w/ Amyl and The Sniffers)
- Jun 16 — Omaha, NE — Astro Theatre (w/ Amyl and The Sniffers)
- Jun 17 — Morrison, CO — Red Rocks Amphitheatre (w/ Amyl and The Sniffers)
- Jun 20 — Minneapolis, MN — Surly Brewing Festival Field (w/ Amyl and The Sniffers)
- Jun 22 — Los Angeles, CA — Zebulon
