Double Parked Embody The Essence of New Zealand Summer On Latest Single, ‘Dopamine’
Following up their epic November single Scars / Sober, West Auckland “post surf” five-piece Double Parked have dropped their latest single, Dopamine.
A feel-good release of summertime happy hormones, Dopamine embodies the blissed-out, laidback essence of a quintessential New Zealand summer. The band use unpredictable Aotearoa weather as an analogy for seasonal mood swings, with lyrics like “when you’re not around the skies are a cloudy grey, when I’m feeling down, you’re the sunshine on my face”.
Where last single Scars / Sober took listeners on a thrilling emotional journey, Dopamine evokes the familiar feeling of an eternal lazy summer Sunday. With serene guitar plucks set against soothing vocals, (Tom Purdie) sings on the hazy hook, “when I wake up next to you, i don’t wanna do anything else, and i don’t have to / sometimes I’m at war with me, shit’s getting old, my bed’s getting cold, but you’re my dopamine. ”
“The song started from a jam, and my dad started humming a melody with those words, “sunshine on my face”, then I went home and wrote the rest of the lyrics,” the band detail of the track’s background.
“I think the fact that the music came first, and the lyrics came second, the lyrics are really just a verbalisation of the feeling of the song. It’s about that juxtaposition between the highs and lows of life, and how you can’t really have one without the other.”
Dopamine rounds off a huge year for Double Parked, off the back of the cult following amassed from the bands renowned, rowdy live performances and 2023 debut EP Lost in the Groove. This year, the boys have released successful singles including Scars / Sober, Leopard Print Coat and Living Room Floor, embarked on opening sets for Australian surf punk band Lazy Ghost and Christchurch indie-rockers The Butlers, nearly sold out their own headline show at Auckland’s Galatos, and brought their infectious Westie charm to the stage this Summer with festival sets at Le Currents.
Labelling their distinctive sound as self-described “post-surf”, Double Parked are redefining the traditional surf rock subgenre for a new generation, making music that’s quintessentially rooted in New Zealand surf culture while pulling from a melting pot of global influences from psychedelic, to punk, reggae, dub, indie-pop, and much more.
