Three decades after its release, Dave Graney & The Coral Snakes’ The Soft ‘n’ Sexy Sound remains one of the most distinctive Australian albums of the ’90s. A gold-certified record that balanced sly sophistication with adventurous textures, it captured Graney and his long-time collaborator Clare Moore at the height of their creative momentum. Now, the pair are taking the album back on the road for a special 30th anniversary national tour, kicking off October 3.
Speaking to Australian Musician, Graney and Moore recall the making of the album as a time of transition and experimentation. “We were using different instrumentation and trying to experiment a little bit,” Graney says. “The album before was more of a rock record. Soft ‘n’ Sexy had lighter drums, longer stretched-out songs, a different kind of feel.”
Check out the Australian Musician, Soft ‘n’ Sexy Sound album interview with Dave Graney and Clare Moore here
MORE ABOUT TH SOFT ‘N’ SEXY SOUND ALBUM
Produced by Victor Van Vugt, a fellow expatriate they first knew during their early days with The Moodists, the album was recorded at Melbourne’s famed AAV Studios just before the digital age took hold. Moore remembers the sessions as exploratory: “We moved the drum kit around the studio, tried retuning for different songs – a bit more experimentation than usual. Back then studios were incredibly expensive, but we took the time to find the textures.”
Those textures were informed by everything from Barry White and Isaac Hayes to the trip-hop of Massive Attack and Portishead. Graney and Moore were crate-digging relentlessly during those years, soaking up soul, funk, and contemporary production ideas. The result was a record that both nodded to lush ’70s orchestrations and embraced the darker, atmospheric edges of the 1990s.
The album also benefitted from the band’s presence in a flourishing Australian cultural landscape. With Triple J going national and TV shows like Recovery, Hey Hey It’s Saturday, and even Club Buggery giving live music unprecedented exposure, Dave Graney & The Coral Snakes became household names without ever relying on commercial radio. “People really clocked you in the street when you’d been on TV,” Clare Moore laughs. “The next day you’d notice it.”
For this anniversary run, the band will perform The Soft ‘n’ Sexy Sound in its entirety, in sequence, from the sultry opener “The Birds and Goats” through to the swaggering closer. “It’s going to be a challenge to start a show so softly,” Graney admits. “We’ve never done that before.” After the full-album set, audiences can expect a second set of material spanning their catalogue.
Of course, no Dave Graney tour would be complete without stories from the road. Over the years, the pair have hauled gear in rusted Kingswoods, endured hecklers from Adelaide to Dublin, and revisited sentimental haunts such as the Niagara Café in Gundagai and the Brass Monkey in Cronulla. These memories, like the songs themselves, form part of the fabric of a band that has carved its own eccentric, enduring path.
And they’re not slowing down. Beyond the anniversary shows, Graney and Moore have a new record ready for 2026. “It’s a real rock album, just the two of us doing everything – bass, drums, and guitar,” Graney reveals. “We’ve been working on it the last couple of years, and I’m very happy with it.”
For now, though, The Soft ‘n’ Sexy Sound takes centre stage once more – a record that, like the Shelby GT500 Graney once compared it to, still gleams with stylish power 30 years down the road.
DON’T MISS DAVE GRANEY ‘N’ THE CORAL SNAKES ON THE SOFT ‘N’ SEXY SOUND 2025 AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TOUR:
FRIDAY OCTOBER 3 – SYDNEY, Factory Theatre
SATURDAY OCTOBER 4 – WOLLONGONG, Waves
SUNDAY OCTOBER 5 – CANBERRA, Street Theatre
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10 – MELBOURNE, The Corner
SATURDAY OCTOBER 11 – BUNDALAGUAH, Bundy Hall
FRIDAY OCTOBER 24 – FREMANTLE, Freo Social
SATURDAY OCTOBER 25 – MARGARET RIVER, The River Hotel
FRIDAY OCTOBER 31 – BRISBANE, Crowbar
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 1 – EUMUNDI, The Imperial
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 2 – GOLD COAST, Mo’s Desert Tavern
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 7 – BYRON BAY, Byron Bay Theatre
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 8 – BELLINGEN, Bellingen Memorial Hall
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 13 – NEWCASTLE, King Street Band Room
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 14 – AVOCA, Avoca Beach Theatre
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 15 – CHATSWOOD, The Lounge
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16 – DANGAR ISLAND, Dangar Island Bowlo
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 21 – ADELAIDE, The Gov
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 28 – LAUNCESTON, Royal Oak
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 29 – ULVERSTONE, The Pier
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30 – LONGLEY, Longley Hotel
