Obscure (but should not have been) album of the week...

DAVID McCOMB - Love of Will [1994]

It goes without saying that Perth native David McComb was one of Australia’s greatest songwriters. Following the disbandment of The Triffids in the late 80s, he released his one and only solo album, Love of Will, in 1994. It is a shamefully overlooked work, equally on par with any album of The Triffids.
It is also long out of print.

The final two albums from The Triffids, Calenture [1987] and The Black Swan [1989] contained some of the band's best work but were marred by over-production and superfluous synth wash, as was the style of the time. Following these works, it's refreshing to hear the dry treatment and uncomplicated arrangements of Love of Will. The contributions from various Triffids and Blackeyed Susans members (the latter of which McComb was also a member of) are warm and sympathetic and, whilst there’s nothing here quite in the pantheon of Triffids masterpieces 'Wide Open Road' or 'Bury Me Deep In Love', the quality remains high throughout.

The scorching 'Setting You Free' (one of two singles from the album along with 'Clear Out My Mind') is probably the closest link to the Triffids sound of yore. Elsewhere, it's an intimate and sombre affair. The two most spiritual songs, 'The Day of My Ascension' and 'Leaning' are prophetic in tone, somewhat eerie in light of McComb's tragically early passing (aged 37) in 1999. Listening to these tracks, one could be forgiven for thinking that McComb had some awareness of his fate.

Broken relationships and the tyranny of distance are subjects that McComb excelled at. He seemed to have an ability, much like his key influences, Leonard Cohen and Lou Reed, to sound tender and sardonic at the same:

I could ask you why you married him
I could ask you one of a dozen things
But I don’t like to watch an old friend suffering.
(‘Nothing Good Is Going To Come With This’)

He could be downright venemous too, when he wanted to be. ‘I Heard You Had A Bed’ is a kiss-off that would be thoroughly unpleasant were it not for the fact that the character sounds like such a lost cause, while other tracks revel in a paranoid fog, evidenced by this chilling verse:

What scares me to death, baby
Is that you can see right through me
And if you can do that baby
What good are you to me?
('Deep In A Dream')

The efforts of surviving Triffids members, along with devoted fans, high profile musicians and industry-types have done much to sustain the legacy of David McComb's work. Tribute gigs, reunion shows, cover songs and art exhibitions have abounded. Every Triffids album has been repackaged and remastered, with bonus tracks and exemplary liner notes.

And yet sadly, this is the one album in a formidable canon of work that has not been reprinted. I was fortunate enough to stumble across a copy in a secondhand record store in Switzerland a few years ago for an almost criminally low price. Since then, I have found the odd used copy circulating online in excess of $150.
As I say, there are devoted fans…

-AMCS

Obscure (but should not have been) album of the week...

THE COMSAT ANGELS - Sleep No More (1981)

Perhaps not as obscure at the time of its release (managing to reach No. 51 on the UK charts) and certainly not unattainable today*, The Comsat Angels' Sleep No More is nevertheless a forgotten classic that would nestle quite easily in any gloomy record collection between Unknown Pleasures and Disintegration.

After forming in 1978, Sheffield's finest had already raised the bar high with their first album Waiting For A Miracle (1980). Echoes of that tense debut can be heard through current acts like Bloc Party and Interpol, whether or not they are aware of and/or acknowledge their influence. It features probably their best known track, 'Independence Day', which must rank as one of the greatest alternative-hits-that-never-was.

By the time of their second album they had morphed into a different beast altogether.
Not exactly a singles-friendly affair, Sleep No More survives on its foreboding mood. It's oppressive, it's dark and it's relentless. No wonder this group came from Sheffield, the songs here are the aural equivalent of stainless steel; cold, metallic but with an undeniably resplendent finish.

There is a political undercurrent to some of the songs, such as 'Dark Parade' and 'Goat of the West' (probably the two most intense numbers on the album), which vent disgust at America’s Reagan-era foreign policy. But the album's lyrics and textures seem to reflect a more familiar theme of social isolation. The title track and 'Restless' are eerie, disorientating pieces that are almost alien-like in their detachment. They seem to exist in that woozy but wired state, like wandering through an unfamiliar city in the early hours and being confronted with the strange sights and bright lights.

Mik Glaisher, Comsat Angels drummer, has a fantastic style; he is the John Bonham of post punk. The production serves him well, as it features an absolutely mammoth drum sound, apparently achieved by recording in an elevator shaft, with microphones positioned on six different floors. The other three members are no slouches either; the bass-playing from Kevin Bacon (no, not the Footloose one) has an ominous tone, while icy keyboards from Andy Peake and slashing guitars from Stephen Fellows are positively hypnotic. Allegedly, it was the distinctive Comsat Angels guitar sound that influenced the style of U2's The Edge, after both bands toured together. I wonder if The Edge has considered splitting half his royalties since those heady days…

Post-Sleep No More, The Comsat Angels never plumbed such doom-laden depths again. Their next offering, Fiction(1982), is a more optimistic, accessible affair, a bit patchy in parts but still an excellent listen. Everything went a bit synth-pop/MOR-ambitions after that (well, it was the 80s after all), until they regained their chops with My Mind’s Eye (1992), which is probably the closest they came to matching the dynamic ferocity of Sleep No More.

Bleak? Yes.
But at its best, bleak rocks.
One to play loud.

-AMCS

* Aside from the original vinyl pressing on Polydor and a CD reissue in the 90s, the superb reissue label Renascent released an expanded version of Sleep No More in 2006, along with other Comsat Angels albums in expanded editions. So best place to get this album is: http://www.renascent.co.uk/

New music worthy of your eardrum attention...

Staying true to my original blog, I’m going to introduce you to some music that I’ve come across recently in the vast Myspace world.

First up is a local (that is, Melbourne) three-piece, the pleasantly-titled Hope Diamond. They play ethereal, haunting guitar pop, topped up with some nice vocal harmonies. I guess early shoegaze or Cocteau Twins would be a reference point but they are hard to pigeonhole. Check them out at http://www.myspace.com/wearehopediamond

Next is an intriguing character who goes by the name of Mr Smith. I don’t know much about him but he lists his location as ‘Australia, U.S.A’. There is a South Australia in Texas (would you believe) but I somehow don’t think that is where he’s from. Anyway, his songs are delivered in a distinctive baritone drawl, and they are very quirky. There’s an obvious love of 60s whimsy there, but that’s part of the charm. My favourites are ‘It Didn’t Happen’, 'Broken' and ‘Prince Albert’, which features an old joke you may or may not be familiar with. Have a listen at:
http://www.myspace.com/musicmrsmith

Finally, this isn’t exactly a band but a small independent record label based in Indonesia called Inmyroomrecords. Their ethos is as follows: “To gather fellow bedroom musicians, who are those who play, record, and personally distribute the work, not for sale but for free download.” There’s some lovely stuff on there. I particularly like the first track on offer by ‘Bad Lovers Company’, entitled ‘Heart Rescue.’ They can be found at:
http://www.myspace.com/inmyroomrecord

So that's my attempt at a "showcase" for this week. If anyone wants to recommend some good, independent music to me, send it this way!
-AMCS

Pity Prize

The sky is vanishing
Like the embers of a bonfire
Stumble back to
Each other’s arms
Safe from urban harm

Fate threw us a pity prize
In amongst the hundreds of hopefuls
Find a way to survive

See how far we’ve come
See how the odds are never against us
Just promise to leave the lights on
Swear I’m not superstitious

Fate threw us a pity prize
In the calm of
The smoke stained night

Obscure (but should not have been) Album of the Week

Underground Lovers - Get To Notice

The Underground Lovers were one of the great Australian alternative bands of the 1990s. A profoundly overlooked group even to this day, their songs have been covered by established Australian acts such as Sarah Blasko, while founding member Vince Giarrusso is also a film director (directing Mallboy in 1999).

In the early 90s they drew critical acclaim in England and beyond with their distinctive guitar drones and slightly off-kilter melodies, which drew comparisons with bands associated with the shoegaze movement doing the rounds in the British press at the time. But there was something uniquely Australian about their delivery that, much like The Go-Betweens, set them apart from their European contemporaries. Their brilliant sophomore album 'Leaves Me Blind' (1992) was released on esteemed label 4AD (imagine if Psychocandy was conceieved in suburban Melbourne and you might have some idea of what it sounds like). By the time of their third album, 'Dream it Down' (1994), they had reached a new level of sonic sophistication. In it you'll find flat-out classics such as 'Losin It' and 'Las Vegas', but you'd be hard-pressed to pick a favourite. It is probably their masterpiece and is well worth tracking down if you can find a copy.

One album by the Underground Lovers which you would struggle to find a copy of is their debut 'Get To Notice' (1991). A limited run was pressed during its release and since then no reissue has surfaced. The 'Undies (as the affectionate abbreviation for their name goes) were still finding their feet with this one. The shoestring budget production do not do the songs justice and an unfortunate Manchester "baggy" influence in tracks such as 'Sleep and 'Lick the Boot' creeps in, a style which seems at odds with the group's atmospheric, enigmatic qualities. However, the album contains a number of gems, notably 'Looking For Rain' (featuring one of their best riffs) and 'Girl Afraid', sung by the group's secret weapon Phillipa Nihill, that happens to be just as good if not better than The Smiths b-side that shares the same title. But it bears no resemblance to that song, in case you were wondering.

-AMCS