20 September 2013 (Day 163) – What's The Best Album Ever? Australian Albums Pt. 2

It’s the end of the work week and I’ve still got the urge to play more albums that are candidates to feature on my personal top 100 albums of all time (that I’ve heard).  Here’s another 4 Australian albums that I managed to play during the day:

(#613) The Church – The Blurred Crusade (1982)

For many acts, the second album is their worst, usually a hurriedly thrown together set of songs recorded during gaps on a lengthy tour to support a still selling debut album.  Not so for The Church; although they’ve probably recorded better quality albums (notably Prest = Aura, Starfish and Forget Yourself) this is still my favourite.  The combination of Steve Kilbey’s throbbing bass and eerie vocals along with the twin, often jangling, guitars of Marty-Willson-Piper and Peter Koppes created a mystical, almost psychedelic sound not all that dissimilar to that achieved by The Byrds on their early albums.  Almost With You was the epitome of this approach, a great opener and obvious choice for a hit single.  But for fans, the highpoints were the twin lengthy guitar epics of When You Were Mine and You Took and An Interlude wasn’t that fart behind.  Don’t Look Back was a sparse but effective closer.

(#614) Models – The Pleasure Of Your Company (1983)

Unquestionably one of the quirkiest albums ever released in this country, this is an album, along with The Reels Quasimodo’s Dream, which went bravely against the grain of the pub rockers that held sway at the time.  On this album, Models found a way of taking their, often obtuse, tunes dominated by Andrew Duffield’s keyboards and found a way to get them into the mainstream.  No doubt the recruitment of James Freud and his more listener friendly vocals helped; it also ensure that Sean Kelly’s more idiosyncratic vocals could be used to better effect.  But is was the inspired music that set the agenda.  The keyboard throb of I Hear Motion made for a deserved hit; Facing The North Pole In August, No Shoulders No Head and Holy Creation are all the equal of anything coming out of post punk England at the time.  The completely enigmatic A Rainy Day  made for a memorable ending complete with an ending that was a 1980’s version of crashing end chord on The Beatles A Day In The Life.

(#615) The Triffids – Born Sandy Devotional (1986)

The Triffids made music that reminded you of their home state of Western Australia – big, wide and expansive.  As one of the few Australian rock acts that was successfully able to incorporate pedal/lap steel guitars and violins in their sound, hey were able to successfully incorporate country and folk elements in their songs, often without anyone noticing. Ultimately, they were a band at least 20 years ahead of their time and I suspect had it not been for main man’s David McComb’s tragic death in 1999 they would now be a popular fixture on US heritage/Americana stages.  Everything about them is encapsulated by Wide Open Road, a deserved hit but there is much to admire here including Chicken Killer, the evocative Lonely Stretch, the Nick Caveish Personal Things and the overt country strains of Tender Is The Night.

(# 616) Midnight Oil – Redneck Wonderland (1998)

Midnight Oil’s Diesel And Dust and 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1…. albums are routinely held up amongst the finest Australian albums ever released.  Both are fine albums, but I’m also part of the cult that adores Place Without A Postcard.  But when it comes to this album I seem to be a party of one which is a shame because this is one mighty tough sounding album.  It starts up with a trio of tracks – the title track, Concrete and the classic that never was but should have been, Cemetery In My Mind – that hit the listener with the subtlety of a sledgehammer.    The lengthy middle section effectively ebbs and flows in musical intensity although the lyrical onslaught never lets up.  The closing trio of tracks White Skin Black Heart, What Goes On and the rather grand ballad Drop In The Ocean, rank among this bands most ambitious.  Oh yes, and Peter Garrett has never sung better than on this.