I started listening to an anthology by an Australian Band I never ever heard of! Well at least until I saw it being advertised, probably on the Citadel Records mail order website. The band, Ups And Downs, existed in the 1980's through the early 90's and hailed from Brisbane originally. Generally the word on these guys was extremely positive. This anthology, Out of the Darkness: Sleepless, Singles, and Other Stories is a very very strong 20 song career (which includes the Sleepless mini-album in its entirety) overview which came out a few years ago on Feel Presents. Feel Presents appear to primarily be concert promoters, but they have put out some extremely nice reissues of important Aussie Bands.
But not lately. Maybe the recession has bit the hand that was feeding us. Let's hope they pick up where they left off!
Let me be clear; this is not some Aussie GBV, do it yourself band, or your requisite hard rocking Aussie garage punk group well schooled in the Detroit Arts of Iggy and the MC5. I love all that stuff of course, but Ups and Downs is a different sort of animal entirely.
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| The Names of the Band is...... |
This is big rock--tuneful, soaring harmonies well played and engineered. This could have been made by some band from America's heartland and recorded in a high priced studio in LA. I can't help but make comparison to some of their contemporaries like Died Pretty, Lime Spiders, The Church, HooDoo Gurus, Triffids, Go-Betweens, DM3, The Sunnyboys, NZs Straitjacket Fits, or Post-Kuepper Ghost Ships-era Saints. This band should be regarded in the same ranks as these bands, which I am quite familiar with. This is a pretty great collection of music which would make a great addition to anyones Antipodean music collection.
But by the time I listened to the first half of the Cd, I was wondering, What the Hell happened? This music is simply too accomplished!
How could these guys not have been globe trotting millionaire rock stars. This songs on this album are radio and video ready, the kind of stuff that sells millions. Even the critics liked them. An it was not like they were ahead of their time, or making cool music that was out of vogue like the Soft Boys.
The accompanying booklet is very well-done, filled with most of the information you need to know about the band, plus many photos. Sometimes artists are a little self-effacing about the music they have created--oh that single? It was okay, we did the best we could. But one of the sections of the booklet has the heading Where Did It All Go Wrong?
Thank goodness it wasn't something tragic like a premature death. Seems like it was a few bad choices, blame the band, blame their manager. But the notes by Lead Vocalist Darren Atkinson seem a little embarrassed about their posterity. Why?
Because they knew how good they were, and how great their songs really were. So he sort of shrugs having to explain why they may have missed the gold ring. You know, like in Westway to the World when Joe Strummer talks about the Clash splitting up. Because believe me, the music is peerless here. The notes say they charted a bit on US College radio, and they must have had some success in Australia, once they left Brisbane and moved to Sydney. Which is something most Brisbane bands did quickly. If you have read Andrew Stafford's book Pig City, you get an idea of what Brisbane was like in the day--not a place for non-conformists. I have a pretty good idea what the Saints were singing about in Brisbane (Security City). Wish Ups and Downs had made a trip to the States.
A week ago this band was a mystery to me, but it was definitely good to make up for lost time. My only regret is that this wasn't a 2-disc set. Believe me, this is music that would appeal to a broad range of rock music fans, and not just 80's music fetishists.
A very nice surprise, which made a nice weekend for me even better.
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