The Sound and the Fury Podcast

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The Sound and the Fury Podcast

This a show about music. About growing up in a rural part of Australia and discovering pop culture.
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It's a series of short programs about when music impacted me the most. Also the home of Audio Cumulus and The Evening Spin on MoodFoodRadio.com

21/07/2024

Kate Miller-Heidke - Telegram
I can’t explain it. However, the first time I heard Kate sing, I knew she was something special and she was going to be a big star. It’s not often I predict things correctly, but in this case…
This was the first of her self released EPs, recorded while she was a Masters of Music student at Queensland University of Technology in 2004. She generally plays piano however this record is quite guitar heavy, and her classically trained voice is uniquely beautiful throughout. This also features the sublime “Space They Cannot Touch”, which was re-recorded for her debut album “Little Eve” in 2007. It is a moody but gorgeous track, as are all the others on here, however they set the scene for a career that never followed a set path. It displays a special talent that just could not be contained to one style of music or one art form. From here, after a couple of speed bumps, her career went from strength to strength, with 3 top 5 albums and various stage shows and acting roles. This is still a great listen.
I’ve decided to dig into my collection to rediscover albums I haven’t played in years. I’m going to add a brief review explaining whether these albums have held up or not. Play along and excavate your own collections and tag me in it. Until next week…

12/07/2024

Clearing out old photos from my phone. Can you spot the dolphin frolicking in the waves here at ?

12/07/2024

Various Artists - Hard Knocks
I picked this one up recently out of the “ Free to a good home” box out the front of a record store. This is an unusual compilation of Australian music, issued by the TV special label Hammard, circa 1980.
You’d think with a title like “Hard Knocks”, and a cover drawing of a girl dressed like a street-fighting Sharpie (the rough and ready, sometimes violent 70s Aussie subculture, not the felt tipped marker pen, kiddies) that this would be full of pounding pub rockers like Rose Tattoo, AC/DC and the Angels, right? Well, the Tatts aren’t on it but the other two are indeed represented, with “High Voltage” and “Take a Long Line” respectively. As are some others you may expect like Billy Thorpe and Cold Chisel.

However, it must be asked, what are Sherbet (“Howzat”) and Renee Geyer (“Heading in the Right Direction”) doing here? Both artists have done way more harder rocking tracks than these, ones better suited to a title like this. We also get a rare track from Paul Kelly’s earlier and since disowned band The Dots (“Hard Knocks”), plus brilliant tracks from Sports, a very embryonic Mondo Rock, Stevie Wright and the Dingoes. There’s two tracks, back to back (unusual for most comp LPs) by John Paul Young for some reason.

Sequencing wise, it’s very weird to have William Shakespeare’s twee-as-all-get-out “My Little Angel” sandwiched between Matt Taylor’s blues stomper “I Remember When I Was Young” and Cold Chisel’s “Breakfast At Sweethearts”. Even weirder, the artist names are not even listed next to the song titles, either on the sleeve or on the labels. This makes it difficult to work out who was responsible for the horrible Pop schlock that opens side two (“High Class Woman” by John St Peeters, thanks Discogs).

It strikes me as a curio that’s for sure. I’m unsure who this was targeted to exactly, with such a disparate collection of Australian bands on it. It’s still a fun listen though. It’s worth getting for the rare tracks from Paul Kelly and theRichard Clapton track “When The Heat’s Off”.

I’ve decided to dig into my collection to rediscover albums I haven’t played in years. I’m going to add a brief review explaining whether these albums have held up or not. Play along and excavate your own collections and tag me in it. Until next week…
Shane Keys Shaun Jones Glenn Desmond Michael Gibbons

30/06/2024

Inspired by my good friend , who posted Diesel’s “The Lobbyist” last week, I went and did a bit of a deep dive into the catalog of Mark Lizotte, who first announced his presence under the nom de plume of Johnny Diesel. I loved that first album of his, with the Injectors as his backing band, but his 90s era solo stuff always grated on me. Listening again, aside from a song or two here and there, I still can’t stand it.

I’m not writing this as a broadside to my mate or his taste. The beauty of music is in the ears of the beholder, and the aforementioned records are amongst many that are near and dear to him. However, it fascinates me as to why certain music works for some and not for others.

Diesel is one great example of an artist who took his music wherever the muse went. He can do whatever music he feels is necessary to satisfy his creativity. Perhaps the leap from gritty blues rock in 1989 to dance-pop in 1992 was too big a musical shift for me?

Anyhow, once he was out of contract with EMI circa 1995, he was free to do anything he wanted and he teamed up with Melbourne school teacher and legendary blues singer Chris Wilson. Together they created an album of 15 obscure soul and blues classics (and one Diesel original) called Short Cool Ones. They used the cream of blues musicians from Melbourne, and even a few former members of Daddy Cool, to create an album that isn’t necessarily faithful to the original material, but rather it is faithful to the spirit of those classic tracks.

This is a brilliant listen and one of the best Australian records of the 1990s. The Diesel original here (“Other Man”) in my view is a banger. The only gripe I have is that the vinyl has 4 tracks missing due to space reasons, and it really misses the presence of the barnstorming version of “Cherokee Dance”. That said, it’s still a worthy listen.
I’ve decided to dig into my collection to rediscover albums I haven’t played in years. I’m going to add a brief review explaining whether these albums have held up or not. Play along and excavate your own collections and tag me in it. Until next week…

23/06/2024

Giants of Science - Here is the Punishment

Brisbane, capital city of Queensland, has such an awesome band scene, and has done for as long as anyone can remember. For every well-known artist from there, like Powderfinger, or Regurgitator, or even Billy Thorpe or The Bee Gees, there are a thousand other bands who were brilliant but didn’t reach the heights they should have.

Giants of Science were one of those bands. They released their second album “Here is the Punishment” in 2005 on , the in-house imprint of Skinny’s Records in Elizabeth St in the Brissy CBD - a very cool store, the few times I went there back in the day. The album has an almost low-fi indie punk sound, with loads of energy and a fuzzy, slightly muddy production. The guitar riffs are mighty and the hooks memorable. “Mouth Shut Tight” has a Britpop vibe, but most of the tunes are of the bouncy, mosh-pit-friendly variety, such as the title track and the modern update of the old Eurythmics track “Sisters (Are Doing it for themselves)” which becomes “Sisters (You’re Better Off By Yourselves)”. This is their final studio album, although there has been a live album in 2009 and one new EP 10 years ago or so. This is well worth tracking down, as is all their work - the more people who hear it, the better in my opinion.

I’ve decided to dig into my collection to rediscover albums I haven’t played in years. I’m going to add a brief review explaining whether these albums have held up or not. Play along and excavate your own collections and tag me in it. Until next week…

10/06/2024

We laid our border collie Ella to rest today, and planted this under a tree in her memory. 💔

02/05/2024

Baby Animals - Baby Animals

I first received a copy of this album on cassette for my 16th birthday from my uncle and my (then) new auntie. They always seemed to have their finger on the pulse of popular music and culture, and this gift hit the sweet spot of my music taste at the time.

Cassettes being what cassettes are, and doing what they inevitably do, the tape is long gone, worn down by repeated playing and long trips in my car in the hot Australian sun. These days I have replaced it with the shiny new vinyl repress of the album, as original vinyl copies are rare and expensive.
This album landed at a time when the band had all their ducks in a row. They had early patronage from The Angels, going on tour with them and signing with their management team, and they had an international record deal. Musically this is tight, muscular and punchy rock and roll with strong vocal hooks from vocalist Suze de Marchi, the type that was soon to be made unfashionable by the navel gazing and introversion of the grunge movement.

Because this album was a key record at a pivotal stage of my musical growth, it’s hard to say a bad thing about it. The only thing I have always found problematic is that I always felt the version of “Break My Heart” on the album was inferior to the demo version released about 18 months earlier. The bands The Angels brought along as guests on their 1990 tour had a demo track each on the b-side of “The Dogs Are Talking”, and the Baby Animals demo is awesome, and not so on the album. Minor quibbles aside, “Ain’t Gonna Get” is still a killer way to close out an album.

I’ve decided to dig into my collection to rediscover albums I haven’t played in years. I’m going to add a brief review explaining whether these albums have held up or not. Play along and excavate your own collections and tag me in it. Until next week…

21/04/2024

Jebediah - Slightly Odway

Jebediah just didn’t click with me when they were first a hot young thing in the late 1990s. They were signed to hip indie label Murmur, alongside Silverchair, and I just didn’t get their thing at all. I was more into their label mates Ammonia and Something for Kate. Mostly it was Kevin Mitchell’s voice that did it, and the annoying vocal lines on songs like “Teflon”. Occasionally a song like “Military Strongman” i could concede was an OK song. Years later, Kevin took on an alter ego as a solo artist named Bob Evans and I totally loved his work under that name, but the earlier work I steered a wide berth from.

So last week I was in a local store that specialises in pop culture memorabilia, and a hell of a lot of second hand DVDs, and a modest selection of CDs. I found a copy of Slightly Odway, for a few more bucks that I would’ve liked to have spent, however I took the plunge anyway. Surprisingly, It isn’t anywhere near as annoying as I remembered it to be, from hearing many of the tracks flogged incessantly on Triple J back in 1997-8. “Teflon” of course is still annoying, but that is one song out of 13 that can be easily skipped with the remote control. It was surprisingly catchy and tightly played. Kev’s voice is still an acquired taste, but I think I’m across that line now. They’ve just released a new record last week, their first on over a decade. I might listen to that next.

I’ve decided to dig into my collection to rediscover albums I haven’t played in years. I’m going to add a brief review explaining whether these albums have held up or not. Play along and excavate your own collections and tag me in it. Until next week…

18/04/2024

Chosen Few - Friends Foes and Firewood
There are at least three different bands called Chosen Few in the Australian Encyclopedia of Rock and Pop. This is the latest one, chronologically speaking. This one was from Sydney in the late 1980s.
I was talking to my mate Shane Keys recently about a band called Kings of the Sun. He’d never heard of them and when he heard a few of their tunes, was so impressed that he asked “why weren’t these guys more popular?” The same could be asked of Chosen Few. The fact is that while both bands were signed to Mushroom Records in the 1980s, for every Kylie Minogue, Paul Kelly or Jimmy Barnes (who were the major successes for Mushroom in the 80s), there are another 8 or 9 Chosen Fews or Kings of the Suns that never rise to the dizzying heights of fame as the rest.

Friends Foes and Firewood is a particularly enjoyable album, if not terribly distinctive. There’s nothing here that makes them instantly identifiable. They know their way around a melody however, with tunes like “Days Like These” being particularly strong. The track that gives the album its title is called “Rise” and it’s a classic. Not in this version though. A little over 18 months later, it was covered in a shinier, alt-country leaning version by Daryl Braithwaite, who also named his album after the song. The song has become legendary as a result, but not many know of its origins.

Who knows why they weren’t successful? Were they too alternative? Was the Aussie music scene of the late 80s too much of a crowded field? If you know, let me know. This is as obscure as anything now, and hard to find in any format, but worth tracking down.

I’ve decided to dig into my collection to rediscover albums I haven’t played in years. I’m going to add a brief review explaining whether these albums have held up or not. Play along and excavate your own collections and tag me in it. Until next week…

18/04/2024

A fine autumnal afternoon soundtrack. One of Australia’s hardest working bands

07/04/2024

Hoodoo Gurus - Stoneage Romeos

Sunday night and I’m exhausted, and I need to do this quickly. As far as reviewing old albums to see if they still hold up, this one is low hanging fruit. Stoneage Romeos is a brilliant record. I know it’s a brilliant record. You know it’s a brilliant record. If you don’t know it’s a brilliant record, don’t take my word for it. Go to your nearest streaming platform and listen to it.

The songs here take inspiration from an unlikely set of sources. Mid-20th century Hollywood adventure movies like Bird of Paradise, garage rock singles from the 1960s, Kamikaze pilots in WW2, mad scientists, b-grade horror movies, the legend of The Flying Dutchman, cab driving bass players, Cyclone Tracey, The Three Stooges, The Cramps and heaps more. Highlights include but not limited to “Tojo”, “Zanzibar”, “Death Ship”, “My Girl”, “I Want You Back” and more. The only thing that would make this record better would be to include the b-side of “My Girl”, the thumping rocker “Be My Guru”. CD reissues include this track but not the original vinyl LP pictured here.

I’ve decided to dig into my collection to rediscover albums I haven’t played in years. I’m going to add a brief review explaining whether these albums have held up or not. Play along and excavate your own collections and tag me in it. Until next week…

01/04/2024

Tim Rogers and The Bamboos - The Rules of Attraction
So it was a one off collaboration in 2013 that led to this album, a single called “I Got Burned”. It seemed an odd pairing - Tim Rogers, the vocalist of one of Australia’s most revered rock bands, You Am I, with one of Melbourne’s most respected soul and funk bands, The Bamboos. The track saw Tim singing in the highest falsetto voice he’s ever committed to tape, against a musical backdrop that is worlds away from his day job. The success of the single as an artistic statement led to a full album collaboration. Would this unusual collaboration work across four sides of long playing vinyl? With a band like The Bamboos in charge, the answer is a resounding YES! Over their career they have generally come up with fascinating and engaging funk jams that just work regardless of who is singing over them, and as such, this is a winner.

I’ve decided to dig into my collection to rediscover albums I haven’t played in years. I’m going to add a brief review explaining whether these albums have held up or not. Play along and excavate your own collections and tag me in it. Until next week…

24/03/2024

Split Enz - True Colours
Split Enz were one of the most successful bands from Aotearoa (aka New Zealand). Signed to Mushroom records in Australia, their first two albums went nowhere, albums 3 and 4 were middling successes. In the late 1970s, people in label owner Michael Gudinski’s inner circle were pressuring him to drop the band from the label. “They’re too weird, too arch, too arty, they’re not making any money”. Gudinski held firm, believing their best work was just around the corner. His faith and patience was rewarded with the release of their 5th album, True Colours in 1980. It was a huge sales and artistic triumph, and it gave the world the first glimpse of what an amazing songwriter the younger Finn brother, Neil, would later become. The album’s lead single “I Got You” is now regarded as a classic and was Neil’s first solo writing credit for the band. It was also the band’s first and only number 1 single in Australia (I’m sure that rattled his brother Tim’s ego). Tim Finn’s songs are also strong, covering the gamut of anguished sexual frustration (“Shark Attack”), existential crises (“Nobody Takes Me Seriously”), science fiction romance (“Poor Boy”) and utterly desolate heartbreak (“I Hope I Never”). Chuck in a couple of quirky instrumentals (“Double Happy”, “The Choral Sea”) and this is one essential album.

This is a US pressing I picked up second hand some years ago. Sadly it’s not the very cool holographic laser etched version, but still…

I’ve decided to dig into my collection to rediscover albums I haven’t played in years. I’m going to add a brief review explaining whether these albums have held up or not. Play along and excavate your own collections and tag me in it. Until next week…

17/03/2024

Jenny Morris - Shiver
Jenny Morris was originally from Aotearoa (aka New Zealand), although she relocated to Australia in the early 80s with her band QED. “Shiver” is her second solo album, issued in 1989. Her first, “Body and Soul” from 1986 was basically a down home rock and roll album backed by most of the members of INXS, and a solid record it was. “Shiver” heads into more pop territory and adds a more danceable groove to the proceedings. Throw in some world music ideas on songs like “Self Deceiver” and “Saved Me” and you have a much more varied and risk taking album than previous. This one still features some of the guys from INXS, as well as ex-Rutles drummer Ricky Fataar and some appearances by Chris Bailey from the Saints on backing vocals. Paul Kelly contributes a couple of songs on this one, including one of his greatest songs “Beggar On The Street of Love”. At just over half an hour long, it’s short and sweet, and worth another listen.

I’ve decided to dig into my collection to rediscover albums I haven’t played in years. I’m going to add a brief review explaining whether these albums have held up or not. Play along and excavate your own collections and tag me in it. Until next week…

10/03/2024

Motor Ace - Five Star Laundry

Motor Ace were an indie band from Melbourne in the late 90s/early 2000s. They didn’t last the distance, largely because of record label machinations (they were caught in the mess of Festival Mushroom records going bust, or rather, bled dry by its owner News Corp - thanks Rupert you greedy prick) and, from what I can gather, lead singer Patrick Robinson had some health issues that were getting in the way of touring.

They did manage 3 albums during their short lifespan, of which I reckon Five Star Laundry, released in 2001 is the best. Patrick’s voice is sweetly melodic and the guitars pack a solid punch while not leaning too far towards heavy metal. Hearing the singles on this like “Hey Driver”, “Death Defy” and “Criminal Past” again after so long is like visiting old friends for the first time in ages. Death Defy was the first Australian chart single to feature bagpipes since “You’re The Voice” by John Farnham.

They would become more successful with their followup album “Shoot This” but this is the album of theirs that remains special to me.

I’ve decided to dig into my collection to rediscover albums I haven’t played in years. I’m going to add a brief review explaining whether these albums have held up or not. Play along and excavate your own collections and tag me in it. Until next week…

05/03/2024

In Dave’s kitchen tonight it’s indie night. Home made quesadillas with sounds by and . Is that a cool combination or what?

03/03/2024

There aren’t many Australian bands that can say they were formed in Dubbo, NSW. The Reels were one such band. The Reels released their debut LP in Australia in late 1979, and therefore I had no idea this band existed until many years later. I have a copy of this album largely because I believe it is important to collect and maintain a knowledge of the history of Australian music. That said, I’m coming at this record with future focused, yet retrospective listening ears.

Upon first listen The Reels debut is heavily influenced by the second wave Ska bands from the UK, like Madness, Bad Manners and the Specials. This is no bad thing, mind you. While the music is pretty obviously influenced by that style of Jamaican dance music and the aforementioned exponents of that sound, this record doesn’t actually sound like any of those bands. It is bright, vibrant music with that dancey, bouncy groove typical of the style, but it sounds like it could only come from a band that filters these influences through an Australian lens.

The album is a bit long and lacks variety after a while, and it can become a bit tiresome by the end of its 14 tracks, but there are plenty of great tracks here. “Prefab Heart” and “Love Will Find a Way” are classics for a reason.

I’ve decided to dig into my collection to rediscover albums I haven’t played in years. I’m going to add a brief review explaining whether these albums have held up or not. Play along and excavate your own collections and tag me in it. Until next week…

25/02/2024

Shuda - Two
Second album by these metal heads from the Central Coast. I saw Shuda (pronounced “Shoulda”, as in “Shoulda gone to Specsavers”) open for Newcastle legends and one of my favourite bands FACEplant at their 20th anniversary reunion show at the now defunct Cambridge Hotel in May 2016. Shuda announced themselves as “ring-ins” from out of town. They were actually from Wamberal, barely an hour’s drive away. That night they said they didn’t have copies of their album ready, as there was a mastering fault with the CD pressing, but they would send a copy out to any interested parties once it was fixed. I registered my interest, and I duly received mine a few weeks later.

Live, they had a huge sound. They were so loud they apparently tore my mate Shaun’s eardrums to pieces. Singer and guitarist Peter Davies cut an interesting figure on stage. He’s a big bloke with a big voice, but he was so solid that his guitar looked like a ukulele in his hands. The producers and engineers on this album did a good job of capturing their live sound on tape, and their complex arrangements hold your attention longer than a couple of the songs deserved. Totally worth digging up. The band have been dormant now for about 6 years as far as I know, and this album isn’t on streaming, but you can hear it on their Bandcamp site, or in the links in the comments.

I’ve decided to dig into my collection to rediscover albums I haven’t played in years. I’m going to add a brief review explaining whether these album have held up or not. Play along and excavate your own collections and tag me in it. Until next week…

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