Smallgood Things Must Come To An End
News posted Tuesday, June 26 2012 at 03:00 PM.
Related: Smallgoods.
Port Fairy’s finest ever ’60s-inspired pop band has called it a day.
After 12 years and three albums, including Half A Cow debut Listen To The Radio (2003) and Down On The Farm (2007), The Smallgoods have finally reached their expiration date, succumbing to the many projects they’ve successfully spawned including Cut Copy, Architecture In Helsinki, Lost Animal and The Zebras. They played their final show supporting Mirah on her maiden Australian tour in 2010.
“Everyone's busy with other commitments,” frontman Ben Mason told M+N. “It's just too hard to get us all in the same room, let alone the same stage or studio.”
Hailing from Port Fairy in Victoria’s south-west, the band was founded by Ben Mason, Shags Chamberlain and brothers Gus and Lachlan Franklin. They initially called themselves Lukewerm, becoming a fixture on the Warrnambool pub scene in the late-1990s, before moving to Melbourne for the release of the Paul Thomas-produced Listen To The Radio.
"I hated the name,” Mason said of Lukewerm. “It came about because we shopped this demo around and someone gave us a gig and we needed a name and it just kind of came out. The Smallgoods is a '60s-ish kind of name and we're a '60s-ish kind of band. It kind of stuck, even though it means 'meat products'.”
In addition to festival performances at Meredith, Queenscliff and, of course Port Fairy, The Smallgoods played alongside the likes of The Shins, Iron And Wine, Spoon, The Folk Implosion, Jolie Holland, The Church, Ben Kweller, Built To Spill and “just about every other great indie band”.
As Dave Nichols wrote, in his review of Down On The Farm: “Thank you, Smallgoods, for what you have made.”
Related: Citizenship – Smallgoods
UPDATE: The Smallgoods will play a send-off show at The Toff In Town in Melbourne on August 11 with Mid-State Orange. Tickets here.
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Great band, still listen to those records every now and then
I'm really sad about this. God, they had some tremendous songs and records (Spending the Morning is up there with my all time faves, just a perfect song!)
I really wanna hear their cover of Movin Right Along by the Muppets - cant find it anywhere online.
Only saw em a couple of times live, but those harmonies were absolutely magic.
Surely one last show could be arranged?!?!?
Anyway, GREAT Australian band.
Such a great band.
(ben mason gave us that headline - what a legend)
Bummer. Down on the Farm is still one of the few albums that can be played in the family car without any complaint.
I'm sure there was a YouTube clip of Shags singing Moving Right Along at a Tote gig a few years ago. Can't find it now, unfortunately.
^ I would've said Off with the Fairies
The one time I got to see them was at the Birmy in like, 08? They only got 20 mins on stage.
Anyway, favourites of mine were City Full Of Sky, Noone's Listening To My Baby (!!) and Enough Said...
For those interested Ben Mason is playing a solo show at The Old Bar on Tuesday 7th August with Emily Ulman.
Wasn't it Lukewerm?
correct
will miss these guys heaps! - saw them play a killer gig at 9th Ward with Treetops!
Loved them ever since I saw them at the Royal Melbourne Show, playing with fireworks as a backdrop, when I was the wee age of 17. That means they've brought me ten years of joy.
I knew this day would come, there is so much amazing music coming out from these guys in all their different guises, but for me the Smallgoods really brought together a community of fans and friends, and the positive influences of these guys and all associated really shaped my youth and kept me sane and safe. There will never be another band like it.
they appeared on my first comp - shake yer popboomerang 1 (2003) & launched it at Rob Roy with charles jenkins, treetops & more! feels so long ago!
I know, I was there! :P
5000 people have since told me they were there (just kidding)
I can vouch for about 4 of them.
This was one of the many bands I heard first through cd-borrowing at the library on school nights.
what a great library that must have been!
Incredibly good band - 'Listen To The Radio' is one of the great Australian guitar pop albums, and one of the great debut albums by any Australian band. Not a weak song to be found, and 'Good Afternoon' one of the best songs of the decade.
I first saw them at the Long Weekend festival in 2003 and thought they were one of the highlights. The next time I saw them was a year later at the Duke of Windsor; a gig to which I brought a bunch of other interstate friends. Every one of them was blown away by the songs and the harmonies.
RIP indeed. On the bright side, Ben Mason's album shouldn't be too far away, surely?
play ''Enough Said''
yeh, hopefully Ben Mason has something else out soon - a whole album would be great!
What's Lachlan up to musically?? All the others seem to have something going on - is he still playing with anyone??
Hearing The Smallgoods on the radio (probably Good Afternoon) in the early 2000s was a revelation. I just remembered, they were one of the first bands I ever interviewed too. A great, great band. Underrated and underappreciated. What a canon of work to leave though.
Come on guys! Play farewell shows in Syd and Melb!
final show announced
Yo, deets for non-Facebook peeps?
Add it to Songkick.
story updated
Facey link didn't work for me. Just took me to my own events page.
link worked for me!
tickets here