Reissues Round-Up 2010

DOUG WALLEN looks back on the local reissues that slipped under the radar in 2010.

Speed Demons
Play Hard, Go Fast
Rub & Tug/Aztec

Reflecting the hard-rock/metal direction Depression took towards the end, that band’s guitarist Smeer indulged his love for Motörhead and Rose Tattoo in the trio Speed Demons. This smash-and-grab album was recorded live in 2004 at Melbourne’s Duke of Windsor Hotel and comes reissued with eight demos from 1998. True to the title, these songs are brash and accelerated, not to mention lewdly over-the-top. A tattoo artist and now member of Chaingun, Smeer long ago made a case for himself as an underground icon. Alone or as a companion to the recent Depression reissue, Why Do People Hate Us?: Live at the Seaview Ballroom 1984, this set seals the deal.

Chain
Live Chain
Aztec

The year before Chain released its classic 1971 album Towards the Blues – which ranked #67 on a certain list of Aussie albums – the improv-fixated blues band took a unique approach to its debut. The dense sprawl was cut live (thus the title) on two-track at Caesar’s Palace in Sydney, with the players digging deeply into five songs as long as 12 minutes each. Prog and psych work their way in, while the cheeky postcard ‘Gertrude Street Blues’ immortalises venereal disease. Also collected are the Band-influenced first single ‘Show Me Home’ and a live leftover.

Blackfeather
Boppin’ the Blues Aztec

Like Chain, Blackfeather also released an album recorded live. Two, actually. Aimed to capitalise on the #1 single of the same name (originally performed by Carl Perkins), 1972’s rushed-out Boppin’ the Blues saw the Sydney longhairs moving on from that hit rendition as well as the mind-expanding prog of its debut album At the Mountain of Madness. Both versions of the song are included on this reissue – remastered by one-time Aztecs drummer Gil Matthews – plus a take on Little Richard’s ‘Slippin’ And Slidin’’. Framed in this quick snapshot, Blackfeather’s sound was as nebulous as its line-up.

Chad’s Tree
Crossing off the Miles
Memorandum/Fuse

Much admired by The Triffids, Chad’s Tree spent most of the ’80s writing dark reflections of both bands’ native Perth, even after relocating to Sydney. Its two albums – the almost suffocating Buckle in the Rail and more relaxed Kerosene – are paired here alongside demos, singles, and three live cuts. The wealth of moody twang, jangle, and violin kicks off with the quintessential ‘Sweet Jesus Blue Eyes’. Liner notes come from seven sources, telling a story that doesn’t end with Chad’s Tree: founding brothers Mark and Rob Snarski wound up in the Jackson Code and The Blackeyed Susans, respectively.

Mark Gillespie
Only Human
Aztec

Now devoted to working with the underprivileged in Bangladesh, Mark Gillespie was responsible for four crucial albums in the Aussie canon. The first, his 1980 debut, has garnered a stellar double-disk repackaging. The idiosyncratic outing is bolstered by a pair of singles, the complete ‘Black Tape’ demos, and the first two songs Gillespie released: the imagery-addled ‘I’m A Kite (Won’t You Be My Hurricane?)’ and the Neil Young-ish ‘The Joke’s On You’. Reprinted lyrics – sample: “Holdin’ you’s like holdin’ mercury” – and a bizarre email interview with the man also turn up. Bring on the other albums.

Hellmenn
Thermo Nuclear Sonic Burnout
Junkyard/Missing Link

Melbourne’s hallowed record shop/label Missing Link debuted its reissue imprint Junkyard with this kick-ass retrospective of turbulent Sydney psych-punks Hellmenn. These 22 tracks span from 1987 through 1993: not all of the band’s work, but what’s been deemed the best bits. There’s also snarky Jimi Hendrix and Bob Seger covers as well as vintage poster and sleeve art by singer Ben Brown, whose disturbing muses include the decayed corpse of David Bowie. Confirming the all-around time-capsule value is the damning Sydney anthem ‘Manly’, complete with a riff on Minor Threat.

Autumn
Comes … Autumn
Aztec

The second and final album from Sydney’s revolving-cast wonders, 1971’s Comes … Autumn sees Autumn trying to be all things to all people. Tracks jump from woodsy psych and folk to damaged blues and goblin-themed prog rock, while the ambitious epic ‘Kill My World’ closes out the original record. Bonus tracks round up two demos, both sides of a single, and a cranked live cover of the Beatles’ ‘Day Tripper’. If all that sounds iffy, start with ‘Sad Song’, a deep cut that cuts deep. Not bad for a band that made its name doing bubblegum covers.

Broderick Smith’s Big Combo
Broderick Smith’s Big Combo
Aztec

Having already played in The Dingoes and Carson and acted in the Aussie version of Tommy, huge-voiced Broderick Smith put together members of Atlas, Kevin Borich Express, Buster Brown, Russell Morris Band, and Mark Gillespie Band for his own blockbuster ensemble. This 1981 debut – and only album, as fate would have it – spawned the top 40 hits ‘Faded Roses’ and ‘My Father's Hands’. Around the same time the band covered Van Morrison’s ‘The Mystic’ and Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Badlands’ live, although those don’t feature here. Instead, there’s a bonus B-side along with Aztec’s usual wealth of history and interviews.

Catfish
Unlimited Address/Ruby
Palomarr/MGM

Informed by newly diverse influences, Don Walker’s post-Cold Chisel work is classic in its own right. Flanked by guitarist/producer Peter Walker and harmonica man Dave Blight, Catfish debuted with 1989’s Unlimited Address before recruiting two members of James Brown’s band for Ruby. The former is stronger, but each album has much to offer, despite a lack of bonus tracks or liner notes. Ruby’s ‘Charleville’ was famously covered by Slim Dusty, while Unlimited Address is as darkly funky and suavely seedy as a Bryan Ferry record. That said, you won’t hear anyone shouting “Catfish!” at gigs any time soon.

John Sangster
Paradise, Volume One
Vibraphonic/Aztec

If you think Australia’s tourism campaigns are cheesy today, behold this soundtrack for a 1973 promo-doco spruiking Surfer’s Paradise. As envisioned by jazz composer John Sangster, the 13 tracks set orchestral bombast and Technicolor lounge against field recordings of the site’s native fauna and other incidental sounds. It’s ridiculous but also kind of amazing, devoting time to an automobile museum, gemstones and wildflowers, and those bronzed meter maids of yore. Maximum cheese, but expertly played and delivered with unwavering sincerity. For better or worse, there was never a Volume Two.

Various Artists
Re Cognition: The Clan Analogue Legacy Collection
Clan Analogue

A world away from the rock-heavy treasures above, Clan Analogue’s retrospective is no less valuable. The electronic-specialising label has narrowed its vast output into an 80-minute highlights disk, a 14-track remix disk, and most intriguing, a DVD with film clips, live footage, and a label documentary. And finally, there’s a downloadable rarities album included in the deal. The sheer execution sets the bar incredibly high, but the music follows suit, ranging from B(if)tek all the way to Pretty Boy Crossover. Meanwhile, it traces the label from the birth of a subculture to the tapping of a zeitgeist.