Stop! Plus Singles: 1978-1986

The bittersweet story of Melbourne’s Little Murders underlies a new reissue of their 1986 album 'Stop!', writes TREVOR BLOCK.

[Historical image is withheld pending rights review.] There’s a kind of sad story wrapped up in this collection. Led by frontman Rob Griffiths, Melbourne’s Little Murders were a band who essentially created a scene around themselves and rode that wave onto a fair degree of wider popularity even as they fell from favour with the scene they had been such a big part of. Ultimately, however, they never really made the jump to the next level.

The band had their genesis back in the earliest days of new wave as Fiction, whose pioneering presence is attested to by their inclusion, alongside such venerable names as News and the Boys Next Door, on the old posters and handbills included in the artwork of this CD’s accompanying booklet. They cut their teeth in places like the Tiger Lounge, The Exford and The Market Hotel, in small pub back rooms that hosted three bands a night, two or three nights a week.

Following the name change to Little Murders (and already well into the cycle of personnel changes that dogged them throughout their career) in 1979, they were part of Au Go Go Record’s early dabblings in power-pop (see also the Zorros’ ‘Too Young’ and Marching Girls' ‘True Love', both on the same label). A gushing letter from Bomp Records founder Greg Shaw to Au Go Go boss Bruce Milne provides some compelling evidence of the impact their first single, ‘Things Will Be Different’, had when it was issued.

But unlike punk, the mod subculture that Little Murders were such a big part of is essentially self-restrictive at its core, as anyone who has endured arguments about whether the Jam are more “authentic” or “acceptable” than Doctor Feelgood can attest.

“They cut their teeth in places like the Tiger Lounge, The Exford and The Market Hotel, in small pub back rooms that hosted three bands a night, two or three nights a week.”

This inward-facing tendency is where mod sowed the seeds of its own lingering death: it was a closed shop that seemed to actively discourage new entrants or new ideas. But having said that, it wasn’t all about lapel widths and polishing scooter mirrors. Check out the sweaty, boozed-up faces crowding the big upstairs room at the Crystal Ballroom in the centre-spread photo here. No one was too cool to enjoy this stuff when it was played live.

What you get on this collection is their LP Stop!, which was recorded in 1984 but not released until 1986, along with a bunch of their singles. The 11 tracks that comprise the album hang together well, but the extras, recorded at various times by various line-ups, are a bit patchy. Adrian Ryan’s original album liner notes from 1986 are also included and have a degree of contemporary insight that can often be missed from reissues.

Of the album tracks, ‘She Lets Me Know’ and ‘Take Me I’m Yours’ are probably the real stand outs. The first is hugely lush guitar pop, the second is much grittier, a simple rock tune with a snarl to the vocals and a classic solo. Taken together, they summarise Little Murders pretty well: songs about relationships, with a wide variety of viewpoints and musical settings. (1983 single ‘100 Drugs’ is the exception to that rule.)

The set closes with a high note with a real bonus, the original 7” version of ‘Things Will Be Different’, which sold 1000 copies when it was originally released in 1979; an amazing feat at the time. It’s still as taut and punchy a tune as anything ever produced in this country. Played with an audible swagger, you can hear Griffiths’ self-belief in every ringing, slashing note.

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Stop! Plus Singles: 1978-1986 is out now through Off The Hip Records.