Lost

Died Pretty’s second album caught the band not just straddling the underground and mainstream but at a point of internal flux. AARON CURRAN explores a deluxe reissue of 1988’s alternately focused and spacious ‘Lost’.

[Historical image is withheld pending rights review.] A deluxe repackage of Died Pretty’s second album, Lost, joins the long-awaited reissue of Vic Simm’s The Loner as the first two releases from new Australian archival label, Sandman Records. The quality is of the standard you’d expect from Ted Lethborg (Aztec Music), and both records are local classics that deserve more exposure. Digitally remastered from original tapes, Lost has never sounded better and now features eight bonus tracks including the timeless ‘Everybody Moves’ 7”, along with B-sides, covers, demos and redoubtable liner notes by Ian McFarlane.

Inspired not only by cult favourites like The Velvet Underground, Suicide and Television but less chic sources like country crooners and ’70s prog, Died Pretty fashioned a surging amalgam of brooding, psych-tinged alt-rock that transcended the sum of its influences, gaining them international notoriety.

“The most reliable aspect of Died Pretty’s live shows was their inconsistency.”

But sometimes the choices Died Pretty made were enigmatic, like leaving some of their best songs off their albums (‘World Without’, ‘Stoneage Cinderella’, ‘Yesterday’s Letters’) or titling EPs and LPs after songs that wouldn’t appear until a later record. They toured overseas for long periods, leaving their pre-wired fanbase back home unsure as to whether the band still even existed. When they did tour locally, the most reliable aspect of Died Pretty’s live shows was their inconsistency, depending on the mood and temperance of certain band members.

Ironically, Lost showed Died Pretty’s career aspirations to be moving in a more determined direction. It was their first record to be distributed by a major label, Festival, albeit on a new indie imprint (Blue Mosque), in a contract negotiated by manager John Needham as a necessary stepping stone to greater ambitions – despite losing the band from the label he himself owned, Citadel. It also marked the cusp of a lineup change, when those with less purposeful priorities had to leave the band.

Lost consolidated Died Pretty’s strengths and capabilities. It was their third major release in a row produced by Rob Younger, engineered by Alan Thorne and recorded and mixed at Sydney’s Trafalgar Studios, and that renewed familiarity led to recordings filled with confidence and fervour.

“These songs come in tight focused bursts but the more spacious and atmospheric side is also given free rein.”

The opening two tracks, written by guitarist Brett Myers, ignite and move fast and hard. The title song’s organ intro is pushed along by a resolute rhythm section, with singer Ron Peno confiding in “something I don’t talk about too much” over assured soloing. ‘Out of My Hands’, with Myers on lead vocals, is similarly insistent, with a bouncing melody that was pop enough to ensure its release on single but a scathing guitar line that proved too much an obstacle for ’80s commercial radio. It sounds wonderful still, as does ‘Winterland’, which begins unforgettably with Peno’s noisy spit (“pptturrggghhh!!”) before winding itself with furious urgency to a point of bright white collapse.

These songs come in tight focused bursts but the more spacious and atmospheric side of Died Pretty is also given free rein. Acoustic ballad ‘As Must Have’ has one of Peno’s most affecting vocals and the iridescent ‘Springenfall’ remains a fan favourite, while the epic ‘Caesar’s Cold’ (“I’m drowning in seas so cold” puns the chorus) edges towards Laughing Clowns territory courtesy of the unbridled saxophone of guest Tim Fagan. Mark Lock’s bass leads the reflective ‘One Day’; it’s a poignant highlight, as is the stately build of ‘Towers of Strength’, with haunting keyboards from Frank Brunetti. Both Lock and Brunetti would soon depart and for some the band was never quite the same.

Astrid Munday was asked to sing backing vocals on closing stunner ‘Free Dirt’ after Brett Myers heard her harmonies across Paul Kelly’s ‘Before Too Long’. Munday’s crystalline contribution was inspired, matched only by an opportune visit to Trafalgar from Don Walker, with Myers spontaneously inviting the ex-Cold Chisel songwriter to add some of his dependably evocative piano playing to the arrangement. It’s one of the best songs in the discographies of all concerned.

Lost was Died Pretty’s point of commitment to taking on the mainstream local music industry at its own game, even if that practically required more time and money to be invested overseas (next LP Every Brilliant Eye was recorded in L.A.). Not only did Lost debut at number one on the Australian independent charts, it sold more records on that chart in 1988 than anything except The Church’s Starfish. If they’d managed to cut a take of ‘Everybody Moves’ for the LP that they were happy with, those positions may well have been reversed (an earlier version also included on this CD proves they were right to wait).

Most cite Free Dirt (1986) or Doughboy Hollow (1991) as Died Pretty’s finest album, but this new expanded version of Lost will make appreciative listeners think again.

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The ‘Lost’ reissue is out now through Sandman. Read Aaron Curran’s interview with Brett Myers.