Tuesday, May 23, 2006

 

The Triffids

I must admit that I don't read the NME anymore, haven't done so for years although I do visit their web site, in fact the last time I bought a copy was only because of their Joe Strummer death story cover/tribute which is now framed and has it's own place in my hallway. The reason behind me mentioning the NME is that there was a time when it was very much a crucial read, many a young lad has had his musical tastes formed in part by flicking through their inky pages and lapping up the words of the current journalist in vogue as if they were the sacred scribes. The publication has a long history of producing compilations be it as today on CD or as it was back in my youth on cassette, it was indeed on one of these that I first discovered the full majestic force of the Triffids, in many ways the only real competition that Nick Cave had back home. Now don't get me wrong there are many great Australian bands that we will explore together at a later date, but the Triffids were something else, their music was a gothic ride through the Australian bush. Their greatest album 'Born Sandy Devotional' is maybe one of the best records ever made for hitting the road with, as it conjures up images of desolate open landscapes, in much the same way that Ry Cooder succeeded so well in his soundtrack for 'Paris Texas'. Now I am just a little bit peeved here as I was planning a full on post for the band to celebrate the up and coming re-release of the said album in an expanded 2CD version by Domino on 12 June. Then what did I discover, I had been beaten to it, now normally this would not stop me doing my own, but in this case the post, being on the Australian blog Something Old Something New which originates from Perth home town to the band, was of such a high quality that here's the link. Do get over there and read it for yourselves, there are also plenty of mp3's to help illustrate. One song that is not posted there is the albums closer 'Tender Is The Night (The Long Fidelity)', a very pleasing on the ear duet between the band leader David McComb's baritone and their keyboard player Jill Birt's childlike voice.
For those of you wishing to investigate further there is a Triffids web site that as well as the story and the message board offer a whole load of mp3's from the band including an acoustic version of what for me rests their greatest song 'Wide Open Road' the very number that got me interested in the band all those years ago. Anyway start saving now as Domino will be releasing all of their albums over the forthcoming 18 months and who knows it might just turn out to be year of the Triffids this time around.

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