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Advent post of the day!
I have this thing for Australian indie music, I do not know when or where it started but I really love a good Aussie guitar band. I collect it, even when I don't know it. I once read a thing that said that Australian music in general doesn't have anything to live up to, and nowhere is this more true than in the indie scene. I don't know if it's true but I will say that I love most of what I've heard. Angus & Julia Stone are current twee favourites (saw them last Sunday and bought a signed poster), but I've been listening to The Whitlams for a good few years now.
Described as a rock band, the Whitlams combine talented multi instrumented music with pretty harmonies and sometimes funny, sometimes poignant lyrics. They were formed in 1992 by Tim, Stevie and Andy, but have gone through a number of member changes, not least due to the deaths of both Stevie and Andy. They are also linked to about a hundred bands through family ties and other members, in a kind of bandom way, or a Libertines way, but I don't understand it all so I won't try to explain it.
I couldn't choose five songs so here, have a Top Six instead:
06. Chunky Chunky Air Guitar
He was getting down like a freak show
She was going off like a whale
Chunky chunky air guitar now
Chunky chunky air guitar
Off one of the later albums (Love This City), this song is very tongue in cheek and does have a lot of chunky chunky air guitar; I can't help but tap my foot to it.
05. Buy Now Pay Later (Charlie No. 2)
If you don't believe me I don't believe in you
Makes it all feel better does it?
Makes you feel like heaven does it?
You loved it and you spent accordingly
Andy had a gambling addiction and this song is about that, along with others like Blow Up The Pokies. It's amazing, you can hear the pain in Tim's voice.
04. Thank You (For Loving Me At My Worst)
If this isn't love it's very close
Can you hear the world is waking up?
Can we be crazy for a few more years?
Have I got them in me?
I think a lot of people have someone they can say this to, this is just lovely.
03. You Sound Like Louis Burdett
All my friends are fuck-ups but they're fun to have around
Banana chairs out on the concrete, telling stories to the stars
How Gemini's love Wooden Dragons, and how down the street the weeks roll by
The first by them that I really loved, it remains a favourite, especially for this lyric.
02. Band On Every Corner
There's a band on every corner
But I'm not in one
I hate three out of every four of them
But I haven't got a gun
This is one of my favourite songs forever and ever and ever. I love it because it's clever and snide and a bit desperate.
01. The Curse Stops Here
My first days back and I was rolling round the town
Saying, stay away from edges and from ropes if you can
'Cause I am the last one...
And the curse stops here
The curse stops here
Remember how I said both Andy and Stevie died? Well, Stevie is thought to have taken his own life in 1996, after battling depression. Andy had left the band in late 1995, and he took his own life in 2000, due to a crippling gambling addiction. This is Tim's defiant song in the face of that, that he is the last one but that the curse stops before it takes him too.
Those of you that know my family history will know that my grandad attempted suicide twice (and was unsuccessful but managed to give himself a stroke and then lived another ten years disabled and unable to speak), and then obviously my dad killed himself. I am determined to not go down that same path myself, I may have the same depressive tendencies but it will not happen to me. For me, the curse stops here.
BONUS:
The Whitlams - You Don't Even Know My Name
Bernie Hayes - You Don't Even Know My Name
You know I've seen every show
You've ever done
You don't even know my name
You don't even know my name
Bernie Hayes is Stevie's brother, and both the Whitlams and Bernie did this song. There are a lot of differences between them, but they're both excellent. One is more guitar, one is more piano. It might be Bernie's song really, but the Whitlams recorded a few of his songs. It's about being an uber-fan of a band, supposedly. It's lovely.
Aaaand there we go! Fuck yeah Australia!
I have this thing for Australian indie music, I do not know when or where it started but I really love a good Aussie guitar band. I collect it, even when I don't know it. I once read a thing that said that Australian music in general doesn't have anything to live up to, and nowhere is this more true than in the indie scene. I don't know if it's true but I will say that I love most of what I've heard. Angus & Julia Stone are current twee favourites (saw them last Sunday and bought a signed poster), but I've been listening to The Whitlams for a good few years now.
Described as a rock band, the Whitlams combine talented multi instrumented music with pretty harmonies and sometimes funny, sometimes poignant lyrics. They were formed in 1992 by Tim, Stevie and Andy, but have gone through a number of member changes, not least due to the deaths of both Stevie and Andy. They are also linked to about a hundred bands through family ties and other members, in a kind of bandom way, or a Libertines way, but I don't understand it all so I won't try to explain it.
I couldn't choose five songs so here, have a Top Six instead:
06. Chunky Chunky Air Guitar
He was getting down like a freak show
She was going off like a whale
Chunky chunky air guitar now
Chunky chunky air guitar
Off one of the later albums (Love This City), this song is very tongue in cheek and does have a lot of chunky chunky air guitar; I can't help but tap my foot to it.
05. Buy Now Pay Later (Charlie No. 2)
If you don't believe me I don't believe in you
Makes it all feel better does it?
Makes you feel like heaven does it?
You loved it and you spent accordingly
Andy had a gambling addiction and this song is about that, along with others like Blow Up The Pokies. It's amazing, you can hear the pain in Tim's voice.
04. Thank You (For Loving Me At My Worst)
If this isn't love it's very close
Can you hear the world is waking up?
Can we be crazy for a few more years?
Have I got them in me?
I think a lot of people have someone they can say this to, this is just lovely.
03. You Sound Like Louis Burdett
All my friends are fuck-ups but they're fun to have around
Banana chairs out on the concrete, telling stories to the stars
How Gemini's love Wooden Dragons, and how down the street the weeks roll by
The first by them that I really loved, it remains a favourite, especially for this lyric.
02. Band On Every Corner
There's a band on every corner
But I'm not in one
I hate three out of every four of them
But I haven't got a gun
This is one of my favourite songs forever and ever and ever. I love it because it's clever and snide and a bit desperate.
01. The Curse Stops Here
My first days back and I was rolling round the town
Saying, stay away from edges and from ropes if you can
'Cause I am the last one...
And the curse stops here
The curse stops here
Remember how I said both Andy and Stevie died? Well, Stevie is thought to have taken his own life in 1996, after battling depression. Andy had left the band in late 1995, and he took his own life in 2000, due to a crippling gambling addiction. This is Tim's defiant song in the face of that, that he is the last one but that the curse stops before it takes him too.
Those of you that know my family history will know that my grandad attempted suicide twice (and was unsuccessful but managed to give himself a stroke and then lived another ten years disabled and unable to speak), and then obviously my dad killed himself. I am determined to not go down that same path myself, I may have the same depressive tendencies but it will not happen to me. For me, the curse stops here.
BONUS:
The Whitlams - You Don't Even Know My Name
Bernie Hayes - You Don't Even Know My Name
You know I've seen every show
You've ever done
You don't even know my name
You don't even know my name
Bernie Hayes is Stevie's brother, and both the Whitlams and Bernie did this song. There are a lot of differences between them, but they're both excellent. One is more guitar, one is more piano. It might be Bernie's song really, but the Whitlams recorded a few of his songs. It's about being an uber-fan of a band, supposedly. It's lovely.
Aaaand there we go! Fuck yeah Australia!