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Casey Neill sings for wastrels, roustabouts, wharf rats & Bowery bums ….hell, even for CEOs of multinational corporations! There are boot stompin’ rockers, whiskey soaked ballads, songs mined from the sediment of Whitman, Woody, Shane & Springsteen but songs owing nothing to anyone, purchased with sweat & passion, played on Fender, pennywhistle, glockenspiel, squeezebox, Strummer campfire guitar, whatever’s at hand, with a swagger & a shrug, a yowl and a dog’s breakfast. When the band slams into “Riffraff” and “We Are The City” the room erupts the jubilant, dancing punters of every stripe.    “We’ll dance as long as you play” yells one fan, hoping for all-night.  Fans will be thrilled to know that studio time is booked & new songs toured this Spring will coalesce into the first all-Norway Rats album, upping the ante on last year’s excellent “Brooklyn Bridge”.   Meanwhile,  take a listen to hear why they are nicknamed “The Thundering Herd”.    

Casey Neill & The Norway Rats Lola’s Rom @ the Crystal Ballroom,

Portland, OR May 14^th, 2008  

Riffraff Guttered The Holy Land Beautiful Night We Are The City Stonewall ….and a special parting message from the band  

http://www.myspace.com/caseyneill http://www.caseyneill.org/  

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Weary of high expectations, the Sydney Festival 4 night event was billed as a “rehearsal”, but there was heaps of fan anticipation when the original members of The Triffids, and a host of friends, took the stage to celebrate the words, songs & life of David McComb, principal songwriter & frontman of the band (who died in Feb ’99).  It was, after all, the band’s first Australian performance in 18 years, And what a wealth of songs David wrote for The Triffids, The Blackeyed Susans, The Red Ponies, Costar and for others to sing. Hell, he & Alsy & an ever shifting line-up of friends self released 9 cassettes of material and a handful of singles before the first Triffids album proper, “Treeless Plain”, even came out in ’83. Songs just seemed to pour out of the man.   The UK’s NME declared 1985 the year of The Triffids, but it may be that 2008 is much more deserving of that accolade: In January, Tornado Alley Productions commenced filming a documentary on McComb.  Sometime this year is expected the release of a biography on him & The Triffids by NME’s Bleddyn Butcher.  And the exquisitely produced deluxe re-issues of the Triffids’ albums & singles have been released by Domino Records worldwide (and by Liberation Records in the Antipodes).  And then there was this grand 3 hour event back at the Sydney Festival, with the band joined by members of The Blackeyed Susans & others (a stand out being Steve Kilbey of The Church whose vocal performance on a handful of songs was breathtaking).    If you weren’t lucky enough to be in the audience,  I believe footage from the 4 nights will be included in the documentary.  In the meantime, you can listen here to 6 songs from the first night, each of which were originally on arguably the band’s greatest release, Born Sandy Devotional.  While it was recorded while the Triffids were residing in London, the album is so very evocative of Australia for many fans.  At the time of its release, it was my soundtrack (along with the ‘tweens Liberty Belle) on my monthly “country-run” from Wagga Wagga, Albury, Bendigo, Ballarat & back to Melbourne, and the songs to this day evoke that horizon and the terrain in-between.  

The Triffids & Friends: Metro Theatre, Sydney “A Secret In The Shape Of A Song” Jan 17, 2008  

The Seabirds (vocals by Rob Snarski)

Tarrilup Bridge (vocals by Jill Birt)

Wide Open Road (vocals by Steve Kilbey)

Life Of Crime (vocals by Mark Snarski)

Personal Things (vocals by Toby Martin)

Stolen Property (vocals by Steve Kilbey)  

photo courtesey of Jamie Williams  www.flickr.com/photos/jamiewilliamsphotography/collections

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Hard to believe that this landmark album started out as a planned EP release only, ‘cause the whole of it is seamless and necessary…even harder to believe that it was recently recreated live as part of the “Don’t Look Back” series (Aussie style).  “Honey Steels Gold”, released in ’91 was where Kuepper veered from the style of his previous bands The Saints & The Laughing Clowns, and rose up with something new, altogether masterful.  As a result, it was the first Australian indie album to break on thru the top 40 and then stayed there for a year.     And even harder still to believe that this performance was itself the opening slot before Died Pretty came out to recreate Doughboy Hollow…the lucky punters must have died & gone straight ta heaven.   A bloody miracle, I tell ya.   Click on the podcast, ‘cause hearing is believing.  If you enjoy this excerpt,  you can thank GT by buying him a slab or 2 of KB Gold.

Ed Kuepper: Enmore Theatre, Sydney 8 FEB ‘08

Everything I Got Belongs To You Honey Steels Gold The Way I Made You Feel Not Too Soon  

The photo used with permission by Justin Edwards http://www.notaphoto.com/dont-look-back-died-pretty-ed-kuepper      

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Here at the Enmore, the band walks out on stage for the first time in years, and Ron Peno softly announces: “Welcome To Doughboy Hollow”, thus beginning a full live recreation of that landmark indie album that broke thru the Oz charts back in ‘91, …one of the best albums released ever anywhere, but sadly the rest of the world wasn’t listening. Recently released in a re-mastered, deluxe edition, grab it now if you missed it then, ‘cause it’s a beauty from start to finish.  The album where the songs gelled and production & performance fell into place and then rose to a height never reached again.   …except here at the Enmore on the first night of the Aussie version of the ATP “Don’t Look Back” series,  where the whole album was recreated for the lucky punters in attendance (and now you get to hear some of it thanks to GT & his magic mics). That the audience had already witnessed Ed Kuepper & band playing thru that other landmark album, Honey Steels Gold, earlier the same evening (see separate podcast): it boggles the mind that such a dream gig actually occurred.  Both albums infiltrated the Australian top 40 and stayed there for months, & both were nominated for ARIA awards (Doughboy for best indie album and Honey Steels for best alternative album). Kuepper’s already in via the Saints but isn’t it time for Died Pretty to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame now that ARIA has a new chairman? (HA ! good onya Ed St John…he’s my ex-brother-in-law but I have no sway). I reckon Peno & the boys deserve it if Icehouse did…shhheeez.   The crowd knew that this historic occasion was a one-off, and the passionate, definitive performance showed why Died Pretty was a band that mattered….mightily. Once again.  

Died Pretty: Enmore Theatre, Sydney FEB 8^th, 2008

DC / Sweetheart / Godbless / Satisfied    

Read a gig review at: http://www.i94bar.com/gigreviews/diedpretty2008.html

and here’s a great overview on Died Pretty in the ‘90’s: www.nkvdrecords.com/diedpr01.PDF  

the great Ron Peno photo used with permission of Jamie Williams  www.flickr.com/photos/jamiewilliamsphotography/collections

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