biomechanic
12-10-2006, 12:30 PM
There's something about The Drones - they're able to capture such a uniquely Australian sound. The music is chaotic, dry, and harsh - just like the landscape. The lyrics desperate, complex, honest and unique - just like the people.
Reminiscent of The Birthday Party, this album is not background music, it should be accompanied by whiskey, cigarettes, and an active imagination. The opening track "Jezebel" at first seems like an apocalyptic vision of the future, until you realise it's very much life as we know it. "I don't ever want to change" is the only real "rocky" track on the album - it's ironically upbeat given the lyrical content.
On "Gala Mill" there are 2 tracks that deal with our colonial history - "Words from the executioner to Alexander Pearce" and "Sixteen Straws", the latter being the standout - based on the Australian folk song "Moreton Bay", Gareth Liddiard pens an extra 20 odd verses giving it his own morbid twist. It tells the tale of a group of convicts who drew straws to decide which of them became the victim, and which the killer.
At a time where hacks like Rogue Traders, The Veronicas and Wolfmother look set to clean up at the Arias, this is one album that punches above its weight, and restores credibility and respect to Australian music. It won't sell as many units as the aforementioned, but it will be remembered as one of the most important and influential releases of the early part of this century.
Reminiscent of The Birthday Party, this album is not background music, it should be accompanied by whiskey, cigarettes, and an active imagination. The opening track "Jezebel" at first seems like an apocalyptic vision of the future, until you realise it's very much life as we know it. "I don't ever want to change" is the only real "rocky" track on the album - it's ironically upbeat given the lyrical content.
On "Gala Mill" there are 2 tracks that deal with our colonial history - "Words from the executioner to Alexander Pearce" and "Sixteen Straws", the latter being the standout - based on the Australian folk song "Moreton Bay", Gareth Liddiard pens an extra 20 odd verses giving it his own morbid twist. It tells the tale of a group of convicts who drew straws to decide which of them became the victim, and which the killer.
At a time where hacks like Rogue Traders, The Veronicas and Wolfmother look set to clean up at the Arias, this is one album that punches above its weight, and restores credibility and respect to Australian music. It won't sell as many units as the aforementioned, but it will be remembered as one of the most important and influential releases of the early part of this century.