It's Dusty In Here
An Early Summer Music Moment
The Australian band The Go-Betweens always reminded me of summer. I recently found this review of their comeback album, released 12 years after their most commercially successful album, 16 Lovers Lane, sent to me by their former bassist and indie publicist, Robert Vickers. It was clear to me that this band deserved a second chance.
THE GO-BETWEENS: The Friends of Rachel Worth (Jetset 2000)
For Australians Grant McLennan and Robert Forster, the two singer/songwriters who once fronted one of the most lyrical and potent indie bands from the '80s, the temptation to work together again was too intoxicating. And while it’s been over a decade since they last recorded under the moniker The Go-Betweens, and while each found critical acclaim with a handful of solo discs during the '90s, they decided the time was ripe to toss around some new musical ideas.
Having found limited success in the States and a wee bit more in the United Kingdom, they reached their creative zenith as a quartet in the mid-’80s with their fourth disc, Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express. And it’s the sound of the band from this time period that this newly released seventh studio album most resembles. From the opening track “Magic in Here” (remember the brilliant “Dusty In Here” from the 1983 release Before Hollywood?) with its sparse, acoustic-guitar-driven arrangement to the gentle, bouncy electric-guitar sway of “Surfing Magazines,” it’s as if they never disbanded. Simple and sparse instrumentation with easy-to-digest yet direct lyrics throughout.
Time knocks you down like a rolling ball
In memory hall
Love leaves you clean like a waterfall
Then you hit a wall, hit a wall
Recorded in Portland, Oregon, with assistance from drummer Janet Weiss and guitarist Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney and Sam Coomes on keyboards, nothing is as striking as their infectious pop opus “Streets of Your Town” from their Capitol Records release 16 Lovers Lane (1988). Regardless, I do love much of the music on this effort. “Spirit” has a lithe bounce and a wonderful acoustic guitar hook that refuses to let you go. And the more electric-guitar-forward driving “The Clock” deserves repeated spins. It’s a mature effort, top to bottom.
Thankfully, nothing is as sugar-coated as most of your standard radio-friendly, folk-rock, glossed-and-gleamed pop that gets peddled on the airwaves today. This is the sound of indie music for adults who still dare to buy indie records. And the perfect album for lazy summer days.
Thanks Dusty!