AUSTRALIA(N): MARTY WILLSON-PIPER

So another non-australian, eh? Well, at least I'm consistent and, asked to bet on it, most familiar with the name will assume his nationality as australian, predominantly as his most active service has been with long-running Oz jangle-meisters, the Church. But he has had a long and varied outside his tenure with this still active band. (Indeed, I had toyed with they being the theme for this piece, but I felt some variety might be of wider interest, plus I had recently had to kick myself for missing a rare recent low-key solo gig by the man himself.)

The Church would be the place to start, by now a near Sydney, NSW, institution, since their formation in 1980. Briefly a 3-piece, Willson-Piper chanced upon them playing in a bar, he having recently arrived in the country, promptly inviting himself/being invited aboard, remaining a constant for 33 years. An unashamed guitar band, riding the crest of new-wave, but with a host of other influences bursting through, evolving constantly. I always saw them as a cross between the Byrds and Television, nothing shabby about either band, with gradual neo-psychedelic shades creeping in, echoes of Paisley Park both stylistically and sonically.

                                                   'Under the Milky Way'/The Church

There were always tensions within the band, notably between W-P and the other guitarist, main singer and songwriter, de-facto leader, Steve Kilbey, with minor flounces and prolonged hiatuses from and of  the band regularly taking place, during which other projects were avidly pursued. With getting on for 20 records released in the years he was with the band, it is difficult which best to commend, it possibly being best to start with any of several greatest hits packages. However, a different approach might be to pick up 2005s 'El Momento Descuidado', billed as an acoustic album,  mix of new and re-visited. His guitar play is  electric therein, even minus the electricity. In 2007 he left the band, relocating to Sweden, where he still resides.

During a couple of prolonged lay-offs from the Church, W-P became involved with UK folk-goths, 'All About Eve', as a replacement for their original guitarist, staying for their 3rd and 4th records, and al later re-union tour.

                                                        'Hide Child'/All About Eve

Solo work has often been in collaboration with long-term associate Andy 'Dare' Mason, as Noctorum, 4 albums appearing under that name. No transformation here into techno or C&W, the ambience is still of well-structured guitar based songs, emphasising the full use of the capabilities of a guitar, from melodic leads to high in the mix picking and strumming.

                                                  'Picadilly Circus in the Rain'/Noctorum

In between all of this, he has popped up in all manner of guises, often as a cameo role or even uncredited. This has included work with Aimee Mann, Tom Verlaine, 'Wedding Present'-er Dave Gedge and, a compulsory mention, given this fortnight's theme, aussie punk veterans, the Saints. Currently he is involved with swedish prog band, Anekdoten, still finding time to tour with his wife, the show I missed. Apparently it was a corker. Here's some footage from the actual gig, playing an old Church number, his wife, Olivia, on violin.

For further background, here is a fabulous recent interview. I also felt some readers may be interested in his crate-digging enthusiasm, he, as well as playing on all manner of records, collects the damn things to.......

Start?

UNSAINTED NICKS: STOLEN PROPERTY/TRIFFIDS

To nick is to steal in my land. That is, amongst myriad other meanings, including, bizarrely, to arrest someone and put them in THE nick, a prison cell. So St Nick could have been nicked whilst nicking and put in the nick. (You can also nick your finger on something sharp, but I couldn't find a suitable song by this lot, unless you think it's time to make some form of resolution.) This theme initially taxed me a little, I have to say, with only the odd (bad) seed germinating, however high or low(e) I hunted. (I know, it's the way I tell 'em.)

Soooo, the Triffids then. Newcomers to this page and possibly to many ears. Well, apart from the venomous and militant marching plants, they are (were) a great aussie band of the seventies into eighties, usually filed under post-punk and forming part of the then renaissance of cracking guitar bands from the southern hemisphere, all jangle plus plus plus, relentless drums, melodic bass with added organ, fiddle or steel when needed. Did I mention the jangle? Comparisons can be invidious but think other aussie shouldabeens like the Church and the Go-Betweens would be closest. The brainchild of mainstay and multi-instrumentalist David McComb, they came together in Perth during 1978. Prolific as a songwriter, he and the nascent band produced 6 cassettes of material and built up a small local following ahead of a first record deal and a single in 1981. A fairly fluid line-up in those early years saw a parade of members and a variety of instruments come and go, always based about McComb, although his elder brother, Robert, became nearly as constant upon being drawn in.

Did they ever amount to much? Maybe not, other than in the ears of music journos and authors, maybe most in those of feted UK writer David Cavanagh, stalwart of Sounds and Select, latterly the trio of Q, Mojo and Uncut (and who tragically died last week at the age of 54.) Here's his say.

Arriving in London in the early 80s, there they almost remained, stranded possibly, echoing yet another antipodean band in their peer group. The UK and northern europe, scandinavia, proved a more viable market for their brand of guitar based angst. Perhaps the best introduction would be 1986's 'Born Sandy Devotional', from which the featured song comes. Reaching a mid 20s chart position in Britain, for both the album and the featured single, it barely scraped the australian top 70. However, the with the help of the great god hindsight, nearly 25 years later had it ranked number 5 in the 2010 book, The 100 Best Australian Albums, itself a list well worth perusing. (Now revised and updated, last year, as 110 Best Australian Albums.) This recording gave them the credentials to get back into the studio, becoming, as the gated drum and synth sounds of the 80s receded, gradually more folk and country drawn. The lo-fi home recorded 'In The Pines' was followed by two further records, the band now on the inspirational Island label, 'Calenture' and 'The Black Swan'. Calenture is that sickly feeling homesick sailors get on long voyages, a maritime version of cabin fever, and gives body to the mood of the songs. The final and following album was more a mish-mash of styles and ideas, never intended, no pun intended, to be their swan song. But exhaustion and, yes, calenture together combined to enforce a hiatus that just stuck.

1990 had McComb back in London, dogged by crushed vertebrae and, arguably, concomitant escalating substance abuse, the latter contributing to heart failure and a 1996 heart transplant. Despite a prodigious programme of writing, a solo career never quite kicked off and he died, aged 36, in 1999, precipitated by a car accident shortly before. It is ironic that he only found real fame in his homeland thereafter. For more, there's even a book, a compilation of essays and tributes: Vagabond Holes-David McComb and the Triffids.

Buy it, don't nick it!

Elvis Covers Part 1 : Kissin' Cousins

The Saints : Kissin' Cousins

[Purchase]

Bob Geldorf said "Rock music in the seventies was changed by three bands - The Sex Pistols, The Ramones and The Saints".

Blasting out of Australia with loud guitars and a snarling vocalist named Chris Bailey, The Saints learned their chops by playing sped up raucous versions of tunes by Connie Francis, Del Shannon and Ike and Tina Turner.  In September of 1976, they put out a self-pressed single, "(I'm) Stranded",  before either the Pistols or The Clash. A reviewer from Sounds called the tune the "single of this and every week" and they promptly landed a three record deal with EMI.

Elvis fans from back in the day when they called themselves Kid Galahad and The Eternals, the lads decided to record one of the King's cheesiest tunes for their debut album."Kissin' Cousins",  a celebration of incest made somehow more palatable by the line "She's a distant cousin/But she's not too distant with me", gets the full punk treatment. The Saints had a long career and were inducted in the Australian versions of its Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.