STACK September 2016 Issue 143

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Drugdealer
The End Of Comedy
The End Of Comedy is the latest
release from multi-talented LA
musician Michael Collins. He’s
previously been known for his
records under Run DMT and
Salvia Plath, but the latest alias is
Drugdealer. If you’re looking for
an uplifting experience filled with
psych-folk balladry, damaged West
Coast glamour, subterranean East
Coast jazz and high concept pop,
Drugdealer has the goods. Collins
doesn’t work alone, enlisting friends
and collaborators Weyes Blood and
Ariel Pink among a line-up of premier
players from Mac DeMarco’s band
and musicians from Mild High
Club, Mr. Twin Sister and others.
Filled with instant classics like the
disarming lead-single Suddenly, The
End Of Comedy is the beginning of
something beautiful.
(Domino/EMI) SimonWinkler
Surfer Rosa (1988)
The impressive debut produced by Steve Albini announced
a very different-sounding band (with odd lyrics) and topped
the US indie charts. Raw, influential (Cobain loved it and
got Albini in for Nirvana's In Utero) and often bruisingly
melodic alongside the sonic aggression.
Doolittle (1989)
The 'hits' album produced by Gil Norton, which includes
Monkey Gone to Heaven and the poppy Here Comes
Your Man with indie radio favourites Debaser and Crackity
Jones. The easy-entry album for sometimes uneasy
listening, and the quiet/loud dynamic which became a
grunge hallmark.
Trompe Le Monde (1991)
After the spacerock-cum-surf sound and themes of
Bossanova the previous year, this was a return to their
raw mix of power pop, alt-rock and melodic noise. Not the
critics' favourite (too much sci-fi), but fans loved it.
Indie Cindy (2014)
A collection of the three EPs released over 2013-2014 (all
produced by Norton), and the first release without Deal.
The strong beginning of their second life.
PIXIES
And also...
Black Francis' output as Frank Black has its many highlights in a pop-meets-
noise way, notably 1994's Teenager of the Year and, for real fans, the
curiosity Frank Black Francis double from 2004 which comprises one disc of
pre-Pixies demos, and another disc on which he revisits some Pixies songs
in a stripped-back manner. Deal's band The Breeders (with Tanya Donelly of
Throwing Muses) kicked off with the powerful Pod (1990) and peaked with
Last Splash (1993).
For more interviews, reviews and overviews from Graham Reid visit
Columbus Spring Forever
Since when did sadness sound this
fun? Like battling your way through
a depressingly gloomy Melbourne
winter to find out that the sun
will shine again (Melbourne,
we’re waiting) Spring Forever is
the light at the end of a long dark
tunnel. Opening track Summer
Dress is a cup half full break-up
story. There are light and heavy
moments – musically and lyrically
– on the record; Raindrop is classic
pop-punk fun while frontman
Alex Moses reflects deeply on
what it is to love and lose, laying
himself bare in tracks Daffodil and
Hopeless. As far as debut albums
go, Columbus couldn’t have done
much better. They haven’t taken
themselves too seriously while still
creating something meaningful
and relatable.
(UNFD)Tim Lambert
Kylie Auldist
Family Tree
This is the year the world
woke up to the vocal talents
of Melbourne’s soul queen
Kylie Auldist, who follows the
international success of This Girl
with her fourth solo set, which
sparkles and shines. Written and
produced with her Bamboos
buddies Lance Ferguson and
Graeme Pogson, Family Tree
showcases a stack of ’80s
synth sounds, reminiscent of
The Pointer Sisters and Prince.
Overall, Auldist comes across as
a modern-day Renée Geyer – a
genre-busting vocal powerhouse.
She even successfully re-works
Cold Chisel’s Saturday Night.
The title of track one says it all:
Sensational.
(FamilyTree Records)
Jeff Jenkins
visit
22 SEPTEMBER 2016
MUSIC REVIEWS
Various
Back In Blue
Back In Blue, a complete re-
recording of AC/DC's Back In Black
performed by a number of
leading Australian blues artists,
was created to promote Beyond
Blue: an independent, non-profit
organisation that offers help to
people suffering issues associated
with depression, anxiety and
related mental disorders. Hells
Bells featuring singer Jane Michele
and guitarist Geoff Achison, Lachy
Doley's rocking Hammond organ
treatment of Back in Black, singer/
guitarist Genevieve Chadwick's
acoustic Have A Drink On Me,
Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution
covered by Lloyd Spiegel and
Cass Eager, and 8 Ball Aitken's
seductive Shook Me All Night Long
are among numerous standout
performances.
(Only Blues) Billy Pinnell
In 1986, the man known as Black Francis (and
later Frank Black) gave up the idea of going to
New Zealand to see Halley's Comet to form a
band.That band was the Pixies, who inspired
countless others in their first lifespan.They split
in 1993, reformed in 2004 (although founding
member/bassist Kim Deal quit in 2013) and have
a new album, Head Carrier, due out on September
30. A long, if broken, life... but what are their
essential albums?