STACK #129 Jul 2016

REVIEWS

MUSIC

Born Lion Final Words

Veruca Salt Ghost Notes

Sydney’s Born Lion are one of the few Australian punk rock bands blessed with vision beyond the mainstream punk rock realm. Their vocalist‘s strained, rusty screech lends the entire band an angular jaunt. Final Words and its shrieking anthems like Good Times Jimmy and Break the Curse are rigid and unrelenting like clenched fists straining through the seams of a straightjacket. These Final Words are somewhere between Future of the Left, with The Bronx’s swagger and Everytime I Die’s strut, and they are damn decisive words for a debut release. (Four/Four) Emily Kelly

It’s been two decades between albums for ’90s champs Veruca Salt, but Ghost Notes reunites them with their American Thighs producer Brad Wood and reignites the Chicago quartet’s high-powered bubblegum grunge. Co-leaders Nina Gordon and Louise Post still lodge spiky lyrics in catchy anthems, as on The Gospel According to Saint Me and The Museum of Broken Relationships , while Triage taps a quiet-loud dynamic for fuzzy catharsis. Veruca Salt are still fairly one-note when it comes to range, but they’re as emotionally potent as ever. (Warner) DougWallen

Led Zeppelin Presence Finishing off the ‘reissues with lotsa goodies’ rollout from Zep’s official catalogue (wait until they hit the live bootlegs!) includes this seldom-referenced offering from 1976. Up there with all the blistering Viking blood-screams of Immigrant Song is the opener, Achilles’ Last Stand , a crushing drum and wailing guitar 10min+ soundtrack to imaginary battles between Gods and monsters, creation and destruction, light

and shade – it’s no wonder Jimmy Page claims it as his favourite Zep song. The effortless jigger-jagger ‘co-cay-co-cay-cocaaiiine’ groove of For Your Life leads into the sharp bright pulse of Royal Orleans. Then there’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine. No Led Zep fan worth their salt cannot but help air-guitar and recite all lyrics verbatim the very second this hits the ear. At 2min 47sec, the track mesmerisingly ups the ante further by planting a harped boot on your throat, reminding you just how engulfing and fully aware of their projected energy this outfit possessed when ‘on fire’. The extras on this release aren’t exactly as ‘Oh My God!’ as the others, but the trick here is to realise that the oft-unsung sum of this album’s original parts are integral (and nicely remastered, to be sure) to the hallowed legacy of Zeppelin’s tenacity to ‘explore’. Chris Murray ( Warner)

STREAMYOUR FAVOURITE ALBUMS AT JBHI-FI NOW... NOW!

John Farnham and Olivia Newton John Highlights from Two Strong Hearts: Live It’s what they call a 'no-brainer' – put two superstars together on the same stage and you’ve got a blockbuster. The inevitable live album is a generous affair, with 21 tracks, including 15 duets. We even find Farnham playing John Travolta’s role in You’re the One that I Want and Summer Nights , (from Grease ) and taking Cliff Richard’s part in the underrated Suddenly. Other surprises include a lovely version of Peter Allen’s Tenterfield Saddler and covers of Hit the Road Jack and Fever . Showcasing the Australian Philharmonic Orchestra, Two Strong Hearts is a definite crowd-pleaser. (Sony Music) Jeff Jenkins

Richard Thompson Still

Alison Ferrier Be Here Now

Ben Salter The Stars My Destination “I’m getting older, but I’m not any wiser,” Ben Salter states on his second solo album. But one listen to the record confirms the contrary. This is whip-smart Aussie soul, imbued with drama, tension and a vocal that’s brooding and believable. Salter – also a member of The Gin Club and The Wilson Pickers – has crafted a compelling song cycle with a little help from his Gin Club cohorts, Adrian Stoyles on bass and Gus Agars on drums, and co-producer Dan Luscombe on keys and guitar. “Tonight, the stars are my destination,” he declares. Mission accomplished. Ben Salter has arrived (ABC/Universal) Jeff Jenkins

Still was recorded in just nine days with Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy producing, backed by several longtime players from both Thompson and Tweedy's bands, and singer Judith Owen. Thompson, one of the pioneers of British folk-rock with his band Fairport Convention, also happens to be one of Tweedy's favourite singer/songwriter guitarists. Thompson delivers one outstanding song after another, like the rocking Beatnik Walking (that alludes to Rupert Murdoch), the solo acoustic Josephine, and the appropriately titled Guitar Heroes, which references Django Reinhardt, Les Paul, Chuck Berry, James Burton and Hank Marvin. (Planet/MGM) Billy Pinnell

Alison Ferrier’s second solo offering shares a title with an Oasis album, but her downbeat rootsy sound is a million miles from Britpop. Exquisitely produced by Jeff Lang, Ferrier sounds wonderfully detached. When she sings, “I want to disappear”, you believe her. Less is more with Ferrier’s backing band – Justin Franz on bass and pedal steel. They never overplay, perfectly complementing Ferrier’s simple but powerful songs. “Do you feel the chill?” Ferrier asks. Yes, indeed. Be Here Now is an understated gem. (MGM) Jeff Jenkins Bernasconi on guitar, Cat Canteri on drums and Ben

105