As the 1980s turned into the “90s, a slew of bands, emboldened by the explosion of dance music known as the Summer of Love, necked Doves and started making indie dance. Primal Scream’ sublime and debauched Screamadelica was a prime example; the Happy Mondays’ Pills “n’ Thrills and Bellyaches too. Rooted in a don’ give a fuck, let’s party our way out of a bad place state of mind, it was the soundtrack for a British generation emerging from Thatcher’ reign.
Despite the bleak providence, their feelgood optimism sat oddly with many. But the zeitgeist was undeniable and bands like Wolfgang Press and the New Fast Automatic Daffodils plotted a subtly different path, juxtaposing Clyde Stublefield’ zeitgeist-defining funky drummer beats against the dark intensity of punk. You could say they were perennially underrated, except they weren’ always that great: often too earnest, too “serious musician,’ a little too neat, and missing the explosive x-factor. And yet, they made music of a subtlety and meaning that grew on you, if it got the chance.
Why the history lesson? Here, the debut record from Sydney producer Graeme Rhodes (Fall For Days), brings to mind nothing more than those two bands, with a touch of Dave Graney. The rich sound bares witness to an experienced producer. His nuanced lyrics and breathily rich baritone sit atop the densely textured beats like the perfect tie on an “80s teen star’ end of year tux.
Its idiosyncratic palette draws on industrial beats, trip-hop, groovy percussion and textural production for a sound that Rhodes describes as “chillout electronica.’ That generic description doesn’ say much about Here‘ sound, but the 44-year-old veteran actor (Mr Lang in Home & Away) delivers his lines, and sonic elements picture-perfectly. It can be a little too symmetric at times, not to mention stuck in the early “90s, but these songs are still good. Possibly great, if Rhodes loosened up a bit.
Matthew Levinson
