“Don’t Be So Hard on Yourself” – Alex Lahey. We don’t deserve all the great music that Australia is pumping out these days. Last week Julia Jacklin’s newest album came out. Stella Donnelly’s was released today. Alex Lahey is next on the list, with hers dropping on May 17.
“In the Capital” – Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever. Man did I get excited when I heard this track. A new album from RBCF in 2019?!?! Turns out this is just part of a 7” single that will be released in April. Oh well, this will suffice, yet another great track from one of the best bands going right now. Oh, they’re from Australia!
“Cellphane Car” – The Stroppies. Might as well go all in with the Tunes from Oz this week. These kids embody much of what is typical of Aussie indie pop music. And the name is pure Australia as well. It’s a goofy little song with some tinges of the 1960s in it.
“Recurring Dream” – Crowded House. Ironically, coincidentally, whatever it is, I had a Crowded House night earlier this week where I spent a couple hours listening to songs by one of my favorite bands ever. Being the greatest Australian band ever, it seems right to throw them in here this week. This amazing track is one of the earliest songs the band ever recorded, dating back to 1985. But it did not make their debut, self-titled album and other than getting an occasional live performance wasn’t made public until the rarities compilation Afterglow was released in 1999, or “noineen, noiney-noin” as Kiwi Neil Finn would say.
“Breathe” – Prodigy.
OK, these dudes aren’t from Australia. But, for the second straight week, I need to play a video for a musician who passed away recently. Frontman Keith Flint died earlier this week, likely as a result of suicide. For awhile in the mid-90s American rock radio was a beautiful mess. Songs like this were what made that time so fun, balancing out the third-wave grunge ripoffs that were also polluting the charts. I probably said “Psychosomatic, addict, insane” a million times back in 1996-97.