1981 was an important year. I say that not simply because I was born then. Other important things happened too. Like the peaking of the brilliant Australian post-punk music scene, before it all got swallowed up in the boorish pub rock of my childhood.
Two of my favourite songs of all time (and indie club staples down under) were recorded in Australia in 1981—The Church’s “The Unguarded Moment” and “We Can Get Together” by Icehouse (at the time called Flowers).
Both songs feature the nervy energy of post-punk bands like Gang of Four and Wire, the gloomy outlook of The Cure and the atmospheric synths that were gaining acceptance in the rock fraternity. They’re also pop classics in their own right, with their sing-alongable choruses and danceable beats.
Actually, I might be stretching the bit about pop and dancing. They’re really only danceable in a certain situation—in a darkened club, in the early hours of the morning, with the most miserable black-clad people you can find. Try it—I’m sure you’ll like it.
It’s funny trying to recreate a scene that you were too young to have really experienced. I used to mock the wannabe mod kids, who dressed like they were in The Kinks and only bought vinyl, but by imagining that I’m dancing to The Church in a basement club some time in the early 80s, I’m still an indie-fantasist.
Of course, now things are different because everything old is new again. The new new wave has swept by and we can listen to the sounds of revivalist bands like The Killers and it’s fresh and new and we can wear retro clothes because they’ve become “now” once again. The disconnect has been bridged and we can live in two times at once.
The exact feeling I get from the songs above, I also get from the new I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness track, “According To Plan”—except this time it’s from a buzz-worthy band of Texans on the equally buzz-worthy Secretly Canadian label. It sounds like early Icehouse or The Church, but we’re hearing it right now, at the time it’s released.
Maybe in another twenty-five years, a snotty indie kid will be dancing to I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness and imagining that he’s living through the sweet summer of 2006.
|
By: David Pullar Published on: February 24, 2006 |