Re: Lesser Known 80s Australian New Wave Bands
Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2021 9:49 am
I particularly like a band called Dear Enemy. Ransom Note is an excellent album. Still have it on cassette.
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https://www.nwoutpost.com/app/webroot/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=43731
Seona85 wrote:Extremely obscure Beargarden trivia. I've been trying to figure this one out for a while.
Their 'instrumental' track 'A Dog Barks in a Blizzard of Ticker Tape', which was a B-side to the 12" 'I Write the News' is included on their compilation of unreleased material 'The Word That Refers to the Word That Refers to Walt Disney', which you can find at their Bandcamp here: https://beargarden.bandcamp.com/album/t ... alt-disney
This is an instrumental, and only features the lead singer saying the following line, twice I think, "A dog barks in a blizzard of ticker tape"
However, the Bandcamp has a lyrics dropdown which reads like this:
"brandishing bells,
and rattling hand-drums,
dancers precede the king's Rolls-Royce -
for a program of sacred dramas,
and sports events.
cheerleaders, Brenda McCampbell and Chip Cornelius,
wring mounting decibels
from the frenzied crowd -
as monk-dancers don frightsome demon-masks,
scattering spectators like chaff,
in a game
said to date from the days of Genghis Khan.
the sounds of laughter
ring through trumpets of thigh-bones,
and rosaries of 108 disc-like beads,
each cut from a separate human skull.
most spectacular of all
is the somersaulting of young men
over axe-men balanced on logs.
'all the lakes are brimming!'
sings one peon.
far from seeing such things as gruesome,
they are looked upon as reminders,
of the brevity of life,
and the importance of pomp and pageantry."
I was perplexed by this, because these words are nowhere in the instrumental, so I went digging, and they in fact appear on the vinyl of 'I Write the News'. I don't know if perhaps the version on Bandcamp is an edited copy, and the vinyl version does indeed have these words in it, but would love to know. They surely come from somewhere as it almost sounds like a Mondo Cane style documentary commentary to me.
Uvox wrote:check out this too:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=43490
Seona85 wrote:Cool track! Had never heard it before, and that is quite a crisp copy too, so could easily be polished. I am very curious about this demo tape on the discogs site
A4 Beargarden– The Enthiusiast
A5 Beargarden– Champagne For Jezebel
A6 Beargarden– Up Market
A7 Beargarden– Angel Gear
A8 Beargarden– Slow Clock
A7 Beargarden– Walking Like A Ruin
A9 Beargarden– Worlds Away
Very much appreciate the lyrical quality of Beargarden and these are some eye-catching song titles. Got to wonder what they're like.
With regards to the other bands mentioned, can wholly agree with Dear Enemy (STAY! is extremely underrated in my opinion). A word on the Venetians. I like Rik Swinn's vocals a lot and rate this group pretty highly because Chinese Is is one of my favourite new wave songs. Their first album is definitely the best of the three (Eugene is eerie and reminds of Japan), and while I do think they became overly commercial on the second and third, there are still pieces here and there to like. So Much For Love was really great, and I like Bitter Tears for its guitar work. The music video was nice too, reminded me of 'Touch' by Noiseworks.
Weirdly, this exists:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuAByyveMbM