Michael Carpenter
+ Scruffs
+ Soap Star Joe
Friday, February 1 2002
on Sydney HarbourBack when I was writing about the Rifles August tour last year, I commented that the Pyramidiacs' cheerful music was the perfect accompaniment for a relaxed sunny day on the harbour. I guess this would apply to all up-beat powerpop generally. Therefore holding the Michael Carpenter CD launch (and a bit of a general celebration of the newish Laughing Outlaw label) on a Sydney harbour cruise at sunset must have seemed like an excellent idea; even more so given the stories that circulate about how music industry types use record launches and band showcases as an opportunity to lap up any free grog that's going, do a bit of networking for their own benefit and then piss off early, sometimes even before the showcased act has played. On a cruise boat there's no leaving early, or even escaping the band's performance, unless you've come prepared for a fast swim to shore while dodging a few ferries (and maybe the occasional lost and disoriented shark).
The only drawback to this evening was that it followed one of the shitiest summer days this year, although the rain had abated to just an intermittent drizzle by the time the boat departed from the wharf. Other than that though, it was pretty good night out on the water. Aside from Michael Carpenter himself, the entertainment for the evening also featured Laughing Outlaw label mates Soap Star Joe and Carpenter producees the Scruffs.
I'm probably going to get myself into trouble for saying this, but for my money the best band of the night wasn't either of the Laughing Outlaw acts (though Michael Carpenter did give an outstanding performance). Of course, since the Scruffs album still has not been released anywhere outside Spain, maybe there's an opportunity here for Laughing Outlaw to leap in and sign them up for a small local pressing run - giving them the Aussie release they so clearly deserve and the label a clean sweep of the evening's entertainment, at least in retrospect, plus a sure fire winner at the same time.
I am, however,getting ahead of myself. First task of the evening was to get to the bar. This wasn't the boat the Rifles use (the Rocks Rhythm Boat) and the bar on this boat (the Harbour Queen) was about half the size (far from queensize!), although the boat itself seemed to be larger. Though the boat was longer, it was also narrower, so they didn't bother to set up any seats in front of the stage. With no seats/prime positions to claim, colonise and then defend, everyone on board was free to go to the bar immediately - and seemed to have done so. I swear it took me 14 minutes to get served, mainly because not only were there only two people serving behind the bar, neither of whom appeared to have a great deal of experience "in the trenches", but also because more than half the punters were buying a bewildering variety of complex mixed drinks, all of which took up precious drinking time to concoct.
There then followed a lengthy interlude, made easier by having a beer in hand of course (even if I did have to pay 50 cents more for it than on the Rocks Rhythm Boat), before Soap Star Joe got things going. Soap Star Joe are a traditional guitar-bass-drums trio and also one of the few Sydney power pop bands who didn't play at the Lost Weekend festival last year (but if they had, I probably would have missed them anyway, since that was the sort of lost weekend I was having at the time). Interestingly, they chose to end their set with the only two songs of theirs that I know, "Sedan" (from the recent Laughing Outlaw comp) and "Met Drunk In The Corner" (from the "Lost Weekend" CD).
There is certainly more to their repertoire than just those two songs though. Not only are they possessed of a good grasp of record sales and marketing ("We'd like you all to get pissed and then go buy our record"), they demonstrated a wry pop sensibility and a clean, clear guitar sound.
Other highlights of their set included "Miranda Boy" (a reference to growing up in that southern Sydney suburb, not the gender crisis of some tortured Shakespearean character) and a song involving the South Sydney rugby league club, which received a near "Triumph Of The Will" type audience response - but for the fact that you can't march far on water, they could have had the crowd storming the rugby league headquarters en masse to make a citizens arrest of all those complicit in the dropping of the club from the league a couple of years ago (the club may now have been admitted back in the league, but apparently the hurt feelings still run extremely deep).
Challenger 7's early single guitar/power trio period notwithstanding, the only question left in my mind after their set was whether power pop really does need twin guitars? I was musing on this (and other, similarly deep philosophical questions) between bands, while jostling for another beer at the bar. For a "cruise" boat, they strangely had yet to grasp the essential dynamic: while the bands play, only the desperate derros need to buy a drink; when the bands stop playing, everyone wants a drink... and wants it bloody right now.
Fixing my steely gaze on the area of the bartender's head just behind and above the ear, while focusing all my mental powers and chanting the drinker's mantra under my breath ("serve me now, serve me now, serve me now you bastard, serve me now...") I became dimly aware that the song playing over the PA was my favourite Pyramidiacs' number, "Everything". At almost the same instant, a voice in my ear said softly, "Good song, wonder who it's by...?". I turned to find jovial Pyramidiac Bill Gibson standing next to me with a cheeky grin on his dial and was instantly torn between making a detailed response and keeping an eye on that recalcitrant bartender. In the end the lure of the demon drink won out, so I only had time to give Bill a nod and a distracted smile before turning back to ensure that I didn't miss my turn. A subsequent attempt to have a chat with Bill fell flat when, just as I opened my mouth to speak, Big Star's "September Gurls" came on over the PA and all conversations stopped so that everybody could sing along (I suspect that the captain definitely had some outside help in selecting the playlist for this voyage).
Fortunately there was already a flurry of activity occurring in the stage area by this time (there was no actual stage, just a heap of band equipment with enough room for the musicians to stand in front of it) and it wasn't long before the Scruffs were ready to go. And "go" they did, in most unequivocal fashion. Unlike the recent show at Maroubra Junction, this time there were no equipment fuck ups to divert energy and attention (well, only a couple of very minor instrument problems anyway) and the band ripped it up like there was no tomorrow.
Beginning with a rendition of "High Rotation" that absolutely shat on the version on the "Take A Bath" EP, they got the audience up and dancing so uninhibitedly that I was moved to wonder just how strong the deck was on this boat and whether we were all going to find ourselves suddenly and precipitously lying in a tangled heap down amongst the machinery in the engine room. Fortunately my worst fears were not realised, but it seemed like it must have been a close thing as the audience kept up its frenzy for the entire set and the deck was exhibiting a springiness that had nothing to do with the bobbing of the waves.
"N Scale" was in there along with most of the rest of the "Actual Size" album (only skipping a couple of the quieter numbers) and they finished off with killer versions of "Trash" and "You Make Me Nervous". While these are my favourites from the album, the rest of the material couldn't be said to be sub-standard by any stretch of the imagination. In fact many bands with a decade's worth of experience and achievement under their belts still couldn't put together a "greatest hits" set that sounds this strong.
Since the Barman has been keeping a tight hold on that copy of "Up Close" he reviewed recently, I'm still not as familiar with Michael Carpenter's solo output as I should be. My excuse is that I'm torn between getting "Baby" and "Hopefulness", the two separate albums originally put out by Not Lame, or getting "Up Close" from Laughing Outlaw, which is a distillation of both, together with a few bonus tracks not on either. Decisions, decisions! Currently I'm leaning more toward "Up Close" (and I'm not just saying that because this is a Laughing Outlaw gig review), with the affiliated hope that the other tracks either turn up as bonuses on some other later release or that it turns out I can live without them (unlikely I know, but I'm canvassing all possibilities for the sake of completeness).
The truth is that a decision probably does need to be reached soon, as Michael Carpenter is already moving on. You don't get a resume-cum-track record as extensive as his by sitting around basking in your achievements. While this long overdue Australian solo release is only just out, he's already working on a new album in collaboration with the band backing him for these promotional shows (and going under the name King's Road - the previous solo albums are truly "solo", with Carpenter playing all instruments) and in amongst the "Up Close" tracks this evening were several of those new band songs already finished.
Prior to his set, Michael thanked the preceding bands for "setting such a high standard". I know I said earlier that I thought the Scruffs were the best band of the night, but in reality it's just down to prejudice, er preference. Even when things aren't falling apart on them, the Scruffs are one of those bands who have a reckless, almost desperate, edge to their performance - like it could all come apart before your eyes at any moment - and for some deep seated psychological reason I respond emotionally to that.
Michael Carpenter, on the other hand, looks and sounds smooth even though he's clearly running the same risks against the same odds that every musician faces when he plays live (all the more so on a boat which occasionally rocks from side to side and not always in time with the music). In short, he makes it look deceptively easy - even when some idiot switches off half the lights and he has to play most of his set in virtual darkness, as happened tonight.
Despite being unfamiliar with most of the songs played this evening, with the exception of "Kailee Ann" which seems to have been everywhere lately, most of the songs sounded like they should be familiar. He's certainly absorbed all the classic pop elements, be they Beatles, Beach Boys, Byrds (both directly and via the likes of Tom Petty - I can't help suspecting that the name of Carpenter's backing band owes something to the track of that name on the "Hard Promises" album), Hollies, Kinks, etc, but his songs still sound completely fresh and new, never contrived nor rehashed. Add to that the fact that he's also an accomplished performer in his own right, not just some backroom Machiavelli lurking behind a studio console, and you've got yourself one hot entertainer (and even a few guitar hero antics, albeit somewhat tongue in cheek, since he's not shy about getting down onto his knees or stepping out into the crowd and right up into your face when the music provides a decent excuse for it).
As if all that wasn't enough, he invited first fellow Pyramidiac Eddie Owen and then the rest of the Pyramidiacs to join him at the microphone and help out with a few perfect harmonies during the closing songs. Sure, it's a little like Muhammad Ali pulling out a Magnum and blowing away Joe Frazier after he's already knocked him unconscious, but nothing succeeds like excess and when you've got friends like these you can call on, why not go the guts and leave no one in any doubt that you're a power pop champion?
- John McPharlin
