THE SCIENTISTS @ Studio 22
(ABCTV recording session)
Sydney
Tuesday, March 4 2001It takes a lot to drag people out on a mild Sydney Tuesday night, especially if alcohol isnÕt involved, but the prospect of the first gig by the Scientists in eons did the trick. And ABCTVÕs Studio 22 on the upper north shore resembled the top floor of the Sydney Trade Union Club, circa the early 1980s, for this live-in-the-studio session by this legendary band, with a host of famous and not-so-famous faces packing in.
ItÕs said this was the first Scientists gig since 1987 (the year the band reformed for a quickie farewell to Australia, three years after first breaking up in London) Š but thatÕs not strictly correct. The Salmon/Baker/Juniper/Sharples (late Ō70s pop) line-up did a one-off show in Perth in February 1995. The Õ87 tour was with drummer Brett Rixon, whoÕs since passed on. (The current timekeeper from Kim SalmonÕs band The Business and longtime Surrealist, Greg Bainbridge, occupies the stool this time around). So even though Ōthe Scientists" have done a show since the Ō80s, itÕs a long stretch of the imagination to compare the line-ups. The former was a trashy pop band with a beguiling sense of innocence, the latter had been alcoholically, chemically and attitudinally corrupted, imbued with their own mission statement of de-constructing rock music (as they knew it) and putting it back together in a new, darker form. No-one expects, nor will they be given, "Frantic Romantic".
IÕm not about to split hairs about line-ups and reformation dates- and nor, it seems, is anyone else in the adoring crowd as MC Clinton "Revisionist" Walker announces the band and they bound in. Studio 22, for those unfamiliar, is done "in the round" with the audience crammed into all sorts of spaces, and thereÕs a sense of intimacy - almost like sitting in at a rehearsal. Having only had brief exposure to the original early Ō80s Scientists (though considerably more to Kim Salmon in other modes), this is a real treat, seeing them up close and personal. The haircuts are shorter but they show no similar musical restraint.
Kim strums chords, guitarist Tony Thewlis, back from London where heÕs been living the last few years and resplendent in suit and purple lame shirt, strangles some shards of atonal noise out of his weapon and the band is off into "Nitro". Bassist Boris Sudjovic lays down a thick, simplistic bedrock of bass. Kim wraps his vocals around the microphone and weÕre being assaulted in the best possible way.
For the price of admission (free) we cop 10 tunes Š though "Set It on Fire" and "We Had Love" merit second takes Š and itÕs amazingly together and loose-limbed at the same time. ItÕs amazing, jagged stuff. Thewlis never lets up, save for the guitar parts where Salmon plays slide. Honorary Scientist Bainbridge lays down the simplistic drum patterns well. It doesn't always work: "Blood Red River" falls over at the end (it's hard to approximate a fade-out in the live setting) but "Fate", "Happy Hour" and "We Had Love" are simply fantastic.
The set list:
1. Nitro 2. Blood Red River 3. Solid Gold Hell 4. Murderess in a Purple Dress 5. If It's the Last Thing (akaTravis) 6. When Fate Deals Its Mortal Blow 7. This is My Happy Hour 8. Set It On Fire 9. Set It On Fire (2) 10. We Had Love 11. Swampland 12. We Had Love (2)
So will they do anything else? As a former veteran of the Perth and Sydney scenes points out a few days later, Kim Salmon has never been slow to re-visit old career ground - and nor should he be on the strength of this. We can only hope. - The Barman
