ARE
YOU A BELIEVER? - Orange County (Orange County)ARE
YOU A BELIEVER? - Orange County (Orange County)
Praise Jesus and pass the communion wine! Orange County have been around for
a few years and apparently this is the third tome in their continuing 
rock'n'roll
testament - the album "Shootin' From The Hip" and the EP "The
Healing Hands Of Orange County" being the previous installments brought
down from the mountain, or rather from the northern beaches of Sydney.
The Manly Fishos seems to be the main seat of their ministry and over the last couple of years I've caught them there several times - supporting the likes of Deniz Tek, the New Christs and the Celibate Rifles - though lately they've established a new missionary outpost at the Excelsior. They can always be relied upon to put on a good performance, both in terms of their ability to simply rock hard and loud and their entertaining and often outrageous showmanship (part country preacher/tent revival, part demented Las Vegas lounge act - like Wayne Newton on angel dust).
However, since their stage act did seem to be such an integral part of the whole Orange County package, I'd never paid much attention to their records until now. That was a mistake which has now been rectified. Sandwiched between the opening "Are Your A Believer?" and the closing "I Am A Believer!" are six earnestly rockin' explorations of unGodly temptation and the sins of the flesh. For all its good, clean Christian leanings, this band has no qualms about taking the occasional road trip down Route 666 under cover of darkness.
Starting with a hot and heavy tale of passion and itching desire, "The Money Shot" ("You know she gets hot/Before the money shot"), the band slips easily into "Temptation" and makes it sound very damn appealing.
You'd think that "Cold August Night" would be taking its main cue from Neil Diamond, but it sounds more like Nick Cave covering Johnny Cash, after being prescribed a decent anti-depressant at long last.
"Losin' My Grip" is a catalogue of temptations met head-on and embraced, a guitar shredding confessional outburst that Johnny Thunders would be proud of, done to a racing beat that's pure crankin' "stolen car riffarama".
"8 Seconds" is the countriest number of the set, being a celebration of rodeo riding and the hard livin' cowboy hunks who do it ("Their jeans and shirts are pressed/Their mommas are makin' sure/their boys are so well dressed"). It's a hymn to honest, simple country folk who aren't afraid of anything... except perhaps the big city.
"Teenage Love Thrill" gets us back off the broncos and into a full throated roaring V8 for a little late night teenage lust. Shedding his dog collar, the Reverend Carl Musker airs his sweatier side with a trembling urgency ("Adrenalin racing on overload/There's too much pressure, I'm gonna explode") that I'll bet the congregation doesn't often get to see during the Sunday morning sermon.
Due to their amped up cowpoke aura, Orange County often gets compared to the legendary Johhnys (the band of that name, not Messrs Cash & Thunders, although that comparison might be more apt). It's either the Johhnys or whatever late model rockabilly band the reviewer last saw but, let's face it, they'd be a lot more familiar with Sydney's beer barns than your average country cattle barn. This bunch is too rock savvy to be rednecks.
A better local reference point would be straight ahead, Detroit influenced rockers like High Society, the late, lamented Knucklehead, the Onyas or Sheek the Shayk if you want to take the showmanship comparison further. Come to think of it, even the Lowdorados on nitrous oxide would be a better local reference point than rockabilly.
For those unable to catch them live, this record is a pretty good sonic substitute and at a shade under thirty minutes, it's an EP that's almost an LP. Either way, since it's a CD and the songs are good enough to warrant a recap, you can always put your CD player on auto-repeat and play it again. Call it a lap of honour and praise the Lord!
For those who can't find it locally, it's available direct from the band's "General Store", along with the previous Orange County releases, at their website or their drummer's record label. - John McPharlin
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