PISSED ON ANOTHER PLANET – The Scientists (Citadel Records)
“Valuable public service” may not be the right term to apply to Citadel’s recent focus on “heritage” issues and re-issues, but it does mean you don’t pay collector scum prices on eBay or line the pockets of bootleggers in return for sonically shoddy product. I do know both of those by-products are good news, and that the Scientists are the latest beneficiaries of the label’s commitment to doing re-issues right.

This is a “re-issue”, save five unheard live tracks that have presumably been gathering dust under Chief Scientist Kim Salmon’s bed for 30 years. The balance of the 24 cuts, spread over two discs, are all the vinyl output of the band in their Perth era. No shocks as far as the studio stuff is concerned – the singles have been legitimately re-packaged twice and booted many times more – but it is nice to have those tracks, and the almost un-findable “Pink album”, all in one double slimline jewel case. Revived from vinyl by Mark Taylor, it sounds fantastic.

You should be aware that the Perth line-ups of the band were a very different proposition to what latter-day versions became – so don’t expect “Swampland”. The Sydney/London Scientists leant heavily on drone and repetition, churning out a fuzzy, discordant version of what would one day be called grunge. They were something unique – as you’ll know if you’ve owned any of their records, or caught up retrospectively via Citadel’s other volumes, the indispensable “Blood Red River” or the slightly less so “Human Jukebox”. The Perth Scientists, on the other hand, drew inspiration from the likes of the Troggs, the New York Dolls and the Heartbreakers (although, it must be said, with the Dolls’ sense of trash but without the latter’s nasty edge). They were still unusual for the place and the time - notably so, considering their isolation from the touchstones that fuelled them – but with some poppier leanings.

The early Scientists did briefly became a reasonable draw on the tiny Perth scene, setting out on two ill-fated East Coast forays before going home to run out of steam. Main man Salmon got sick of swimming upstream in a local tributary (note: bad pun), packed up and moved to the bright(er) lights of Sydney, where an almost completely new line-up (bassist Boris Sudjovic also went) mutated into something darker.

The Pink Album isn’t the greatest thing Kim Salmon ever recorded (the band didn’t even hang around for the final mixdown) but if you’re a completist, you’re not going to care. The band did become a little harder and the (recorded) sound a bit cleaner, as time went on. Some of the earliest Scientist cuts still stand up well.

There’s a sense of naivety about many of the tunes. “Frantic Romantic” remains a classic with its great melody and swelling chorus, and there are plenty of others about teenage love and girls (lyrics from drummer James Baker who led the way in love of dumb, trashy rock). The lilting “That Girl” sounds positively Carnaby Street, while “Girl” gets down and dumb in live and studio versions (the former being a fave). If you’ve heard “Pissed on Another Planet” or “Shake Together Tonight” you’ll know their winners. “Last Night” has always rankled, but that’s just me.

The Salmon-penned liner notes are, as usual, lucid, droll and insightful. The artwork I mistakenly took to be a photocopy with its marks where the type blocks were patched-on (‘spose it’s part of the trash ethos). So what next? The definitive Scientists live album? – The Barman

3/4

BLOOD RED RIVER - Scientists (Citadel)
THE HUMAN JUKEBOX - Scientists (Citadel)

"Blood Red River" snuck onto the shelves late in 2001. With its companion disc, "The Human Jukebox" making its way into the marketplace on the back of a reformation tour by three-quarters of the most enduring line-ups of the Scientists, it's timely to run the rule over both retrospective Citadel discs.

Can't say I was a dyed-in-the-wool Scientists fan back in the day, but that was more a reflection of what else was around at the time. We were spoilt in old Sydney town back then, and anything remotely plumbing the angst-ridden depths of Birthday Party catharsis only occasionally drew this Barman's gaze, if at all. In the fullness of time (and with a large body of work by mainman Kim Salmon, both in his own right and as a member of the Beasts of Bourbon,) and 20-20 hindsight, it's pretty clear that this WAS a band to be reckoned with - on a number of fronts.

The sparks are generated by three ingredients: deliciously minimalist fuzz guitar, Salmon's anguished howl and an engine room that ran on two notes and mind-numbing repetitiveness. There's a fair case to put (and it's been argued on their behalf many times) that the Scientist were the true precursor of The Thing Called Grunge. Mudhoney's Mark Arm has certainly run that line and Kim Salmon almost joined his band's ranks, at one stage.

These discs cover the periods 1982-84 and 1984-86 which roughly marks the lifespans of the Scientists as a Sydney band and a UK entity, respectively. The contents of both are far removed from the Scientists' days in Perth, when a different line-up pedalled a brand of New York Dolls-go-pop, garage rock. You could be excused for being confused about the band's disc output over the years. A falling-out with their Australian record company Au Go Go resulted in competing album issues, here and in Europe. Locally, the band's discography was pretty well wrapped up by 1991's "Absolute" collection on Redeye.

The re-mastering job on the Citadel discs leaves that one for dead. One quibble: These sets aren't complete - for mine, "Fire Escape" is a notable omission - but that's a small price to pay for hearing this stuff loud and ragged.

"Blood Red River" is the more "traditional/rock" of the two sets (if such an adjective can be applied.) It's still raucous, cutting edge, but not inclined to drop into abstract noisemaking. "The Human Jukebox" disc documents the final days of the band, with experiments like "Distortion" and "Braindead" showing a band in low-fi freefall. As such it's a bit harder to get into, but when the essential elements kick in, it's well worth the effort.

Highlights? "This Is My Happy Hour" still churns along with unbridled menace, while "Set It On Fire" stings with amazing venom. "Swampland" is such a classic it's almost a cliche. "Blood Red River" (the song not the album) is a minor masterpiece. "It Came Out of the Sky", the nasty "Nitro", "Hell Beach" and "You Only Live Twice" (the James Bond theme) from "Jukebox" rock my boat.

If you only aspire to own one Scientists album, make it "Blood Red River". Deconstructionists should opt for "The Human Jukebox". - The Barman

1/4 - Blood Red River

3/4 - Human Jukebox

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