HEADS UP - The Stems (Invisible Records through Shock)
Twenty years down the line since their last album and it's a wiser but willing bunch of Stems that greet the CD-buying public this time out. If it were a just world, that public will welcome "Heads Up" with open arms. It's not often a band that's been dormant for the best part of two decades bounces back with something so accomplished and focussed.
If you're expecting perfectly polished pop with '60s hooks (a la "At First Sight Violets Are Blue"), then think again. The hooks are intact, but for the most part are wrapped in rock and roll clothing. The music's still '60s-derived (no crime there - most of what's worthwhile in rock and roll is) but it's imbued with a heavier, more aggressive edge, plus the odd dark moment, lyrically-speaking.
Opening track "Leave You Way Behind" is a definite statement of intent: Julian Matthews' brooding bassline pushes the band to build their way into an in-your-face chorus and a call-and-response guitar-break. The message is clear: this is a rock and roll record. Pure and simple. A return to roots.
"She Sees Everything" follows and is a marriage of the 3/4 time signature of the Loved Ones' "The Loved One" and the rhythmic blues drive of the early Pretty Things, with a generous lacing of pop. Richard lane's greasy harmonica is the icing.
There's less prominent keyboards and more emphasis on guitars, with the production (credits are shared by Monteleone and the band) uncluttered and warm. Julian Matthews' bass sound is magic and lays down a sonic bedrock that gives "Heads Up" a signature sound.
It's all about the songs, in the main, and they shine through. That's the very reason the band took a punt on the recent national tour with the Gurus and Birdman and stacked their set with newies. You can dip into the barrel just about anywhere on "Heads Up" and come up with an apple.
"Surround Me" is strong but elegant, founded around a neat hook and credited to drummer David Shaw. Its lyric about taking "self-prescribed medicine" to ward off the black dog of depression never makes it clear if the prescription is for something alcoholic, chemical or emotional, it's a greater song for that very reason.
Speaking of credits, the songwriting is naturally skewed towards band leader Dom Mariani but the contributions from Shaw and guitarist-keyboardist Lane are top-shelf. Lane's co-writes ("What's Your Stand" and "Only If you Want It") are shared with Glenn Morris, the ex-Kings of The Sun and latter day Screaming Tribesmen guitarist he plays with in The Forevers which makes you wonder what he's saved for that band. A single they've recorded needs to be tracked down, methinks.
Keen fans will note "Hellbound Train", reprised from Off the Hip's first "Antipodean Scrams" compilation but represented in an even stronger arrangement.
Many bands aspiring to write tour but tender rock-pop would be excused for giving the game away after hearing Mariani's swelling "Undying Love". There's a lot more to love about "Heads Up", from the Rickenbacker pop of "Get So Bad" to the fiery guitar storm of "The Liar", but you grab a copy and work it out for yourself. - The Barman
1/2
AT FIRST
SIGHT - VIOLETS ARE BLUE - The Stems (Festival-Mushroom)
Now's as good a time as any to re-assess the worth of the Stems, what with them
touring Australia and maybe Europe and not one but two worthwhile re-issues
out. Both albums are generously appointed with ubiquitous bonus tracks, those
digital age facts-of-life that are the scourges of budget-shoppers who bought
the originals on vinyl.
You'd have an excuse to quibble if the bonuses weren't as good as on this, the
major label album for Perth's finest-ever '60s punkers-cum-powerpopsters, or
its companion, the Citadel era compilation, "Mushroom Soup". In the case
of "At First Sight - Violets Are Blue" you cop the entire "Weed Out" nine-track
live album (recorded at the Old Melbourne pub in Perth in '86 and issued on House of Wax back in the '90s). While I've always felt that album to be somewhat
OK-ish, you probably still need it, being as it is the only official live Stems
disc. If it doesn't quite match the studio efforts, there's also the single
version of the tough "Sad Girl", its rocking surfing stomp B side "My Beach",
another respectable B side in "Grooviest Girl in Town" and a nice demo take
on "Can't Forget That Girl", to flesh things out.
But it's the main event that you're probably here for and it's devilishly hard to find on CD because the shiny silver discs were only grabbing a foothold in the Australian market when it was released in 1987. I have to admit, "At First Sight..." had its moments for me back then, but its lighter radio-friendly mix and exposure of the band's poppier leanings didn't had me spinning its predecessor singles and EP more frequently. To be truthful, I wasn't as attuned to "The Man With the Golden Heart" as much as "The Man With Golden Helmet". Of course, my narrow-cast tastes have since broadened, thanks in no small part to prolonged exposure to the back catalogue that is Stems mainman Dom Mariani (try some DM3 for yourself if you doubt me, pluck up some Someloves or Orange Humble Band if your tastes run to lighter things).
It's OK to like pop, when its played with style and passion and just a bit of edge. It's also OK to love classic songs and the Stems did better than most peers in adapting a variety of styles and mixing them into something unique. Cock an ear to "At First Sight", "Running Around" or "For Always" and you'll hear echoes of all sorts of pop genius, from the Beach Boys to the Hollies.
"Move Me" and "Sad Girl" have enough stinging guitar and tough dynamism to mark them as proud Sons of Nuggets and something more than stock standard rockers. "Never Be Friends" is just a stone classic piece of guitar pop. Another winner from Australian music's most vital period. - The Barman
MUSHROOM SOUP - The Stems (Citadel)
Does the world need another Stems compilation? Well, yes, actually. And what
better excuse than the band's reformation tour?
Its
predecessor in the Citadel catalogue, "Buds", is scarcer than winklepickers
in a contemporary shoe store. (It's been discontinued but if
you ask Citadel nicely, you might be able to procure one on mail
order with "Mushroom Soup" at a mate's rate). While "Buds" covered the peaks
of the band's time on Citadel with a sprinkling of their better cuts
from when they signed to major label Mushroom, it only included one previously
unreleased track ("She's Fine").
"Mushroom Soup", which includes every Citadel track, lifts the lid on
the shoulda-been-a-single, "Power of Love", and unearths demos of a pile of
other tunes, only one of which ("Tears Me in Two") I can recall seeing officially
released (on Perth's Zero Hour). So there's ample reason to grab this.
If you don't know the Stems you're missed one of the best '60s-flavoured bands
of any time, no argument. Coming from the relative outpost of Perth (still the
most isolated capital city on earth - in other words, they haven't moved it),
they managed to infect most of Australia's East Coast, and a goodly part of
Europe, with their simple but masterful brand of fuzz-pop. They were also one
of the earliest successes in Citadel's considerable canon, and took the
label outside the constraints of a "Detroit-hard rock" label, hinting at a broader
palette that's been coloured by a wide range of hues as the years have gone
by.
Even though they never toured there, The Stems' impact in Europe is probably
understated. Consider the fact that eight of the 17 tracks on Off the Hip's
recent Stems tribute, "The Great Stems Hoax", were by bands who buy beer with
Euros gives you get a measure of the regard in which they're still held. It
was a similar story in Sydney. "Nuggets" was out and the '60s punk comps that
followed ("Boulders", "Pebbles", Mindrocker" eta al) were making their way down
the pipeline. The time was right for a band that could capture the same sound.
Cue, The Stems who did it in a way that sounded fresh and uncontrived. Plus,
when the fuzz pedal ran out of 9-volt batteries, they could pop as well as they
could rock.
As for what's on the menu with "Mushroom Soup", the "biggies" are here like
"Make You Mine", "She's a Monster" and "Love Will Grow" in their original form.
"For Always", "Mr Misery" and "Tears Me In Two" are in rough-hewn demo form
only (and the latter, I've always liked better than the official single). Lesser-known
songs like "Don't Let Me", "On and On", All You Want Me For" and "No Heart"
- the mooted follow-up to the "Rosebuds EP - and the elusive instrumental, "Lon
Chaney's Daughter", are on CD for the first time. Here's proof that "Power of
Love", recorded in Perth and given a studio makeover by Rob Younger, could have
emulated the first two singles in the indie charts.
Sounds great, too, and the package is put together with the label's usual attention
to detail with extensive liner notes from Ian MacFarlane. Mushroom soup's normally
an entree. More than enough in this bowl to make it a main course.
- The Barman
