MELBOURNE
VAMPIRES - The Cants (Infidelity
Records)
Despite being an inseparable union of States and Territories, Australia –
like, but not as much as, the United States – is in reality a loose
aggregation of different communities. In the music fraternity each concentrated
local community is likely to hold the conviction that its music is the most
honest, vibrant, eclectic, whatever. 
While it's arguable that Perth and Brisbane have contributed more legendary artists per head of population than the other major capital cities, it's the rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne that looms largest.
So when a band
directly refers to its city of origin in its album title, it's probably going
to have a polarising effect; to the locals it's an affectionate act, to others
it's a challenge.
My first experience of The Cants was seeing them supporting The Dirtbombs
in 2004. I walked into the generally underperforming Ding Dong Lounge in the
city and heard the unmistakeable sounds of "TV Eye" (the Birdman
version) and developed an instant liking. Their first EP (Extended Player)
is OK, but without being groundbreaking (all I could hear upon my first listen
was a lot of Kinks riffs). Clearly the Dirtbombs’ bassist and producer
to the garage stars Jim Diamond was also impressed, as he apparently offered
then and there to produce the band’s debut album.
“Melbourne Vampires” is a quantum leap from “Extended Player”.
Not only does Diamond’s polished rock production philosophy shine through,
but the songs are tighter, punchier and the band’s performances illustrating
the benefit of ruthless and relentless practice in the studio and in a live
setting. The music on the album is eminently danceable stuff; the lyrics aren’t
much to write home about (if you’re into deep and meaningful observations
about life, love and society), but the garage rock tradition is hardly about
intelligent politics. Like The Exploding White Mice, The Cants churn out songs
that are fast and spicey and sit hand in glove with the sticky carpet pub
rock environment of their home town.
The LP features two songs previously released on Extended Player – “Complications”
and “Buffet” – but both are almost unrecognisable in quality
from their earlier incarnation. “Complications” owes a heavy debt
to The Easybeats’ “I’ll Make You Happy” but with a
injectionof youthful vitality that you could almost associate with a TV ad
for some glitzy sweet alcoholic beverage.
“More is More” illustrates the band’s love of a good riff
(maybe just a little bit of The Knack?), with Cam Macklin’s snarling
snotty vocals almost disguising the objectively inane lyrics. “ASL”
again throws back to the Easybeats, but this time the timeless “Sorry”,
adding some lots of yeahs, whys and other monosyllabalic rock cries for good
measure.
“I Don’t Care” is more of the (still good) same –
superficially existentialist lyrics and spikey riffs and rattling drum flourishes.
“Not Cool Enough For You” is presumably a tale of love almost
had and then lost, in the time honoured rock tradition – and is probably
an astute observation of the too-kool-for-skool ideology that can be easily
seen in the Melbourne music scene. The inspiration for “Western Sun”
must be the opening riff to TV Eye, but rather than descend into the junkie-dom
of the original Stooges track, or even the fuck-you of the Birdman cover,
The Cants use it to create a song with a classic rawk track complete with
references to rock legends such as Jimmy Page.
“Buffet” has a definite Kinks feel to it, though this version
is far less derivative than its Extended Player incarnation. “Hong Kong”,
“Jack the Ripper” and “Bad Man” are tongue-in-cheek
(lyrically at least) rocking tracks both based around simple but effective
rock formulae. “Only Human” has a river of sludge for a guitar
riff that works better than you’d expect.
If there’s a failing in this album it’s that it’s probably
too long – 15 songs comes in over the industry standard and although
the songs are all good, with only 10 songs or so the listener would be left
wanting more. That said, there’s little or nothing (apart from the final
track “Speed Right Through”) that could be deemed filler on the
album.
The Cants have developed a very, very healthy following in Melbourne –
and have played enough recently to challenge their vampirical description.
From all reports their recent national tour went down a treat in other cities;
here’s hoping they can continue the momentum.-
Patrick Emery
