Peculiar Hole In The Sky
Everyone knows that Australian '60s bands were better at beat and punk than psych, right? Well, perhaps, but of the three new volumes of Big Beat/Ace's Festival Records reissue series (which began with the Board Boogie surf installment, reviewed last issue), it's the pop-psych volume that's the clear winner.
Not that the beat and punk installments don't have their moments. The Purple Hearts' title track of the beat volume "Of Hopes and Dreams and Tombstones," is a great harp-wailin' R&B mover, as are the Bo Diddley beats of "No Cheatin'" by Donnie Sutherland & the Titans and the Others' cover of Bo's own "Dancing Girl." And on the other side of the beat spectrum, "That Lovin' Touch" by Jimmy Crockett & the Shanes, "That's When Happiness Began" by Mike Furber & the Bowery Boys, and "Too Late To Come Home" by Ray Brown & the Whispers come equipped with snappy hooks. And then there's the sinister vibe of the Mystrys' "Witch Girl," which is somewhere in between.
Thing is, that's about it for the outstanding tracks on Of Hopes & Dreams & Tombstones, and the same applies to the punk volume, Hot Generation!, though the standouts are more prevalent. The combination of fuzz and a Beatlesque hook on Greg Anderson's "I Feel Good" is certainly one highlight, while "Beat It!" by Tony Cole, "No More Moanin'" by Tony Barber, "Keep Me Satisfied" by Russ Kruger, and "Not This Time" by the Black Diamonds are also first-rate. There are also great covers of the Birds' "How Can It Be" and the Spencer Davis Group's "High Time Baby" by Tony Worsley & the Blue Jays and Peter Doyle, respectively, not to mention cool Rolling Stones-influenced inclusions by the Showmen ("Naughty Girl") and Steve & the Board ("I Want").
But again, that's about where the greatness ends. It's not that the remainder of Hot Generation! - or its beat predecessor, for that matter - are bad; in fact, each volume is quite an enjoyable listen when you're in the mood for '60s beat or punk. The thing is, the best moments from each could easily have been combined into one volume, especially since "there is little difference between what we have here and the contents of our last volume," to quote compiler Alec Palao's liners to the punk installment. But since a lot of this has never been on CD before, and since your take on the best material could be different from mine, both volumes are still worthwhile purchases.
So that brings us to Peculiar Hole in the Sky, which lives up to its billing as "top notch Oz '60s psych, freakbeat and pop as good as anything from the UK or US." The highlights among its 27 tracks are too numerous to list, but some of its more noteworthy inclusions are the groovy melody of "Imagine This" by the Iguana, the trippy backwards tape loops of Normie Rowe's "Going Home," both sides of the 1863 Establishment's lone 1968 single ("Gained For a Fall" and "Picture of a Girl"), and the Dave Miller Set's killer cover of Eire Apparent's "Mr Guy Fawkes," a classic combination of strings, phased vocals, acoustic interludes and even an explosion midway through.
Peculiar Hole in the Sky also goes outside the Festival family of labels to include two from the Clarion vaults, "Peculiar Hole in the Sky" by the Valentines and "King of the Mountain" by the Proclamation. The former is a Sgt Pepper-styled Easybeats cover that's about as cool as "Mr Guy Fawkes," while "King of the Mountain" uses the counterpoint of psychedelicized harmonies and organ on its choruses to great effect.
The strength of "Mountain" is perhaps why it's repeated on another Aussie comp by Palao, The Clarion Call, which otherwise doesn't contain "Peculiar Hole in the Sky" or another great Clarion track, Johnny Young's "Good Evening Girl," which appeared on Hot Generation! Like its Big Beat counterparts, The Clarion Call is well presented and listenable all the way through, albeit with far fewer highpoints. "That It's Me" by Glen Ingram with The Clan is a cool pop rocker, and three cuts apiece by the Valentines and the Australian Birds (including covers of the English Birds' arrangements of "No Good Without You" and "Magic Words"!) are above average, but otherwise this is mostly competent, if unremarkable, '60s rock.
- Doug Sheppard (Originally published in Ugly Things #21, 2003)
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