Avast, poor Lucksmiths; we hardly knew ye. My favourite Australian band of ever is breaking up. Read more about the end of a wonderful era right here and learn more about the finest band that nobody ever cared about over here.
It’s a sad day.
Pat entries Australia, break-ups, guitar pop, pop, the Lucksmiths
Guess who’s got four thumbs and will be playing live on David Letterman tonight?
These guys!
They’re Damon Cox and Kate Cooper, better known as An Horse from Brisbane, Australia. And if you live in Guelph, then you’re extra lucky, because despite cancelling shows in both Hamilton and London (probably because of the Letterman gig) their Canadian booking agent tells me they’re going to be back in the Royal City in time for their free noon hour gig at the University Centre on Thursday! Sweet timing, dudes!
I loves me some independent bands from Australia. Remember The Waifs? Yeah. These guys don’t sound anything like ‘em. I just wanted you to take a moment and remember The Waifs. They were great. They are STILL great. Holy crap. They released, like, five albums since the last time I bought a Waifs album! Yeah, I’m seriously not up on my Australian bands. Karma is coming back to bite me in the ass.
See, a few years ago, some friends and I met some Australian dudes at Calgary Stampede. Being naive, we took them home. And spent most of the night giggling over their accents. They liked our cowboy hats. But we nearly choked when they claimed to “love Canadian music” and followed that up with “Nickelback rulez!!1!” Noooooo! What a boner killer! Seriously, there’s nothing less attractive on a dude than terrible taste in music. Except maybe a Nickelback concert tour T-shirt. I was offended by the blind Nickelback love and the fact that anybody would ever hold them up as an example of “Canadian music.” I wish I’d had a witty zinger at the ready, but the only Australian bands I could think of at the time were AC/DC and INXS. And I like those bands. Who doesn’t? My friend Jess and I were just saying “Don’t trust anybody who doesn’t have at least one AC/DC song on their iTunes.” Whatever. Rest assured, those Australian goofs were soundly mocked.
Digressions. I haz dem.
An Horse emerged from a dark, dusty basement record shop in Brisbane, blinking in the sun and brandishing their brand of brash, ripe, repetitively hooky (all those words are meant in the good way) folk pop. Allegedly after one show, they were surprised to find themselves on tour with Tegan and Sara. They remind me of Tegan and Sara actually. Kinda. Not long after that tour, Death Cab For Cutie came a knockin’ and they were added to that band’s Australian tour. I guess that’s just the way it works sometimes. People pluck you out of obscurity and set you down right in the middle of the spotlight. And when one of those people is David Letterman, you damn well better show up for your moment in the sun or you are through, do you hear me, John McCain? THROUGH! Sometimes, we get lucky and the people who are plucked are deserving and talented. Like An Horse.
I like their lyrics, I like their energy and I like their pluck. I might just check them out tomorrow. You can buy their new album Rearrange Beds from Valve Records, check out their myspace or tune in to Letterman tonight! And again, if you live in Guelph, check out their noon show at the University Centre, free of charge.
Tanis entries An Horse, Australia, Guelph, indie rock, live music, mp3, U of G, Valve
