#the go-betweens

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

The Go-Betweens - The Gatekeeper To Your Soul

A fan-made double-disc compilation of live Go-Betweens stretching from 1980 to 2005? Yes, please. The Gatekeeper To Your Soul isn't chronologically organized, so it bounces the listener from the twitched-out early days to the magisterial reunion era. But it's well-sequenced nonetheless, showing how great (and how downright weird) the Go-Betweens could be onstage. Thank you to whoever put it all lovingly together!

Plenty of the Go-Betweens' "hits" are here but also a lot of rarities — such as the long/wild rendition of "River of Money" from 1985 that kicks the comp off. Not sure how many times they played that abstract / experimental number, but it's a rough-cut gem, always teetering on the brink of complete chaos, Grant McLennan raving up a storm.

"There was always something off in a Go-Betweens single that kept it from crossing over to an ’80s radio audience," Chris O'Leary writes. "An abstruse lyric, a tinny mix, an oddly phrased refrain, a hook that came 10 seconds too late. Their songs sounded strange upon first listen, then took root in the head a day later. They came at you from an angle."

[guerrilla-operator]

THE GO-BETWEENS AND TOM WAITS

[bandcampsnoop]

3/14/24.

lightheaded are a 3-piece band from Long Branch, New Jersey. Their cassette release last year on Slumberland. It received a fair amount of attention and rightfully so. It's great indie pop with a 60s flair. Now, the band is set to release a full LP on vinyl no less.

In an interview in 2021, the band described their influences as such:

We love The Pastels, mark that down first. Probably the reason we started the band. They set the template. The Feelies, New Jersey legends. Got to mention them. Stephen used to live in the same town as Stan! Dwight Twilley and Phil Seymour, we love all the sorta one-off power pop bands! Felt are very special to us. Belle and Sebastian. The Clientele’s first couple records... The Go-Betweens never missed... just cut us off now, we’ll take up the whole interview.

I still really feel there is a clear Aislers Set/Tele Novella sound going on here.

[guessimdumb]

The Go-Betweens - Clouds (1988)

Visions of blue, I'm angry, I'm wise, and you You're under cloudy skies

[musickickztoo]

Lindy Morrison *November 2, 1951

[rastronomicals]

11:23 PM EDT October 17, 2024:

The Go-Betweens - "Lee Remick" Single, Able AB001 7" (b/w Karen) (May 1978)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

File under: People Songs

[curseofcloverswine]

Left Tumblr for so long that now I have to remember my password! The reason is that in late November I caught a new form of Covid or other ailment of that sort, and then worked a lot to compensate for the time lost. Three last drawings still not scanned, but here are some WIPs: 'The Terror'/the Go-Betweens mashup and 'The Power of the Dog' fan art no. 2.

[joanofarc]

loneliness, robert forster (1996).

and later that year my hair turned the colour of corn

[soundgrammar]

Listen/purchase: It's Only Poison by Robert Forster

[cybershubunkin]

The Go-Betweens - I Need Two Heads

[dougwallen]

Amanda Brown feature for The Big Issue Australia

[manitat]

STREETS OF YOUR TOWN is a song by Australian indie group THE GO-BETWEENS that was released as the lead single from their 1988 album 16 Lovers Lane... Written by Grant McLennan, the sunny, upbeat music is contrasted with darker lyrics: "Don't the sun look good today, but the rain is on its way, watch the butcher shine his knives, and this town is full of battered wives..."

[cowboysmp3]

there’s something sooo sickening about how dunmeshis whole energy is like sometimes something terrible and awful happens to you and it changes you forever and nothing can make you the person you were before but there’s still love and there’s still sharing a meal together and there’s still living

[bandcampsnoop]

10/9/23.

Nearly 9 years into this blog and I can't believe that The Wedding Present (Leeds, UK) hasn't gotten their own post. There are many bands that have pulled off a 40 year career, but only a few that can still sound this good after all that time - The Bats and Yo La Tengo immediately come to mind.

David Gedge has really worked and reworked ideas. "24 Songs" is yet another example of a band that was as much a singles band as an album band. Hard to believe that Hit Parade 1 & 2 are 30 years old, but "24 Songs" hearkens back to that. The only difference I can tell is that they don't seem to do as many covers - "Felicity" by Orange Juice, "Box Elder MO" by Pavement and "Cattle and Cane" by The Go-Betweens immediately come to mind [EDIT: The last LP side does have a wonderful cover of "White Riot" by The Clash]. If you want to hear an outstanding cover of "My Favourite Dress" listen to "My Favourite Mess" by Thatcher on Acid.

This is a 3 LP behemoth and I've been enjoying every single song. Happy Happy Birthday To Me released the LP version of "24 Songs".

[guessimdumb]

G.W. McLennan - Fingers (1993)

A moving piano ballad from Grant McLennan's second solo LP

I try to capture every minute

[musickickztoo]

Grant McLennan  *February 12, 1958