"I've been contemplating suicide, but it really doesn't suit my style."
In a time before murder ballads, mercy seats and birthday parties, a young, Australian middle-class malcontent named Nick Cave fronted a band called The Boys Next Door. Cave and his mates Mick Harvey, Tracy Pew, Phil Calvert, and later, Rowland S. Howard, spent their nights chasing a musical vision forged out of the British glam scene of the early seventies, the burgeoning Melbourne punk scene of the late seventies, and the darkest corners of the American country-folk and blues traditions. While the band's only album, the obscurely titled Door, Door, tends to get lost in the considerable shadow of what came next (the band's transformation into Goth legends The Birthday Party), it is actually a quite enjoyable slice of glammy Post-Punk pop that happens to contain a moment of transcendence: Rowland S. Howard's "Shivers." Musically, the song sounds as if pulled straight from the Ziggy Stardust songbook, but Cave's vocals, adopting the croon that would become the trademark of his early nineties solo work, lends the song a darker, slightly unhinged quality that gives Howard's fine lyrics even more of an air of authenticity. While the rest of the album pales in comparison, there are still some nice Post-Punk gems to be found, including "The Voice" and "Somebody's Watching." Though certainly not as consistently memorable as The Birthday Party and Cave's solo work, Door, Door is still well worth a listen.
Door, Door
1. The Nightwatchman (2:07)
2. Brave Exhibitions (2:27)
3. Friends of My World (2:46)
4. The Voice (3:55)
5. Roman Roman (1:35)
6. Somebody's Watching (2:39)
7. After a Fashion (4:36)
8. Dive Position (2:47)
9. I Mistake Myself (4:31)
10. Shivers (4:34)
Do you have Hee Haw of The Bithday party?
ReplyDeleteThanksss!!
ReplyDeleteAnon. you're welcome
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