[MUSIC ~ AUS]
Governor Hindmarsh Hotel. Fri 11 Nov, 2022.
Tonight’s music evening opens with local singer-songwriter Alana Jagt armed with nothing but an acoustic guitar, some excellent songs and strong set of pipes. Check out her album launch at The Grace Emily on Fri 25 Nov.
Tex Perkins, much like You Am I front man Tim Rogers, is a lot more nuanced than many give him credit for. Best known for being the growling sweaty powerhouse in Beasts of Bourbon, or the voice of the surf tinged, indie blues of The Cruel Sea. But he regularly does his Johnny Cash show The Man In Black to huge audiences, made a fantastic album of cheesy yacht rock classics with his one off Ladyboyz project, made a heap of wonderful solo albums, wrote a terrific autobiography (TEX). The three records he has made with Don Walker and Charlie Own as Tex, Don and Charlie are sublime masterpieces. And then there is The Dark Horses and the brute force of The Ape. Tex Perkins is a regular multi-function polis of Australian rock.
Sometimes the audience Tex attracts can be pretty focused on a particular aspect, period, band or even song, that they associate him with. With Rogers it’s those guys spending the whole Temperance Union show at the bar talking about when they saw You Am I that time in 1995 and simultaneously not listening to the new stuff but keeping their ear out for Heavy Heart or Purple Sneakers. Same goes for Tex, people have very strong attachments to particular parts of his catalogue, and they still turn up like they are buying the variety pack but only want the Coco Pops. It’s not a unique problem for any artist that does lots of different things. Nick Cave, Elvis Costello, even Sting face the same issues.
With that in mind Tex’s latest project The Fat Rubber Band, spawned with the excellent Matt Walker working his magic on guitar, is a kind of smorgasbord of Tex sounds sometimes combining the atmospheric harmonies of Tex, Don and Charlie, sometimes evoking Cruel Sea vibes and even a bit of the country twang of his Cash tribute. But Tex and His Fat Rubber Band are pretty darn splendid in their own right.
Opening with My Philosophy with just Tex and Matt on stage trading licks on the album’s mostly acoustic country-tinged album opener, they are soon joined by Stephen Hadley on bass, Roger Bergodaz on drums and Evan Richards on percussion. Pay The Devil His Due and Danger Has Been Kind are my favourite tracks and they come together next. Danger is a cracker with some classic self-deprecating lyrics from Perkins.
I’m so glad she understands
Who the hell it is that I am
Maybe when her time is free
She could sit down and explain it to me
I don’t care about yesterday
It was another place and time
And in the end, I have to say
Danger has been kind
The band is top notch; Tex is in fine voice, Matt Walker is a ‘kin wizard on the slide guitar and the audience is…well, okay. My guess is a lot of people here tonight haven’t really heard the new record so their reaction to those songs is somewhat tepid. Place In The Sun is a bluesy stomp that could be at home in a ‘Beasts’ set or a Cruel Sea show. Brand New Man has that Tex, Don & Charlie vibe with great harmonies and a redemptive lyric. One of the things that works so well about Fat Rubber Band is they are able to bring together so many things that Perkins does in the one place. So, when they throw out Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky From Now On, written by Alan Troussaint and a hit for Lee Dorsey in 1968, it’s surprise as well as being well in the variety pack of what they do.
Again, the Sad But True vibe of I Must Be In A Good Place Now is atmospheric and tender:
Love is all around, but all I see is you
I Must Be In a Good Place Now.
They do Woman With Soul from The Cruel Sea’s 1993 smash The Honeymoon Is Over and after Fire & Brimstone Tex reminds us that in 1993 The Cruel Sea were like the ‘Fitbit’ of the day. Everybody loved them for a minute. ‘This song was the most popular song of 1993, of the whole year. It was like the Waltzing Matilda of the year’ before they crank into The Honeymoon Is Over and the energy in the room surges, the guys talking at the back, come alive as their full attention is now squarely on the Coco Pops. People are going nuts. Then they smash into This Is Not The Way Home from The Cruel Sea’s 1991 debut and people are dancing wildly in a way they haven’t all night. A familiar. An old friend. A memory.
The encore starts with Poor Simple Minded Fool with some glorious acapella harmonies that are impressive. In Another Lifetime is terrific too and the set closer For A Love Long Gone is a plaintive riding off into the sunset. Walker’s guitar calm and atmospheric one minute then wailing and howling towards the end. A remarkable band, a remarkable set. But people, maybe check out the other flavours in the Tex Perkins variety pack sometime. They are all delicious.
4.5 stars
Ian Bell
Setlist:
My Philosophy
Pay The Devil His Due
Danger Has Been Kind
Place In The Sun
The Last Drop
Brand New Man
Nobody Owes You Money
Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky (From Now On)
I Must Be In A Good Place Now
Woman With Soul
Fire & Brimstone
The Honeymoon Is Over
This Is Not The Way Home
Encore:
Poor Simple
In Another Lifetime
For A Love Long Gone
The Clothesline Review...
Ian Bell
The Beast. The Band. The Music.
