Search - Various Artists :: Do the Pop: Australian Garage-Rock Sound 1976-87

Staggeringly good

Michael Hann | London United Kingdom | 09/09/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Lenny Kaye's Nuggets compliation showed that sometimes it takes distance and time to define a musical movement. Do The Pop! does for the Australian garage rock scene of the late 70s and early 80s what Kaye did for US psych-punk of 1965-68. Like Nuggets, it is a catholic selection, drawing on several varieties of Aus-punk. The obsession with Detroit is illustrated by Radio Birdman and their many spin-offs (including New Race - featuring Birdmen, plus a Stooge and an MCone); Cramps/Gun Club swampabilly comes from the Scientists; pure Easybeats garage pop from the Sunnyboys and the Screaming Tribesmen; Ramonic buzzsaw pop from the Eastern Dark and the Hard-Ons; Suicide/Doors style drone rock in the form of Died Pretty's towering Mirror Blues. And that's far from touching all the bases this incredible album covers.
Growing up in the UK in the 80s I was aware of quite a bit of this music - it would get played on John Peel's late-night radio show - but distance and unfamiliarity prevented me seeing the broader patterns and connections. So contemporary garage punk, to me, meant the cartoonish frivolity of the British psychobilly scene and the US bands such as the Fuzztones. This compiltation, by contrast, shows the Australian scene to have been about a passionate and committed group of musicians, many of whom persevered for many years despite little or no success, making music because they needed to do so. (And the exemplary booklet documents the connections in a clear and helpful way.)
Do the Pop! also provides a benchmark against which much of today's crop of garage punk revivalists must be measured - and too many found wanting. The inadequacy of the Dirtbombs or the Come-Ons is glaringly evident when compared to the least indpired of these Australian bands.
Now, someone, how about a compilation of the Nordic scene, ranging from the Leather Nun, the Nomads, Melrose, the Hellacopters through to the Hives?"

Art? Fashion? What About The Music?

Clark Paull | Murder City | 01/08/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Isolation can breed some pretty amazing music and if you're looking for proof, look no further than this magnificent compilation chronicling 12 incredible years of the incomparable Oz garage/punk scene. Rarely is Australia's scene ever mentioned in the same breath as those of New York or London. Shame, really, because whereas New York's was art-centered and London's was fashion-centered, the Aussies put the music firmly up front and center, right where it belongs. Although few of the bands which show up here may be familiar to the casual listener (the exceptions probably being Radio Birdman, The Saints, and The Celibate Rifles), you may find yourself scrambling to get your hands on everything you can by the rest. There's not a duff track to be found anywhere here and if songs like The Lime Spiders' "Slave Girl," The Fun Things' "Savage," The Screaming Tribesmen's "Igloo," or The Exploding White Mice's "Burning Red" don't put some lead in your pencil, you may want to have someone check you for a pulse. A bargain at double the price..."

AUSSIE GARAGE PUNK, POWERPOP! THIS CD RULES!

SambonerocknrollMF | Norfolk, Verginya USA! | 10/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I finally broke down and bought this thing! And to my surprise, it's really good. Primative Radio Birdman and The Saint material as well as The Hoodoo Gurus. You got to hear these bands as well as other bands that were formed from these bands such as New Race with Deniz Tek, Rob Younger and Warwick Gilbert from Radio Birdman, Dennis Thompson from MC5 and Ron Asheton from The Stooges. And other bands such as The Hitmen, The Passengers, The Lime Spiders, the Hard Ons, The Visitors, and many more. There was a Stooges compilation years ago whereby it was just Australian bands playing Stooges covers. That was awesome! I had it on vinyl! Man, I wish I had that thing! It was so good!



This cd set, 2 cds is pretty cool! The inlay explains alot of what happened in the music scene in Australian from 1976-1987! Alotta great bands and alotta great music!"