Track of the Week: The Go-Betweens: The Wrong Road (1986)
Dedicated to Grant McLennan, lead guitar, vocals, (12.02.58 - 06.05.06) RIP
Australia's greatest pop group, The Go-Betweens moved to Scotland in the early 80s, where they put out a single on Postcard Records before the label collapsed. With their crisp, clean guitar pop, influenced by Talking Heads and Television, they fitted right in with lthe label's ethos and sound, standing proudly next to Josef K and Orange Juice (I don't give higher compliments). After Postcard's demise, The Go-Betweens released six albums worth of pop brilliance on various labels. Song-writers Robert Forster and Grant McLennan enjoyed a Lennon/McCartney relationship, and both writers had a penchant for witty litterate lyrics of failed romance and longing and a wonderful way with chord sequences. None of which, oddly enough, ever really translated into massive record sales, but it did inspire a large cult of devoted followers. A recent reunion tour and new album had been greated with rapture by fans and critics alike, but this May Grant McLennan died in his sleep, bringing a premature end to this fantastic band.
'The Wrong Road' is McLennan's song of regret at having made the wrong decision at various cross-roads of life. The song is built on acoustic guitar and a genlte 6/8 drum pattern, filled out with a tasteful string arrangement, whilst McLennan muses on how he 'Started out Oliver, ended up Fagin.' The music is sweetly moving but never overly sentimental, and McLennan's poetic lyrics, whether describing his current abode where 'The ghosts in the next room hear you cough' or comparing the rain to 'The sound of a finished kiss / Like when a lip lifts from a lip', are strongly evocative. But his self-depricating humour and good-natured charm stop the song from sinking into the self-absorbed navel-gazing that characterizes alot of indie pop from this era. The character in the song is struggling to accept his fate with grace rather then be bitter about it ('What was that phrase? Grace under pressure') and indeed the soaring chorus suggests acceptance and sadness rather then spiteful bitterness. The other nine songs on 'Liberty Belle and The Black Diamond Express', the song's parent album, are just as strong, and despite this fans cannot agree on which Go-Betweens album is the best. That should give you some idea of the wonderful consistancy of the Forster and McLennan songwriting team, and what a loss to the music world Mclennan's untimely passing was.
Australia's greatest pop group, The Go-Betweens moved to Scotland in the early 80s, where they put out a single on Postcard Records before the label collapsed. With their crisp, clean guitar pop, influenced by Talking Heads and Television, they fitted right in with lthe label's ethos and sound, standing proudly next to Josef K and Orange Juice (I don't give higher compliments). After Postcard's demise, The Go-Betweens released six albums worth of pop brilliance on various labels. Song-writers Robert Forster and Grant McLennan enjoyed a Lennon/McCartney relationship, and both writers had a penchant for witty litterate lyrics of failed romance and longing and a wonderful way with chord sequences. None of which, oddly enough, ever really translated into massive record sales, but it did inspire a large cult of devoted followers. A recent reunion tour and new album had been greated with rapture by fans and critics alike, but this May Grant McLennan died in his sleep, bringing a premature end to this fantastic band.
'The Wrong Road' is McLennan's song of regret at having made the wrong decision at various cross-roads of life. The song is built on acoustic guitar and a genlte 6/8 drum pattern, filled out with a tasteful string arrangement, whilst McLennan muses on how he 'Started out Oliver, ended up Fagin.' The music is sweetly moving but never overly sentimental, and McLennan's poetic lyrics, whether describing his current abode where 'The ghosts in the next room hear you cough' or comparing the rain to 'The sound of a finished kiss / Like when a lip lifts from a lip', are strongly evocative. But his self-depricating humour and good-natured charm stop the song from sinking into the self-absorbed navel-gazing that characterizes alot of indie pop from this era. The character in the song is struggling to accept his fate with grace rather then be bitter about it ('What was that phrase? Grace under pressure') and indeed the soaring chorus suggests acceptance and sadness rather then spiteful bitterness. The other nine songs on 'Liberty Belle and The Black Diamond Express', the song's parent album, are just as strong, and despite this fans cannot agree on which Go-Betweens album is the best. That should give you some idea of the wonderful consistancy of the Forster and McLennan songwriting team, and what a loss to the music world Mclennan's untimely passing was.
posted by Jonathan Thornton at 12:43 pm
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