Sundirtwater is the fifth album from The Waifs, a folk-rock band from Western Australia. ... more
Their resume is fairly impressive, with their double-platinum fourth album Up All Night, and a tour with Bob Dylan both in Australia and North America. Sundirtwater is a fine addition to their discography as well, with a title track which has a jazzy groove which is as addictive as anything I have heard recently. There are also a dozen other tracks which may not have the same initial draw as Sundirtwater, but all of which hold their own with repeated listening.
Advantages: Aussie folk, blues, country if you like that sorta thing Disadvantages: Don't play the UK enough
I first heard the Waifs when they supported Billy Bragg on his UK tour. They are an excellent live band but their CDs are just as good, it's just a shame they don't get to tour here much (even less now there are baby waifs!). This was their debut album. They are difficult to categorise - folk, blues, country, Aussie accents but a clear American influence - they cite Bob Dylon as an early influence.
The band consists of two Australian fisherman's daughters who, in 1992 bought a campervan and headed off around Australia singing to fund their travelling. They met up with Josh, third member of the band and the rest is history! They are all great songwriters and many of their songs are inspired by their life on the road. Their grandfather was American and you can hear a bluesy American influence in their sound.
They all play ...
Advantages: A full-barrelled onslaught of witty pop Disadvantages: That it's self-indulgent hardly needs saying
I don't know about you, but I'm the sort of person who will lay in bed at night, staring at the ceiling, and just before sliding into my slumbers will contemplate the great enigmas that beset mankind. Can we not all just live in peace, tolerance and understanding? Is there a God? Is this all there is, and after this comes merely an inky blackness? And most important of all, why has there never been an album of songs about cricket done by two Irish blokes?
Well agonise about the latter no more, as Thomas Walsh and Neil Hannon have adopted the moniker of The Duckworth Lewis Method (the name given to the formula used to calculate by how many runs England would have lost a one-day international match if it hadn't been cut short by rain) and stepped into the breach. Or strode up to the crease. Or something...and provided a collection ...
Advantages: A good excuse to re-discover a great album. Disadvantages: You may have bought it a couple of times before.
Having recently re-discovered this album I had forgotten just how great it is. The album contains classics such as 'Helter Skelter', 'Yer Blues', 'Happiness is a Warm Gun' and Harrison's awesome 'While my Guitar Gently Weeps'. In my opinion this is a sometimes overlooked album when the Beatles catalogue is considered and often remains a source of disagreement between fans. For me 'The White Album' remains an incredible and often ambitious piece of work. In my opinion 'Happiness is a Warm Gun' contains one of Lennon's best vocals and the instrumentation is beautiful throughout, especially McCartney's bass parts and Harrison's playing on 'While my Guitar Gently Weeps'. Despite containing a few of my least favourite Beatles songs I still find it full of inventive lyrics and interesting musical ideas. For me a genuine classic. ...
