Various Artists
Inner City Sound Compilation
Laughing Outlaw

I've had this double disc lying around for a couple of months, and just when I was about to write a piece on its content, Go-Between Grant McLennan dies.

The Inner City Sound album is a 2 CD set, and a stand-alone companion piece to the cult book (published 1982) of the same name, which told the story of Australia's punk and post-punk music the underground. The album is a great listen, and it almost bursts with spontaneity, vitality, energy and charm. Plus some awkward moments of course. This CD set is a fine introduction to Aussie rock from late 70's to early/mid-80's (even though there are some newer stuff as well - such as The Go-Betweens, which is represented by a song culled from their last album, Oceans Apart of 2005.)

You get over 40 tracks, many of them never before released on cd. Great fun. Some bands are more well-known/"known", such as the Saints, Nick Cave's Boys Next Door and the Birthday Party, the Go-Betweens, the Triffids, Radio Birdman-offspring the New Christs, the Scientists, Hunters & Collectors. Then there are loads of bands more or less out of obscurity, giving you an opportunity to dig deep. To remember, discover or re-discover the labels of the 80's: Hot, Citadel, Mushroom, Au-Go-Go, Missing Link. There's a jungle down there.

But, I do miss some names, missing on this collection: The Celibate Rifles, Lime Spiders, Hoodoo Gurus, Screaming Tribesmen, Painters and Dockers. Yet, this album holds great stuff.

Copyright © 2006 Håvard Oppøyen