For the most part, I don’t think there’s a lot of coincidental ranking in the list I’m focusing on for Make It New. The Paste ranking feels largely arbitrary, except for this one time. Last time I covered Split Enz, who hailed from New Zealand. This time, I’m covering The Go-Betweens, who keep us in the lower hemisphere as we hop over to Brisbane, Queensland which is found in Australia. Given that Spotify calls them one of the biggest cult bands of their homeland, I was curious to know what made them stand out. Whereas I found Split Enz a little lacking an organic identity, I come away with the exact opposite opinion of The Go-Betweens. Even if I don’t like “Tallulah” as much as “True Colours,” the reality is that they’re even more of an ideal New Wave band deserving of a place on this list.
There were endless moments throughout the record where I raised an eyebrow, eager to pull up a lyric sheet and get to the heart of a band that was doing something more ambitious than catchy hooks. As someone who prefers lyrics, “Tallulah” is jam-packed with small moments that make me admire the songcraft of Grant McClennan and Robert Forster. Doing research, I discovered songs like “Right Here” were about people working in a funeral home and getting addicted to embalming chemicals and falling even more in love with what they were doing. Not only were they catchy, but they were personal. There was no mistaking The Go-Betweens for another band.
On the one hand, they follow in a similar vein to most New Wave bands on this list. They would disband by the end of the 80s following minor success before reuniting in decades to come. In fact, their comeback in the 21st century was arguably an improvement on where they started. Even then, there’s one thing that’s exciting about Paste choosing to focus on “Tallulah” instead of their earlier work. Whereas the average year of most releases was 1980, this comes near the end of the decade in 1987. If nothing else, I think it shows where New Wave went as opposed to where it started. Like Split Enz, it’s not necessarily where they started musically, but it’s exciting to see where they wound up.
The journey of The Go-Betweens may sound familiar, but it comes with a few turns that haven’t been seen before. Among the several bandmates, the two consistent names were Forster and McLennan. They met in 1976 at a drama class at the University of Queensland. They shared an interest in artists like Bob Dylan and The Velvet Underground. As they talked more, they formed a band in December 1977 with Forster on guitar and McLennan on bass while sharing singer-songwriting duties. The additional band members would come and go, though it would take a long time to settle on a permanent drummer. By 1978, they recorded a lot of music including their debut single “Lee Remick” named after the actress. By November 1979, they decided that they needed to move to London, England where they rereleased their music and found themselves flirting with industry types. Among early supporters was The Birthday Party’s Nick Cave who would also collaborate on a few songs.
In 1981, they released their debut album “Send Me a Lullaby.” One of their biggest novelties was naming their albums with words featuring double l’s (ex: “Before Hollywood,” “Spring Hill Fair”). It started accidentally but soon became a challenge for them. This pattern held until 1988 with “16 Lovers Lane,” which still featured two l words. By the late 80s, they would begin shifting their sound to something more accessible so that by 1986’s “Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express,” they were producing a more polished sound that could be argued as New Wave. With “Tallulah,” they found the perfect balance that proved to be some of their most critically acclaimed work to date. They were also a newly formed five-piece, having acquired violin/oboist Amanda Brown.
An interesting irony of trying a new sound is that the album came together unconventionally. The initial recording featured Craig Leon who tried to persuade the band to have synthesizers and drum machines. However, after two songs it proved to be ineffective. It had also eaten up a lot of their budget which meant that every song except “Right Here” didn’t have that polish to them. Forster argued that they were “sort of cursed.” They would eventually find a way of remixing the tracks so that they actually sounded decent. They also praised the inclusion of Brown, who brought the band an authentic sound that helped give them a dramatic flair. Even if Forster claimed that “Cut It Out” was one of the band’s worst songs, it was praised for its uniqueness and showed the band continuing to experiment with sound.
As mentioned near the top, I am a big fan of how this album sounds. As the influences suggest, there are touches of a garage band technique that keeps them sounding scrappy and eager. You get the sense that they’re overcoming limitations to make something that is passionate and clever. I think it helps that “Tallulah” came after several albums so I can hear them fine-tuning their work and creating something exciting and fresh. There’s a narrative style to their work that allows you to feel invested in stories while still having catchy enough hooks to dance to.
I think an early example is “Someone Else’s Wife,” which reflects an interesting level of maturity. Whereas most bands would sing about infidelity with a careless pleasure, there’s this melancholy of a relationship that never progresses because the woman is married. It’s a chorus that feels like the deepest internal thoughts leading to a revelation that doesn’t fully break out into the triumphant singalong many would expect. Instead, it’s a tale of joy undercut by reality. There’s a subversiveness that’s present in the opening song, “Right Here,” which finds a love story emerging from the most unexpected of places. These may sound like conventional songs on the surface, but they come to hold a deeper weight the closer you look.
I also love the mix of academia that this album features. “The House That Jack Kerouac Built” is a clever entendre that explores topics not uncommon from McLennan and Forster’s own conversations. Given that they were keen to talk about arts and politics, they brought that to their work in a way that created these characters you couldn’t help but recognize. Much like The Vapors, you see in these strangers something familiar that speaks to you and appreciate their vision. Even songs like “The Clarke Sisters” may seem a bit offbeat given references to menstruation, but it’s one of the things I look for in New Wave. For as much as I like a good-sounding record, I want something specific to the band in question. New Wave to me is about being “odd” when compared to conventional rock, and nothing is odder than references to Jack Kerouac and funeral homes. It makes you feel like you’re friends with the nerdy outcasts who like some cool stuff that MTV probably wouldn’t immediately jump on.
My favorite stretch is “Bye Bye Pride” and “Spirit of a Vampyre.” While every song brings something worth slowing down to deconstruct, these two feature an odd pairing of themes. Steve Kilbey of The Church suggested that “The lyrics are so Brisbane I can almost see it all happening right before me.” There is a vision of the world that is full of life and personality. It’s among the band’s most recognized works and I think benefits from top-notch melodies. I also think it’s interesting when paired with “Spirit of a Vampyre,” which seems more focused on a visit to Los Angeles where someone is presumably at a drug rehab clinic. Even as they discuss addiction, there is a romanticism to it that makes you feel transfixed by this flawed couple. You see the optimism emerging, asking for a better life to emerge from this vampiric behavior. It’s weird and kooky, and totally the zenith of what this record does right.
As the Spotify description from earlier suggests, the band wasn’t exactly the most successful act in the world. While they found enough acclaim to get by, The Go-Between wasn’t appreciated during their formative years. Following their 1988 album, the band went on hiatus in 1989 before returning for a run in 2000-2006. This would produce three albums that featured some of their highest charting success. Along with the new work, it encouraged others to discover their back catalog and form a new fondness for their contributions.
Like most New Wave bands covered, McLennan and Forster also had significant second lives as solo acts. Since 1990, Forster has produced eight solo albums. Meanwhile, McLennan would form additional bands like Jack Frost with The Church’s Steve Kilbey. He would also produce four solo albums between 1991 and 1997.
Any plans for a lengthy reunion were undercut by the passing of McLennan, who died of a heart attack in 2006. With that said, their resurgence led to a new level of awareness. Among their most unique honors came in 2010. They would have a toll bridge near Brisbane named in their honor The Go Between Bridge. Similarly, they would be referenced by artists like Teenage Fanclub and Belle and Sebastian. Among more contemporary influences of the dolewave genre is Courtney Barnett, who carries the Aussie approach of storytelling music with humor and vulnerability. Given how much I love Barnett, it makes sense that I really responded to “Tallulah” which feels like a predecessor to her work.
Whereas I come into this column often only able to appreciate the bands, The Go-Betweens are one that I think will continue to grow on me and find a deeper fondness for as I listen to more albums. They may not be the most prolific, but they still produced a significant amount of work that I think speaks very well of what New Wave as a genre should be doing. It’s not always about being esoteric in sound. Sometimes it’s finding humanity in the oddest corners of songwriting. They have done that in leaps and bounds, resulting in something that connects with me on a deeply personal level. This is the type of band that makes me grateful for journeying through this list because otherwise, they’d still be that great cult band I’d never heard of. I’m excited to imagine who else will be there in the not-too-distant future.
Coming Up Next: Depeche Mode – “Music for the Masses” (1987)
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