The Triffids at T(N)VV

Two days short of what would've been David McComb's 56th birthday, our mutual friend JC has done me the great honour of posting my Triffids Imaginary Compilation Album over at The (New) Vinyl Villain (here). As always when attempting to choose just ten tracks from a favourite artist, the final selection proved excruciatingly difficult to whittle down. In the end I tried for a representative mixture of the band's lighter and darker moments, sequenced into what I hope is a really balanced listen. Among the many other great Triffids songs that came under consideration as I fiddled and faffed with the final running order, was epic live favourite 'Field of Glass', which eventually only failed to make the cut by the smallest of margins. So imagine, if you will, that this is the hidden bonus track on the CD version of the compilation.

The Triffids - Field of Glass

The Good Life Never Ends

Well wouldn't ya know it. Just a few weeks after I bemoaned the lack of any recent music by The Blackeyed Susans (in this post), along comes a brand new EP - hopefully the precursor to a full length album in 2017. 'Lover or the Loved' is scheduled for release on December 2nd, though one of the EP's four songs is already available to enjoy - and what a stunner it is. 'The Good Life Never Ends' was written by the late great David McComb of The Triffids for his final band Costar, though his recording has never received an official release. 'The Good Life Never Ends' clearly means a lot to The Blackeyed Susans, as they've previously recorded an intense live reading of it in 2008, for a David McComb tribute album. Here are all three versions.

The new Blackeyed Susans EP 'Lover or the Loved' is available to pre-order here. 



David McComb & Costar - The Good Life Never Ends (Demo)

The Blackeyed Susans - The Good Life Never Ends (Live 2008)

The Triffids at Islington Assembly Hall

In April 2010, 11 years after David McComb's tragic early death, the surviving members of The Triffids reconvened for a concert at The Barbican to salute their fallen leader. In spite of my best efforts I was unable to make it that night, but asked a friend who was going to text me his thoughts after the show. At around 11.05 that evening his three word review came through - 'Grown men wept'.

In Islington on Friday evening, The Triffids reunited once again, this time to commemorate the 30th anniversary of 'Born Sandy Devotional'. '...it's the best thing we’ve ever done, there's no question about it...' said McComb of the album soon after its original release. The core line-up of the band was bolstered by the great Chris Abrahams from The Necks on keyboards, with Rob Snarski (from The Blackeyed Susans), JP Shilo, Simon Breed and Toby Martin sharing the vocal duties. This time around, in spite of my current lack of a car, I made it to the show - a full 27 years since I last saw The Triffids in concert. It was akin to a reunion with old friends. And yes, grown men wept.

(A couple of years ago, I wrote a little about my history with The Triffids here)

(Recorded a couple of nights earlier in Amsterdam)

Too Hot To Move, Too Hot To Think

Scattered, in various stages of completion, around the many nooks and crannies of my laptop, are tracklistings for half-a-dozen different Imaginary Compilation Albums that I one day hope JC will consider for inclusion in his excellent ongoing series over at The New Vinyl Villain. One of the said compilations (and, coincidentally, the nearest to completion) features Australia's mighty Triffids. Such is the strength in depth of the band's catalogue, 'Too Hot to Move, Too Hot to Think', from 1989's 'Black Swan', isn't currently a contender for the final running order, though all that could change of course. The song lurches gradually into being, as if emerging from a dense, stifling swamp. It's been the soundtrack to my life this week.

Come See, Come See, Remember Me - 1984 Part 3.

A last look at my favourite albums of the year back in 1984. This was my top ten, thirty years ago.

'Gravity Talks' was Green on Red's debut full length LP, released in the USA in 1983, before appearing in UK record shops to coincide with the band's first visit to these shores. Green on Red were another band that I saw live many many times and I was delighted to catch up with main man Dan Stuart once again, earlier this year (here).

Do I really need to say anything regarding the inclusion of The Smiths first LP in this list? I don't think so. Other than to note, perhaps, that it's way too low down the order.

The were a lot of good, retro-tinged, guitar bands coming out of Australia in the mid-80s and The Hoodoo Gurus debut LP arrived as part of that wave. Albums two and three, 'Mars Needs Guitars!' and 'Blow Your Cool!', were probably superior, but 'Stoneage Romeos' is still a fun ride.

I saw Miles Davis in concert twice during 1984 and the time spent in the same room as this giant of 20th century music, overshadowed virtually everything else all year. Hence the high position for 'Decoy', a good late period LP, but, in my opinion, not as strong as its predecessor, 'Star People', or successor, 'You're Under Arrest'. Great to see this clip again though.

Rank and File operated within the short-lived Cowpunk genre. 'Long Gone Dead', the second of their three LPs, is a lot of fun, but is absolutely not the fifth best album of 1984!

Unfortunately, the nearest I ever got got to catching the mighty Gun Club in concert was passing a worse for wear Jeffrey Lee Pierce in the entrance to Dingwalls one night, as I was on my way into the venue to see another band. Mind you, this performance was a pretty cool thing to witness on tea-time telly at the time. (Somebody tell Jools that his mic is still on!)

I've no qualms about the lofty positions occupied by Lloyd Cole's first LP and REM's second - both terrific pieces of work that still hold up effortlessly today. Which brings us to The Triffids, with two albums in the top 10. 'Treeless Plain', was another one of those records that only arrived on a UK label in 1984 following its actual release (in Australia) the previous year - and a stunning debut it is too. With the benefit of hindsight, it's obvious that there are serious omissions from this list and erroneous inclusions in it, but if I had to make the top 20 again today, the number one would be the same. I've watched this clip a few times over the past couple of days and still struggle to make it through without becoming emotional. David McComb - gone, but never forgotten.

(Addendum:  A wider look at the full sheet upon which my Top 20s LPs of 1984 are listed, reveals a 'late addition' scrawled in the margin - and what a belter it is. The Nomads are still rockin' today, thirty years on.)

David McComb - 15 Years Gone

I don't remember exactly how many times I saw The Triffids live, around fifteen I'd guess, but I do know that the first was in a sparsely populated, subterranean, Romford night-club in 1984. Also in attendance that night was early champion John Peel. By 1989 I'd seen them headline prestigious London venues such as The ICA, The Town & Country Club and both The Shaw and Dominion Theatres. The world, it seemed, was their oyster, but despite critical praise and a devoted fanbase, the mass sales, required by major label Island, never materialised and the band drifted back to their native Australia and then drifted apart. The Triffids left behind a marvellous body of work, but, for my money, an enduring masterpiece still lay ahead of them, just out of reach.

In May 1994 David McComb returned to the UK to play a handful of shows in support of his only solo album, 'Love of Will'. I caught McComb, accompanied by his band The Red Ponies (named after a Triffids song), in a cramped and sweaty Borderline, where they played a blistering set, comprising tracks from the new album, classic Triffids material and well chosen covers. While in the country, McComb and the band stopped in at the BBC to record a couple of tunes for Jools Holland, from where this thrilling clip is taken. Note a pre-Bad Seeds Warren Ellis on the psychedelic fiddle.

It's almost too heartbreaking for me to dwell on David McComb's fate for too long. After undergoing a heart transplant at the age of 33, his final three years were spent plagued by ill health and personal demons. He recorded more music, but much of this remains unreleased. David died 15 years ago today, two weeks short of his 37th birthday.

Previous David McComb/Triffids posts here and here.

Version City #12 - David McComb sings Leonard Cohen

The late great David McComb of The Triffids was clearly an admirer of Leonard Cohen, particularly, it seems, of laughing Len's least loved LP, 'Death of a Ladies Man'. First McComb (with Adam Peters) covered 'Don't Go Home with Your Hard-On' for the 1991 tribute album 'I'm Your Fan', then two years later, in cahoots with The Blackeyed Susans, he delivered this sparkling reading of 'Memories'.

Previous visits to Version City.

Every Word of Kindness Tastes Like Bile