Underground Lovers achieved a degree of fame in Melbourne with their electronic groove music before it all slowly dried up and they disappeared. Save for a ‘best off’ compilation last year the band members have worked on separate projects and eked out their own carreers since. Seemingly, the Underground Lovers were laid to rest. No so! “Weekend” sees the reincarnation of the cherished Leaves Me Blind era lineup of the band. Aside from new member Emma Portignon, all band members from that period are present. Andrew, Argiro, Bennie, Giarrusso and Nihill all answer the roll call.
Listening to Weekend it is hard to comprehend that this lineup has not recorded together for over two decades. And whilst it would be fallacious to believe the band is stuck in a time warp, Weekend is firmly early period Undies. Produced by the axis of the band that is Glen Bennie and Vincent Giarrusso, this record continues their search for the eternal dreamscape. Spaces is sugary in the Saint Etienne way and it is as if everything that has taken place since this lineup has recorded together has been left by the wayside. So have the Undies stagnated? Not entirely because Weekend is quite a sophisticated and heady collection.
Can For Now could only be the Undies. It is like putting on the undergarments to stop the chaffing. The fuzz, the bleeps, the not quite there vocals, the desire for innovation. They sound like they are still adrift in their own universe and we all the better for it. Like all their records, they are best appreciated as whole in one sitting because in isolation the songs lose a lot of meaning.
By now you will know whether the Undies are something you will want to become lost in or avoid, although their prolonged absence may serve to introduce them to a new audience. The seasoned veterans tackle the task like re-energised youngsters. Witness Signs Of Weakness (incidentally, there are none). Riding recalls the blissed out parties of yore at the Cattle & Cane disco. Very nostalgic indeed. St Germain reverberates with personality and The Lie That Sets You Free closes out “Weekend” with the mysterious thudding that leaves the mind yearning for more playtime.
BY BRONIUS ZUMERIS
Best Track: Signs Of Weakness
If You Like These You’ll Like This: PERE UBU, BRIAN ENO, JOHN CALE
In A Word: Reinvigorated
