With the benefit of hindsight, Dave Graney’s life appears to be one long cycle of reinvention. Born and bred in the South Australian regional centre of Mt Gambier, Graney joined the nascent Adelaide punk scene in the late 1970s. Within a few years, Graney had become a pivotal figure in the expatriate Australian rock scene in London. Upon returning to Australia, Graney set about constructing the post-punk flavoured cabaret image within which he exists today.
Graney’s latest release, Supermodified is an exercise in reinvention in another, narrower context. Supermodified sees Graney and his band revisit tracks from the Heroic Blues and The Brother Who Lived albums from 2001 and 2003 respectively. According to the liner notes, Graney’s performances – especially his vocals – on the latter record were detrimentally affected by the lung infection he contracted in the early part of this century. An impending digital release offered Graney the opportunity to go back to the source material and re-hash it as he now wanted it to sound.
The end result is a record that’s polished and plush. On The Brother Who Lived, Graney is the lounge lizard found lying under a couch in the corner of CBGBs, All Our Friends Were Stars is a lush ‘Vegas crooner, the biographical Epic Soundtracks is a touching tribute to a long-lost ‘80s punk icon and Clingin’ To The Coast might be the closest thing Graney will come to a Beach Boys cover.
Graney’s political aspirations get a workout in I Am Your Humble Servant and I’m Seein’ Demons, while Midnight To Dawn is dirty rock as only Graney and Clare Moore can do. The production is also elegant in the extreme: reverb vocals, off key guitar parts, Stu Pereira’s criminally underappreciated licks and Clare Moore’s deft rhythms.
Some people ‘get’ Dave Graney, and others will never know. One thing’s clear: there’s no irony involved here – Dave Graney is what Dave Graney is.
