Notwithstanding the slight lexicological variation in its name, it’d be tempting to assume that Royston Vasie was a local band for local people, just like the disconcerting characters from the rural English village of Royston Vasey in The League Of Gentlemen.
But while Royston Vasie might be a local band, its debut record, Tenah Marah, is music that vastly transcends the occasionally insular confines of the band’s hometown of Melbourne. You Want It Now sits on a Jonestown riff that you could build a dirty rock’n’roll home on, and live in forever; hang around, and Inside paints the walls with licks of colour, movement and irrefutable quality. The subject matter of That’s My Girl might have been around since Adam took to his guitar after Eve left him for that snake in the garden, yet this is a track that’s as fresh as Tacoma in ’65, San Francisco in ’67 or LA in ’81.
All The Little People lurches into the light in a haze of psychedelic experience: there’s something confronting in its darkness and thematic exploration; there’s something brilliant in its subtle intensity. Easier drops back a gear into acoustic mode, and the mood relents; Come On drags you into a world of wonder, and by golly fuck, isn’t that a riff you just want to squeeze close to your heart and never let go? Get Back Yesterday is the suburban train ride into a reality where The Long Ryders reign supreme; Take Me Over hangs around the London clubs of 1984, taking carefully aimed pot shots at the insipid pop of the dominant music classes.
Love Riots is Roxy Music for the contemporary psychedelic generation, Can’t Wait is the closest thing to a linear rock track on the album (and even then it bends into unexpected shapes) and as for Don’t Waste Your Time, if even there was an antithetical assessment of an album, it’s this. This isn’t just local music for local people: it’s a great album, for all ages and all people.
BY PATRICK EMERY
Best Track: That’s My Girl
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: THE LOVETONES, BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE, EVEN, THE STEMS
In A Word: Sparkling
