It’s hard to remember a voice more destined to polarise listeners than that of Marcus Gordon, singer, multi-instrumentalist and mastermind of new Sydney act Spookyland. How to describe it? Think of a young Nick Cave, howling in pre-pubescent rage in the moments before his voice breaks. Think of Bowie as Ziggy Stardust doing his best impression of The Tallest Man On Earth doing his best impression of Bob Dylan. Think of a wide-eyed singer/songwriter YouTube-ing the Daniel Johnston recordings, then adopting all the squeal and shriek of those fourth-generation cassette tapes as a bona fide vocal style. And even then we’re just getting started.
Lead single The Silly Fucking Thing has been doing the rounds for a while now. It’s that rare and utterly magical kind of song that leaves you remembering when and where you first heard it. At its most basic, The Silly Fucking Thing is a break-up song. But there’s never been a break-up song quite like this. The credit goes mostly to Gordon’s searing, all-or-nothing vocal approach, but it’s also an excellently crafted song, starting with an acoustic guitar and ending in a maelstrom of washed-out guitars and wailing harmonicas.
For all its brilliance though, one of the big questions posed by The Silly Fucking Thing was whether Gordon’s eccentric singing style would hold up across a longer platform. Would he be like other vocal oddities: best consumed in small doses? Ultimately the jury remains out on that for the time being, but based on the additional three songs that comprise the Rock And Roll Weakling EP, Gordon and his Spookyland accomplices are a force to be reckoned with well beyond the staggering promise of The Silly Fucking Thing.
Blood in the Rain is Nick Cave circa Henry’s Dream being mauled by AC/DC (or vice versa). In it Gordon leaps effortlessly from baritone growl to his signature high-pitched caterwaul. The title track is a Stardustian tale of a rock’n’roll misfit fired into a hostile world. Adventure Song rounds out the all-too-brief set. As the song builds to its dazzling crescendo, Gordon stands like a man in the mouth of a hurricane, unrepentant and wise beyond his years, singing of a “sound that makes men build statues twenty-five feet above the ground.”
Prophetic? Maybe. Only time will tell. Either way, bring on the album.
BY WAYNE MARSHALL
Best Track: The Silly Fucking Thing
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: NICK CAVE, THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH, DANIEL JOHNSTON, BOB DYLAN, NEIL YOUNG
In A Word: Exhilarating
