Exploders - Exploders
by Andrew Carver
published: 15 / 4 / 2006

Label:
Select Label
Format: CD
intro
Adventurous and explosive garage rock on debut album from new Australian trio the Exploders
Harrummph! As all God-not-fearing Canadians know, there can be only one Exploders! Namely, the Toronto one, with “Classy” Craig Daniels on guitar and Simon Pious from the Starkweather Fits singing! Nonetheless, we shall permit this trio of hirsute Australians to continue their evil name-appropriating ways, because we are a forgiving people, and ,like the real (harrumph!) Exploders, this lot rock pretty damn hard. A lot of this is down to Matt Britten; even taken the appropriately raw production into account, he is obviously a skins-smasher of rare puissance and precision. Guitarist T.J. Allender is also an excellent singer, with a fine sense of melody and an expressive, raspy voice. Musically they are not too far away from the three chords style favoured by honoured ancestors such as the Kinks and modern rockers the Buff Medways. When not bringing the noise, they also have time to craft clever lyrics, such as “Everybody knows/that your heart ... is as black/as the rain that falls on my car” or declaring on 'Can’t Sleep' “I’m so tired/and angry/I’d kill my mother/for some coffee.” That’s not a very nice thing to say about one’s mother, but it’s passably amusing. The band also has an adventurous streak (no, they aren’t mere revivalists) as evidenced by the percolating riff of the instrumental 'Hugh’s Lament' (for some reason, it makes me think of something Ween might com up with – perhaps because of the highly equalized sound Allender uses for his lead tone). A smashing debut by any standard – almost as good as the real Exploders (harrrumphhh!).
Track Listing:-
1 BBC Intro2 My Country Brain
3 Stepping Out
4 Cowboy Jim
5 Big Hair Revolution
6 Can't Sleep
7 High's Lullaby
8 Please Please
9 God's Above
10 Fuzz Bomb
11 Everybody Knows
12 The Personal Correspondence of Major Algernon Mufflebottom
most viewed articles
current edition
Peter Doherty - Blackheath Halls, Blackheath and Palace Halls, Watford, 18/3/2025 and 21/3/2025Armory Show - Interview with Richard Jobson
Liz Mitchell - Interview
Deb Googe and Cara Tivey - Interview
Lauren Mayberry - Photoscapes
Max Bianco and the BlueHearts - Troubadour, London, 29/3/2025
Garfunkel and Garfunkel Jr. - Interview
Maarten Schiethart - Vinyl Stories
Clive Langer - Interview
Sukie Smith - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Davey Woodward - Mumbo in the JumboNigel Stonier - Wolf Notes
Wings - Venus and Mars
Kate Daisy Grant and Nick Pynn - Songs For The Trees
Only Child - Holy Ghosts
Neil Campbell - The Turnaround
Philip Jeays - Victoria
Darkness - Dreams On Toast
Suzanne Vega - Flying With Angels
Charles Ellsworth - Cosmic Cannon Fodder
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart