Croxton Records

MRS WAINWRIGHT / Clickity Clack
December, 2007
"Clickity Clack is instantly both arresting and mysterious. 9 Demons - complete with the sound of galloping horses - throws the unhinged ways of swamp rock into the country arena to great effect. McKenna takes on lead vocals for the Paul Kelly-esque 'Big Black Sea', while the yearning slide guitar motif in the title track provides the album's most compelling moment. Blessed with an innate warmth and Australian charm, Clickity Clack is a well-rounded debut album."
Justin Grey, Timeoff Magazine

MRS WAINWRIGHT / Clickity Clack
December, 2007
"Pairing Trish Anderson - former member of three-part harmony trio GIT - with guitarist Pete McKenna, Melbourne's Mrs Wainwright present an authentic take on Australian folk/country with their debut album Clickity Clack. Opening with a foreboding guitar line, eerie chimes and a distinct drum pattern with '20 Hooded Men', Clickity Clack is instantly both arresting and mysterious. Released on Aussie songwriting legend and Weddings, Parties, Anything frontman Mick Thomas' co-owned Croxton Records, Thomas and his Sure Thing bandmate Craig Pilkington helmed production of the album.

Mia Dyson lends her smoky voice and guitar to the bluesy '1 More Reason', and also plays baritone electric guitar on 'Not A Day'. '9 Demons' - complete with the sound of galloping horses - throws the unhinged ways of swamp rock into the country arena to great effect. McKenna takes on lead vocals for the Paul Kelly-esque 'Big Black Sea', while the yearning slide guitar motif in the title track provides the album's most compelling moment. Thomas accompanies Anderson and McKenna with his deft mandola on 'Big Black Sea' and fierce electric guitar on '9 Demons', as well as taking care of the bulk of the bass duties on the record. Blessed with an innate warmth and Australian charm, Clickity Clack is a well-rounded debut album."
Justin Grey, Timeoff Magazine

MRS WAINWRIGHT / Clickity Clack
November, 2007
"It's quirkier than Git ever were but the songs are strong, the singing is spot on and the record is a beautifully crafted affair."
www.chaosmusic.com

MRS WAINWRIGHT / Clickity Clack
November, 2007
"For fans of The Waifs and Kasey Chambers."
www.redeye.com.au

MRS WAINWRIGHT / Clickity Clack
October, 2007
"Clickity Clack beats with a rock'n'roll heart. It's beauty and charm are tough and dusty thanks largely to a band that, when given a licence to rock out, grabbed the opportunity with zeal."
Martin Jones, Drum Media Sydney

YOUNG MODERN / How Insensitive
March, 2007
"Any knowledgeable music consumer would be wary of a group reforming to record a new album some 28 years after their last. Especially when that last album was their only one and the group disbanded before its release! Australian power pop pioneers Young Modern arise like the Phoenix from their long cold ashes to incinerate all such reservation in a blaze of authentic guitar pop that sounds as fresh as their original recordings. Formed in Adelaide in 1977, Young Modern were to only last two years, their nimble and eloquent brand of jangling power pop ahead of its time. They recorded with Stephen Cummings as producer and released the 'She's Got The Money/Automatic' 7" before breaking up. An album was posthumously compiled and released as Play Louder. Even back then, Stuart Coupe wrote "in future times when Young Modern are a legendary cult rock'n roll band you can proudly hold this record up to your hip friends and tell 'em you knew all along." Visionary label Aztec re-released Play Louder with a bunch of live recordings in 2005 and the wholehearted reception to the package was the impetus for the members of Young Modern to reunite for the first time in 26 years. Drawing on material that had only been recorded live (much of it packaged with the Aztec release), the band spent only three days recording 12 tracks mid last year and the quality of results would surely have surpassed even their own aspirations. The rhythms are taught, the vintage guitars ricochet tunefully about like bird song and singer John Dowler's vocals sound as good as they did in the 70's. Of course, great vintage aesthetics will only get you so far without strong songs; echoing the likes of The Byrds, The Kinks, The Box Tops and forecasting the sounds of Big Star and Australia's own Sunnyboys and The Stems, every one of the 12 original tracks on How Insensitive sound like a crafted classic. If songs like 'Lies' and 'It Happened Today' had have been released in the 60's, they surely would have been massive hits."
Martin Jones, Rhythms Magazine

THE RE-MAINS / Love's Last Stand
March, 2007
"For those of you who are familiar with the music of NSW's The Re-mains, then you'll know that a live album is probably the only way, or at least the closest way, to replicate what this bunch of crazy musical muthas get up to on a stage. Country music ain't seen anything like this before; in fact, it's not country music at all, it's country rock. In fact, the Re-Mains are indeed the country's hardest working country rock'n roll band. That title is, I believe, self-bestowed, but hey, I'm not arguing, I've seen them live, it's bloody true. Love's Last Stand was recorded in the middle of last year, in the beautiful surrounds of Mullumbimby, in Durrumbul Hall, and if you check the pics in the liner notes, it looks like they're playing in the middle of a massive barn, which I reckon is pretty much about the ideal environment for a Re-Mains gig. Enigmatic (to say the least) frontman, Mick Daley, leads the charge with aplomb, the boys following raucously in his footsteps, and it must be said, that this is a killer album. The only drawback, if I was forced to find one, is the crowd noise on a live album, it kinda sounds, in this instance, like there aren't really that many people there. But hey, for you and me who are listening to the disc, it's not really an issue. 'Stoked' starts off proceedings, and they move through a 12-song set, riding the wave of loud and mellow (although mellow for the Re-Mains would kill most people), each of them busting out on their respective instruments like it's the last gig on earth. To be honest, I've seen them play a better set live, but it's pretty hard to capture that on a disc, it's all about the atmosphere, but this is definately cool. 'Folksinger Blues' is my pick, killer banjo shredding from Shaun Butcher, and this is probably the closest you'll ever get to folk/blues rap... sounds weird? Welcome to the Re-Mains."
Sam Fell, Rhythms Magazine

THE RE-MAINS / Love's Last Stand ****
February, 2007
"One of the hardest-working, longest-driving country rock and roll bands in Australia give us a live album worthy of the thousands of kilometres they've driven. Imagine a 70s Holden which has been fanged, hooned, thrashed and cruised from one end of the country to the other, mainly on bad roads, never breaking down but continually having parts replaced as the long distances take their toll. This, in essence, is the story of The Re-mains. When banjo player Shaun Butcher (aka Uncle Burnin' Love) decided to quit the band last year the decision was made to record their final show with this lineup at the Durrumbul Hall in Mullumbimby; the performance captured is one of a band who love to play, whose musicianship has been honed in front bars up and down this continent, whose rock and roll influences marry perfectly with their plaid-shirt country swagger. Rare are the country bands who'll drop lyrics from Grandmaster Flash, The Herd and even the old Cranky hit Australia Don't Become America before breaking out into a thumping banjo-driven instrumental dedicated to bush turkeys, but this rollicking five piece act are anything but your standard idea of country music. Amidst the slashing lap-slide and furious banjo playing it's important to note that frontman Mick Daly is an excellent lyricist, ranging much further afield than your standard boy meets girl/let's drink rum and drive utes-type Australian country songwriting. "He always wanted to be a star football player/ But the poor guy had a build like Leo Sayer" still goes down as one of my favourite licks to sing along to in the modern bushranger tale Ballad of Wrong 'Un, while The Dirt Farmer's Gavotte is perhaps the finest drought-inspired piece of songwriting I've heard, managing to avoid cliché, patronising rural stereotypes and 'they're doin' it hard' platitudes equally - the thrust being it's Mick talking with his Dad about the declining fortunes of the town and farm, including a humorous exchange on whether you make less money as a touring musician or as a farmer. The playing gets a bit looser, a bit louder towards the end of the album, and purists would argue there's more rock than country (which is how it should be) - but this is an excellent recorded souvenir of a classic lineup of a band that keeps on keeping on."
Jarrod Watt, ABC Radio, Ballarat
ABC Website

YOUNG MODERN / How Insensitive ****
February, 2007
"This seminal, yet relatively unknown Adelaide-based power-pop group has cut its second album - almost 30 years after recording their debut, and their breakup after a shortlived couple of years on the live circuit. It could make a decent movie script - a bunch of middle aged guys decide to saddle up and ride again, in the wake of the re-release of their debut and reawakened interest in their role in the epic story of Rock. Young Modern were formed in 1977 around a love for the Velvet Underground, MC5, Mott the Hoople and Roxy Music; their clean, non-distorted guitars and mid-tempo rhythms immediately alienated them from the punk audiences, their approach best summed up by frontman John Dowler at the time, who said "We're the ultimate suburban band, we just appeal to nice people. "Fast forward a couple of decades and the taste for nostalgia and rediscovery of all that once was reawakened interest in this five piece band, and their position as a band who stood against the tide of punk and pub rock and their role in the development of 'power pop' - that genre best ascribed to the likes of Aussie bands such as the Easybeats, The Romantics, The Sunnyboys, Hoodoo Gurus, Even, perhaps You Am I. While the Aztec reissue of their debut album Play Faster last year included recordings of most of these songs live in Sydney and Melbourne in 1978-9 as well as extensive liner notes on the band's shortlived history. How Insensitive mentions none of this. A series of photos of silver-haired guys and a track listing is all you get with this CD, with 21st century recordings of their songs, opening with the tune asking us, the audience the question - Do You Care? Do we? Do audiences and radio programmers care about new music made by old people? The first thing that hits you upon listening is singer John Dowler hasn't lost his voice - nor has it even changed in the transition from young lad to mature gent. It's remarkable. The second is the band is tight - the clean, jangly guitars, the crisp drumming - albeit with a more measured approach, recalling the legend of the band's initial get-together, where John Dowler lectured them all on playing lighter and more 'pop'. It's cheery, at times sardonic music that's lost none of its pop sensibilities nor its refined energy and power - these are radio songs in the grand tradition of 'pop' music, with the unique qualifier that it's made by people who can't be marketed as 'young', 'naive', 'sweet' or 'bad boys of rock'.Upon the tune Home of the Brave Dowler declares "We will not be swept aside by the tide of history/It will not end in tears.." in a bittersweet refrain; the tune The Ravers Hit Town has a whole new meaning decades after it was first written - many country town residents can relate to the line "Keep your eyes in their sockets and your hands on the change tonight/ the ravers hit town..."This album kicks along nicely; the songs may have been written decades ago but age has not wearied their crisp, taught arrangements. This is far from a sad attempt at reclaiming lost glory - it's a welcome (if somewhat belated) reunion and contribution to the Australian rock and roll pantheon."
Jarrod Watt, ABC Radio, Ballarat
ABC Website

THE RE-MAINS / Love's Last Stand ****
February, 2007
"Raunchy live record from hard-working heroes."
"Northern NSW country rock & roll hellraisers the Re-Mains hit their boozy, bluesy, slide-and-banjo-laced straps on this live album, combining a rootsy twang with inner-city smarts and genuine affection for rollicking, tumbling hillbilly sounds. Authentic enough to be endearing, they keep a respectful tongue in their cheek with songs like 'You Look Like Keith Richards', and by quoting hip-hop phrases in 'Folksinger Blues'."
Luke Anisimoff, Rolling Stone Magazine

YOUNG MODERN / How Insensitive ****1/2
February, 2007
"Chemistry Lesson"
"This band sparks like a burning fuse; a miracle for a quintet of innovators waylaid by 27 years between albums. But as if emerging from a time capsule sealed in the formative years of power pop, theirs is a triumph in perfect full-circle timing. With a bright sound which underpins pop's very sensibilities, Young Modern acquiesces the retro-fit of today's youth hell bent on sideburns and the kind of aesthetic brought forth by magical melodies and jangling Rickenbacker guitars. Their story is a simple chart tragedy. Intriguing vocalist John Dowler with guitarists Mark Carroll and Mike Jones, bassist Andrew Richards and drummer Mark Kohler formed in Adelaide in 1977. Their debut single, She's Got The Money/Automatic was recorded in 1978 by purveyor of angelic sound Stephen Cummings (The Sports) and earned Sydney airtime. Pricking music industry ears, they embarked on a Sydney residency, only to split in 1979, leaving the charts wide open for such bands (who were fans) as the Sunnyboys and the Hoodoo Gurus. Aztec Records' reissue of Young Modern's debut album Play Louder in 2005, sparked Dowler's consideration for reigniting their sharp and infectuous chemistry. And what chemistry it is; Dowler's light cynicism (Do You Care), Kohler's driven beats (Lies) and an urgent guitar and bass sound (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah) so imperative to their genre. This is the insightful multi-generational music bands like You Am I and The Strokes are ebbing at.
Mike Gribble, Adelaide Advertiser

THE DUNAWAYS / Great Western Tears
November, 2006
"Aussie roots-pop outfit, the Dunaways return with their sophomore effort and it is a solid release and favours more the pop side of the equation. The rocking quotient is kept to a bare minimum with Beatlesque folk-pop ('When You're Alone' - think: Elvis Costello) and edgy post-punk ('Mrs. McCartney's Porch' - think: XTC) being allowed to rear their collective heads now and then. Perhaps not entirely what you might expect from a band who some consider a country band, as songwriters Mark Narkowicz and Andrew Viney displayed great range and versatility in these highly enjoyable primarily pop-rock numbers. Apart from the songs aforementioned, the highlights on this recommended album include the dynamic 'Ex-Pop Song', the gorgeous 'Thank You Love (That Broken Hearted Feeling)', the rollicking 'What A Way To End the Weekend', the smoother than silk 'Funny How Things Come Around' and the rustic 'New Moon Café'. First rate and first class, Great Western Tears deserves to be in the collection of every rock and pop connoisseur."
Kevin Mathews, Independant Reviewer, Singapore

SARAH CARROLL / Yippee (4/5)
August, 2006
"In terms of being overshadowed by another career, what do you think is tougher - being born the son or daughter of a famous Australian musician, or being married to one of Australia's toughest gigging journeymen of blues and rock? Sarah Carroll has eked out quite a reputation for herself formerly in the band known as Git - a much-loved trio of chanteuses - with their demise comes this debut solo album of this singer/guitarist/songwriter who takes the listener into various lives and situations without shying away from offering a perspective on her own.

"Lonely and still only partway through life/It's hard to be a showman's wife," she sings upon Showman's Wife - with none other than hubbie Chris Wilson coming in after her on the harmonica; there's humour as well as pathos here, hope and passion for life as well as sharp-eyed portrayal of various characters, both urban and rural, one might recognise. The studio crew assembled for this include the likes of Andy Baylor, Jeff Lang, Joel Silbersher, Tim Neal and a backup group labelled ...er... 'The Damp Panties' - Barb Waters, Kerri Simpson, Li'l Fi and former GIT girl Suzannah Espie among them.

It's country, but not as we know it - taking us back to the shimmery swing of the Andrews Sisters in some ways, showcasing the contemporary Australian roots blend of blues and country in others, and transporting us into the mind of a mother of two who's lived and breathed the Australian live music circuit for the past decades. While much of the lyrics work the seam of personal relationships, songs like Black Family, in which Sarah sings about a meeting with a couple of Aboriginal musicians and of what that means to her and her hopes for her kids, offers an indication she's able to broaden the scope and subject of her songs without suffering from glib or banal lyrics. Drunk Man is a tune whose ukele-driven melody and backup vocals could have been broadcast on valve radio in the late 1940s, its content a very contemporary portrayal of a character you can find in the front bar of your local this Friday night; there's a taco-filling of Tex-Mex brass spicing up the adulterous lure of I Like You Too Much, and a bit of bent-saw playing alongside a ukele backing for The Lisa Marie achieves a strange, lolling 1960s cocktail lounge-in-space atmosphere for a song dealing with a longing for Graceland - surely an apt combination.

There's a maturity and depth in these songs that belies a musician who's spent a lot of time listening to a lot of music and considering how she'd do things differently. She sings "A woman in her prime shouldn't be so sad/I'm like treasure no-one bothers to find.." - maybe the next album will find a more upbeat, rambunctious Sarah Carroll, but right now there's every indication many will find treasure in this collection of songs."
Jarrod Watt, ABC Radio, Ballarat
ABC Website

THE DUNAWAYS / Great Western Tears (7/10)
June, 2006
"The Fish John West Reject had a funny name but the transplanted Tasmanians were one of the great live bands on the Melbourne scene in the late 80's, early 90's. It was a long time ago but The Dunaways' second album shows that these former Fish - singer Mark Narkowicz, guitarist Martin Witheford, bass player Andrew Viney and drummer Graham Rankin - have lost none of their pop smarts. It's an instantly likeable collection of roots-tinged pop. "You know it's never gonna make you a million," Narkowicz sings, "so have another drink and let it show..."
One for Melbourne pop fans with fine taste and long memories."
Jeff Jenkins, MAG (Music Australia Guide)

THE DUNAWAYS / Great Western Tears
June, 2006
"Many moons ago on a cold early '90s Melbourne night, I remember going to the final ever gig by the criminally-underrated The Fish John West Reject and despairing that such a fantastic band was pulling up stumps without ever being recognized for their great work. Now, thankfully, past members of that band - most importantly chief songwriters and vocalists Mark Narkowicz and Andrew Viney - have re-united as The Dunaways and it's like they've never been away.

Great Western Tears, their second effort, is chock full of effortless melodies, hook-laden choruses and thoughtful lyrics which carefully tread the line between modern folk and breezy pop with aplomb. Narkowicz's vocals are as clear and concise as ever on songs like 'Everybody' (which cleverly reprises TFJWR's 'A Different Country Song') while Viney contributes the beautiful 'New Moon Café' (which has previously appeared on a Mick Thomas release as a cover) among other classy tracks.

Four top-notch bonus tracks (from the soundtrack of TV series Down The Line) add quantity to the abundant quality on this fine album. Unfortunately due to the vagaries of modern radio programming this won't get heaps of airplay, but if you're a fan of classy independent Australian pop-rock then this is well worth checking out."
Steve Bell, Time Off Magazine, Qld

THE DUNAWAYS / Great Western Tears
May, 2006
"The Dunaways make the kind of roots-pop that is not only not of this time, it doesn't really belong in any particular era. Or pigeonhole. How would you classify Elvis Costello? Or The Go-Betweens? Or Aztec Camera? It just is what it is, the organic result of a few blokes without any particular pretensions or aspirations and with a knack for a striking melody.

As such, no matter how great the sounds or the songs contained on this, their second record since emerging as The Dunaways from the ashes of Tassie's The Fish John West Reject, you can't help but fear that it will go the same way as other releases from similarly talented acts like Icecream Hands and Dan Warner and countless others - that it will become a treasured companion to those who give it the time and attention it deserves, but will be disregarded as unfashionable by the greater population.

Pity, as we could all learn something from the songwriting of Mark Narkowicz and Andrew Viney, their melodies both affable yet exceptional, their songs somehow visiting feelings and experiences specific to each of us, whenever and wherever they may have been. Cloaked in the chime and chant of vintage guitars, agile rhythms, the odd mandolin or horn and a vibrant sanguinity, the songs make up a book of chapters that are more than merely likeable, these are songs you want to hug close, maybe shaking with a little lapse of emotional control.

Furthermore, on Great Western Tears, The Dunaways sound like a genuine band - not a collection of half-resentful individuals jostling under the shadow of 'the frontman', but a genuinely like-minded group harmoniously collaborating towards the good of the song. Now there's something you don't hear much anymore."
Martin Jones, Inpress Magazine

MARCEL BORRACK / I Was Only Dreaming ****
April, 2006
"Marcel Borrack is an unassuming local troubadour who has been quietly honing his craft in Melbourne's roots music heartland. On his second album, Borrack again displays a knack for turning out a sparkling tune and sweet and winsome lyrics. His music fits nicely within the alternative country tent, with radio-friendly catchiness. Ron Sexsmith or Josh Rouse can be used as reference points to the maturity of Borrack's songwriting skills and there's a shade of Elvis Costello in his turns of phrase. His songs, though, couldn't come from anywhere but Melbourne, whether he's fondly naming obscure train stations on the Epping line, or forlornly walking the streets of New York while thinking about Fitzroy. There is a shy, melancholic humour on songs such as Go To Sleep, with its automotive metaphors ("I wish I had an airbag now"). This self-produced album has a warm, intimate feel with instrumentation kept simple - guitars, bass and drums, with a lick of fiddle (Jen Anderson) or pedal steel (Barry Turnbull) - and a grown-up, yet dreamy-eyed outlook."
Sophie Best, The Age EG

MRS WAINWRIGHT / Deadman's Pocket
July, 2005
The past few years have seen a number of unusual suspects rise to the top of the Australian music scene. Kasey Chambers, the John Butler Trio and The Waifs can all lay claim to multi-platinum albums. Perth's Little Birdy are beginning to taste similar success. These artists have achieved success on their own terms, for the most part playing music which would not usually be embraced by mainstream radio and audiences. This will hopefully encourage radio stations to take a chance on acts like Mrs Wainwright. Deadman's Pocket is a four track EP encompassing everything from country to rock, back to the blues and a healthy dose of American roots music. The title track relies heavily on the latter, the hypnotic vocals of Trish Anderson duelling for supremacy with some spookily atmospheric guitars. Dreams Are Soft has a timeless quality to it; upon first listen I could have sworn I'd heard it before. A slow-burning country lament, it sounds vaguely like something the late Johnny Cash might have recorded in his later years. Story Writer, the rockiest of the bunch, both musically and vocally lends itself to comparisons to both R.E.M and Midnight Oil. Closing track Oh Louis, My Louis represents the only misstep on what is a promising EP. It's not a bad track by any means; perhaps its status as the weakest of the four is indicative of the quality of the other songs on offer. Highly recommended for anyone who has found themselves in possession of albums by The Waifs or Kasey Chambers.
Jpol, Fasterlouder
Fasterlouder

DAN WARNER / A Likeness Of You
June, 2005
Back at the dawn of the 1990s one of the great Melbourne cultural institutions were the Sunday afternoon gigs with Dan Warner; here we are in the 21st century and Dan Warner has finally released his first solo album. If you're bored with the hippie-surfer campfire music of the Jack Johnsons of this world then perhaps an album of finely crafted songs from a master lyricist will get you what you need - songs about grownups, real characters and stories that reflect what it is to be a 30-40-50 something in this day and age. It's an album chocked with appearances from notable musicians, including Jen Anderson, James Black, Charlie Owen, Mick Thomas as well as his old sparring partner Al MacInnes - but it's the vivid imagery within Warner's words that carry the listener away, into a world where conversations, thoughts and emotions swim up and put themselves on show with exquisite choice and timing. One of Warner's trademark strengths is to look more closely at the ordinary dross of everyday life and find the poetry and meaning within - he's lost none of the writer's eye, none of the singer's ear and definitely none of the heart that makes his music so utterly human.

A great album - we can but hope it won't take a decade and a half to get him to follow it up...
Jarrod Watt, ABC Radio, Ballarat
ABC Website

THE RE-MAINS / Field Conditions
August, 2005
They added a hyphen for historians to distinguish them from the Barry-Holly Tashian band of the same name who supported The Beatles on their 1966 US tour. And, of course, four decades down the lost highway the Aussie country rockers sound nothing like their namesakes on this, their fourth release.The NSW north coast quintet writes, sings and performs about and beyond life in the city limits. Albury reared singer Mick Daley sets the rocky mood on his autobiographical entree song Out Singing The Blues and the vitriolic He Died With His Boots On. But the band tempers angst with melancholia on his metaphoric Horse and banjo-mandolin player Shaun Butcher tunes Roberts Road and Stoked laced by Lee Ivins pedal steel.The Re-Mains ignite a sub-genre banned by commercial radio on Daley / Ivin song I Want Every Make Of Holden Ever Made and My Friend The Bush Ranger. Their sentiments are fiercely Australian; but not the hokey Australiana of some rural peers the latter song spits venom. Well, I gotta make a livin / in the war against the Jive / from country rock and rolls golden seam / this aint no nine to five.

But The Re-Mains are no one-trick ponies galloping blinkered down the dead-end ravine that claims so many. Perhaps the pinnacle is Daley's peace anthem Free At Last, an evocative plea for truth in religion-and-greed-fuelled modern wars it's a sibling song of Boy Howardy fear parody Letterbomb.

Beyond the bar room bravado of the Butcher penned Motherlode, replete with Johnny Cash name check, Glenyss Raes violin is the oasis in tempo changes of Karaoke Caravan. The uranium metaphor in Black Aspirin swirls in a sea of guitars and Ed Matzeniks rollicking honky tonk piano and segues into mixed messages on romping Thank You Mr Ellis and spirited finale Dont Go Back.The Re-Mains arent The Tractors sonically or vocally but exude suffice soul and roughage to elevate them above our barren bar band badlands.
David Dawson, Beat Magazine

THE RE-MAINS / Field Conditions
August, 2005
Currently on tour in Australia, the Re-Mains prove that you don't have to be from south of the Mason-Dixie line to successfully mix country, rockabilly and full tilt banjo-delic rock. Hailing from Northern NSW, these guys have laid down 15 tracks that reinforce their title as Australias' 'outlaw country rock and roll renegades'. This album, their third release, covers all forms of the country genre. From swampy southern feel good ('Motherlode', 'I Want Every Make Of Holden Ever Made') through to twangy pedal steel drenched alt-country sagas ('Horse', 'White Dress'). They also visit the occasional country-pop fast paced ballad on their single 'Quit Singing The Blues'. Compared to the likes of Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Byrds, The Re-Mains are fast gaining a fierce reputation for providing quality music and putting on some pretty raucous shows. If you like your country music straight from the coal face with real earthy lyrics then The Re-Mains are for you.
Phil Edwards, www.americana-uk.com

THE RE-MAINS / Field Conditions
August, 2005
A lot of musicians, young ones specifically, are drawn into the established and heavily stylised beauty that can be country music, and the results of this exploration are becoming increasingly interesting. Though the idiosyncratic style guide is often followed a little too closely for the music to be a derivation, in the case of someone like The Re-Mains, enough of the stereotype is left at the door to allow a few more freaks to join the party. The essentials abound - the twang, the slang and the attitude - but force is not the power of The Re-Mains... subtlety is. A rich rock 'n' roll heritage that has grown and evolved as we know it (through the timeline that gave birth to heavy metal, punk, funk and all the other 'unks) is present within The Re-Mains take on country music, be it intentional or otherwise. Mind you, it would be a musician in a world where punk, metal and so on already exist and not have them at least a mild subconscious consideration. The end result is fascinating, because The Re-Main sound like country music as one would describe it to an alien, but are different enough for the aficionado to notice there's a few of them exotic spices in that thar possum stew.
Mike Wafer, XPress Magazine, WA

THE RE-MAINS / Field Conditions ****1/2
July, 2005
Not that anyone these days could possibly confuse this band with the 60s garage band from Boston of the same name, but the path's been cleared for The Re-Mains, a boot-scootin' band from fuck-knows-where, Australia. Well, this certainly isn't garage, but more like a shed with an old tractor and a restorable FC Holden with a sticker on the back window proclaiming 'Honk If You Love Country Music'. Field Conditions shows a band with a less-than-discreet love of the genre riding pleasantly past city lines. With Mick Daley's voice at times resembling Wall of Voodoo's Stan Ridgeway, his lyrics are distinctly Australian, without having to be flag-waving and patriotic. A song like 'I Want Every Make Of Holden Ever Made' proves you can rhyme something with "balustrade" and is most definitely the standout on this consistently toe-tapping album. With moping pedal steel and claw-hammer plucked banjo, The Re-mains sound like a well-oiled touring machine, with material that sounds well tested down dirt tracks and cattle grids. It's a record to dig your heels into, hard to fault and worth investigating.
Donat Tahiraj, Time Off Magazine

THE RE-MAINS / Field Conditions
July, 2005
Tucked mid-way through the Re-Mains third album is 'Free At Last', a song pleading for Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Jews alike to give up their fundamentalist fantasies. So say all of us. It¹s a song that illustrates the very real world the Re-Mains live and want to reveal in their songs, which musically straddles rock and roll. That part of the group¹s work is illustrated by ŒBlack Asprin¹, a rock and roll thumper with echoes of Creedence Clearwater Revival on the way to the Dingoes and Australian Crawl. In the middle of the rock singer Mick Daley calls for some ³steel², the country music staple. But that quickly makes way for boogie woogie piano. The Re-Mains earlier work drew comparisons to American alt-rock heroes Wilco and Uncle Tupelo, which is very nice, but I¹m betting there¹s a rich vein of Australian influence here. Cold Chisel¹s Don Walker has exposed his country heart in latter years. The Re-Mains walk that tightrope with pride and skill.
Tom Jellet, Weekend Australian

THE RE-MAINS / Burnin' Daylight EP ****
July, 2005
This EP feels a bit like a filler between 2003's excellent Thank You For Supporting Country Rock'n'Roll and their next record, with a nice cover of the Burritos' Sin City, two live-to-radio numbers and an instrumental padding out the seven tracks. But there's 30 minutes of good music here, enough to advance the argument that the Re-mains are the best countryband in Australia. The core of the group remains singer Mick Daley, Shaun Butcher filling the role of rhythm guitar -- except on banjo, and the extraordinary Leigh Ivin, up there with the world's finest on steel guitar, swinging between classic country twang and awesome rock riffage. Daley is up there with Mick Thomas as a genuine Australian voice, and his mainappeal as a singer and songwriter continues to be his ability to tell fine little stories in five minutes. It's also encouraging for the band that the best track here, Ain't Goin Back, is a collaboration between Butcher, Ivin and Daley. Mick Ward on drums and Johnny Harris on bass round out the line-up, and Glenny Rae Virus adds some delectable violin to a coupleof tracks.
Jeff Glorfeld, The Sun Herald (EG)

THE RE-MAINS / Live Review - City Tavern, Tamworth
January, 2005
I BOUGHT a T-shirt, I never buy a T-shirt. It may have been the ridiculous heat. It may have been that I felt obliged to drink rum. It was probably that this band, a talented group of misfits committed to worshipping the country rock and roll gods, is so darn tooting worth wearing. The opening night of the Tamworth Country Music Festival is traditionally quiet, crowds build up over the week to a packed crescendo on the final weekend. Like many of the town's pubs the city has a car park-sized marquee out the back for the festival. The crowd was neither big nor outlandish, like The Re-Mains would be accustomed to, but it was mighty appreciative. I was blown away. The banjo player seemed oblivious to his surrounds, twanging away like Keith Richards with straw in his mouth, singer-guitarist Mick Daley copped Tim Rogers comparisons and the rest of the players, pedal steel and guitar, bass and drums, not to mention guest fiddle and Hammond players, were nothing short of hot. Now I'm part of that irritating brigade that wears musical allegiances on their chest in pride.
Michael Gadd, Newcastle Herald