Died Pretty - Live (Citadel Records) - english version
Died Pretty was one of the best bands that characterised the golden age of Australian rock in the 1980s, where from the first obscure singles such as 'Out of the Unknow' and the torrid 'psycho' ride 'Mirror Blues', or the decidedly more pop-oriented 'Stoneage Cinderella', to the Ep 'Next To Nothing', they laid the foundations for the masterpiece album 'Free Dirt', which is rightly remembered as one of the most important records of those years.
These early recordings gave rise to a cult following for the band of Brett Myers and Ron S. Peno, which was consolidated with other singles and albums such as "Lost" and "Every Brilliant Eye", which did not reach the heights of the debut record, but which honed a highly qualitative sogwriting, which reached completeness in 1991 when "Doughboy Hollow" was released, which brought them to the attention of a wider audience, although it was not their best-selling album, which remains the prerogative of the following "Trace", although it did not deliver them the commercial success they would have deserved.
Subsequent albums took the band away from the sounds of their early days in search of experimentation that did not yield brilliant results.
Died Pretty's discography lacked an album that captured all the energy the band poured into live performances, and to make up for this lack comes today, somewhat surprisingly, this 'Live' released by their early label, the legendary John Needham's Citadel Records.
The occasion for the recording of this album, at Melbourne's Forum Theatre, came when the band reformed to play a series of concerts across Australia as part of the 'Don't Look Back' series (which also included Sonic Youth performing the entirety of 'Daydream Nation' and The Scientists playing the entirety of 'Blood Red River'), in which 'Doughboy Hollow' plus a few oldies from the past were played in full.
A recording that remained a hidden treasure for a good fifteen years and that now sees the light of day in a limited double LP version with gatefold cover, containing 17 tracks, while the CD version contains one less.
The record is magnificent, the band consisting of John Hoey (keyboards), Steve Clark (bass and vocals) Ron S. Peno (lead vocals) Chris Welsh (drums) and Brett Myers (guitar) play excellently with few concessions to typical live digressions, lining up one after the other the eleven tracks according to the original setlist of "Doghboy Hollow", highlighting the melodies of those tracks with a clean sound that enhances every aspect: the dark psychedelia of "Battle of Stanmore", the pop majesty of tracks such as "Out In The Rain" and "The Love Song", the irresistible "DC" and "Godbless" but also the other tracks that highlight how in that record Myers and co. managed to find that cohesion and depth of sound, perhaps a little too polished, that they had been searching for for some time, in order to achieve a wider success that was within their possibilities.
Despite the years that have passed, Ron S. Peno's voice is as brilliant as it once was and as we have continued to appreciate on records played with his current band The Superstitions, the falsetto embroidery he does on 'Satisfied' being a case in point.
But the whole band adds particular nuances to the songs on 'Doughboy Hollow' that enrich its scope, turning it into something different but complementary to the original.
Died Pretty let loose when they put their hands on the older material in the second half of the concert, returning to being that other side of the coin they have always been compared to the band in the recording studio. This is openly demonstrated by the versions on this record of 'Blue Sky Day', 'Everybody Moves', 'Stoneage Cinderella', 'Winterland', 'Wihtlam Square', which sound as vital and immediate, angry and passionate as those played in the late eighties in those memorable concerts we were lucky enough to see in Italy.
If we really had to find a flaw, in an ungenerous way, in this Live, it would be to point out the painful lack of tracks like 'Mirror Blues', 'Life To Go (Ladsakes)' or 'Desperate Hours', but to make old fans like yours truly rest in peace, the magnificent version of 'Final Twist' is enough, which majestically closes what is probably the last record that will appear on the market signed Died Pretty.
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