The Lucksmiths- by Brendan Tompkins

Like the saying about a good man goes, sometimes a good band is hard to find. The Lucksmiths are probably one of the Southern Hemisphere's hardest to find and best-kept secrets. While the rest of us have been listening to Aussie bands like Silverchair and Midnight Oil, the Lucksmiths have been quietly making a name for themselves as one of the most original and talented indie pop bands out of Australia. Their latest release, "Why That Doesn't Surprise Me" on Candle records in Australia, and Drive-In and Matinee records here stateside is one of their best ever.

The Lucksmiths got together after high school in Melbourne (pronounced mel-bun by the locals), Australia in 1993. They epitomize the perfect pop trio. Tali White fronts the band, playing snare drum and singing with in a dream-like Australian accent. Guitarist Marty Donald writes most of the songs with clever lyrics revolving around twists and turns of words and phrases like "I've been here for hours… I can't see the florist for the flowers." Mark Mannone balances out the sound of twangy guitar and snare drum with melodic bass lines that often sound like entire songs themselves.

Like most independent bands without major label funding, The Lucksmiths have worked their way through tours borrowing gear from other bands and sleeping on floors of fans. They've toured around the world this way, and have made enough to recently quit their day jobs. After all, if you could tour abroad in New Zealand, Japan, the US, Canada, Finland, Sweden, France, Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands, England, and Scotland would you ever go back to your nine to five? At a show in Boston, I recently asked Mark what the aspirations of the band were: "What do you mean?" he said with a look of confusion, "Do you ever want to become really famous?" I asked him. He replied, "I thought we already were!" I apologized to him for insinuating that they weren't famous but the truth is, they're not mainstream nor do they seem to ever want to be. They continue to put out albums on small labels and touring in small venues around the world. Mark went on to say that he's very happy with the way things are currently for the band and isn't waiting for their big break. You could say that they deserve more notoriety than they've received for all their hard work. A band that tours and puts out as many albums as they do deserves to be on the airwaves and in CD players in every town. But they ought to have it all for a much more simple reason: they make music that is extraordinary in every way.

"Why That Doesn't Surprise Me" is the bands sixth full-length release, and has a summertime quality that is reminiscent of a day at the beach. The sound on this album is a bit more polished than their earlier albums with lyrics that are more contemplative and melodies that are more complex. The core Lucksmiths feeling is there, however, characterized by witty lines and upbeat poppy melodies. The second track on the album, "Synchronised Sinking" (Aussie spelling), is about talking a friend into breaking up with her less than desirable boyfriend. When Tali sings "Why don't you let go of your boy and see you've lost none of your buoyancy," you can almost see his smirk. His smile is made even more noticeable by a catchy melody played on a toy Hohner Melodica harp. Without a doubt, there's more instrumentation on this album than on their others, with orchestral strings on the melancholy "The Great Dividing Range" and electric piano on the reflective "First Cousins."
The Lucksmiths sound a bit like a more cheerful version of Belle and Sebastian, another indie pop band that's a little better known here in the US. But the entire album has faint reminiscence of the Beach Boys, especially to the Beach Boys album, "Pet Sounds." In fact, the track, "Beach Boys Medley" isn't a medley at all, but is about listening to the Beach Boys in high school. Perhaps the Beach Boys resemblance is due to the fact that this album was recorded over the summer in Australia. Maybe recording music in the sun in the summertime just does something to a band. Either way, you only have a few months left before summer starts to get your hands on a copy of this CD. I got mine a few months back, and I can tell you that it made getting through that snowstorm a couple of weeks ago a little easier.

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