Powderfinger

Fuck I love the inherent nature of being attracted to bands from your own country. Somewhere in the recesses of our understanding, you can somehow parallel your own [Australian] love for Midnight Oil or Cold Chisel with an young Indian boys love of Baba Sehgal or Euphoria [I had to look those up…they’re legit Indian pop artists…I think]. Concept is the same in every country though I expect, but I can’t help thinking that we’ve been served a pretty good hand in the local artists category.

The fact that a fair amount of Aussie artists never make it in Europe or the US is not something that is such a bad thing I think. Aside from a few big ones like AC/DC, INXS or the Oils, no one really makes it to a global level compared to the likes of  MJ, Elton John or The Beatles. But thats my point I think, that what it really shines a spotlight on is that there is a real beauty behind every culture’s unique style that becomes so ingrained in its listeners to the point that we feel inevitably more comfortable hearing music from artists we’ve grown up with.

Sure, it’s human nature to do this I spose. But exposure to any piece of music for an extended period of time allows the listener to really begin exploring the true quality of both artists and song. This is where I think Powderfinger comes to the fore. There is a truly unique Australian quality to their music even though part of me can’t quite put my finger on what that is. I often have visions of a scene straight out of the 1980’s of a kid in his shorts & thongs riding his BMX down the shops to get smokes for his Mum but stops at the Fish and Chip shop on the way to buy a dimmy and play a couple rounds of Galaga before remembering his Mum is waiting…all set in a washed out sepia tone. I know that’s a pretty descriptive picture, but if you listen to ‘Don’t Wanna Be Left Out’ off their 1998 epic album Internationalist, while thinking of that as a film clip it kind of sums up how they make me feel. Different song, different scene. But all unmistakably Australian.

Before the days of Spotify, [there’ll be stories about this kind of shit in the future] we had their 2000 masterpiece ‘Odyssey No.5’ on CD in our car on high rotation. Actually, it may have been stuck in the player for a period of time if I recall rightly. None the less, it’s a hell of a way to familiarise yourself with an album. We gave birth to our first child in 2000 and as par for the course, drove a fair fucken amount of km’s in that year just trying to get him to sleep. And there you have it. The perfect storm of something you’re required to do partnered with the only music you can listen to while you’re doing it. This is where I fell in love with Bernard Fanning and one of Australia’s most underrated bands of all time. [*Please note that I say ‘underrated’ for an international audience who aren’t aware of the accolades heaped on them by the Australian music industry].

And here is where I come back to really becoming best friends with music from your country of origin. For the life of me I can’t conceive of why Powderfinger never made it big anywhere else in the world. Their music as so intelligent and the way they play has a realness to it that I expect reflects an authentic Australian story, not the bullshit bogan tourist that you can pick from a mile away in a Bali bar in his Bintang singlet. Like anywhere else on the planet, there’s a very big difference between the stereotype and the actual culture. For me, The Finger represent the real Australia. The one I’m a part of.

Unable to remember if I’ve mentioned previously that I have a bucketload of playlists on my computer, I will say that I have a favourites playlist for all my most listened to artists. For instance I have a best of John Mayer, best of Janes Addiction etc. and the playlist I have for Powderfinger consists of about 20 songs that I’m pretty sure I know like the back of my hand. Picking Odyssey No.5 as my favourite album is a pretty easy exercise though. It’s an album that just doesn’t miss. With four singles released from it, the album powers from one great track to the next willing you to just dare it to send out a  sub par piece to fuck the flow of everything up…but it doesn’t.

All great albums do this I think though. And when I say ‘great’, I don’t say this lightly. Every great band has one album that shines brighter than the rest. For the Finger, its ‘Odyssey No.5’. When I really think about it though [and let’s take into account its a good two decades down the track], it feels as though it was when they were in their absolute prime. Like they were enjoying everything they did. And everything they did turned to gold. Including a fuck-load [thats an Aria Approved quantity] of awards that made it seem as through they were really the only ones who released an album that year.

It sold over half a million albums which means that more than likely if you are in fact an Aussie or Kiwi and you kept your CD’s from the 90’s & 00’s, you probably have a copy of it somewhere. It would only seems proper that you do.

I’m really hoping their music stands the test of time. Like listening to an early AC/DC album, or a Cold Chisel track that makes you feel like you’ve come home after a hard day of working to someone else’s beat. Or more aptly like when I see your shadow on the street now, & I hear you push through the rusty gate. Hear the click of your heels on the concrete waiting for a knock coming way too late.

Yep…its more like that.

M/

~ Article updated March 2020