Music I've been missing - The Screaming Jets

I really enjoy doing these music I've been missing blog entries. The entries are getting me listening to a wider range of music and thinking about the impact certain music has had on me.

I am especially pleased that you enjoy the entries too (based on your comments). Thank you :) I particularly enjoyed the comment I received on the last music I've been missing, about Genevieve Maynard. Genevieve left a comment! How cool to receive a comment from the artist I've just written about. What a privilege.

This evening I've been doing a bit of tidying (hear that Dad!) and to get me moving and motivated I thought to put one one of the fastest, loudest CDs I own. The Screaming Jets - Hits and Pieces. I haven't listened them for a while, and tonight's (loud) play reminded me that they're the music I've been missing.

I don't profess to know all of their songs. I only own their greatest hits CD and DVD, and a CD single from 2000. But when I hear Dave Gleeson's voice in the fast paced songs, I get a rush of energy.

Maybe it's because I'm sometimes attracted to acute blokeyness (a cute blokeyness?). Or maybe it's the male bogan in me. I have a soft spot (excuse the pun) for Australian cock rock. Cold Chisel, Inxs etc.

I've enjoyed the Screaming Jets' music since Better was released in 1991. When I was nine years old. When I knew that cock meant rooster, and not penis. I saw the video of Better on Rage one day and liked it.



I've been to see the Screaming Jets live twice. The crowd was as scary as Placebo's. The first time my friend and I were in the front row at the Termo in Albury in 2000. I had my trusty Doc Martens on. She had thongs on. The crowd was drunk and mobile. And made up of mainly burly men twice our age. Her feet got pretty bloody. I didn't know if I was going to get out of there alive!

The second time I saw them at the Corner Hotel around 2004 with another friend. We thought it sensible to stand up the back. We felt like the youngest there by 20 years. I remember there were some guys who came to chat us up and all they did was look down our tops. I also remember moving my feet very quickly to the 'never never never never get anywhere' part of Better. They are awesome live, and I'd like to see them play again. They seem to tour frequently, but the next time they're in Melbourne I'm seeing The Temper Trap.

A few songs are close to my heart, but my favourite song of theirs is October Grey.



Lyrically, it's a bit of a love song. I love the opening 'It's been awhile, but I still remember the smile you've kept for me'. There's something about Dave Gleeson's voice in the song that makes me smile. I like that gruffness. And the guitar work reminds me a little of Dire Straits' Sultans of Swing.

I am not sure whether they're still making new music. Maybe I will explore if they are. But in any case, I'm quite content revisiting their greatest hits. It's on repeat as I type.

Music I've been missing - Motorace, Five Star Laundry

Tonight before I started packing for my mid-week trip to Sydney (I'm so excited!!) I thought about more music I've been missing. I wanted something good to pack to, given I am the world's worst packer.

I repeat. The world's worst packer. I go somewhere for three days and I am equipped for a month of all seasons. And I hardly wear any of it when I get there. I need to do a short course in packing. I actually have an article about how to pack minimally by Janice Breen Burns stuck to my fridge. It's right below a letter from a senior manager in my organisation telling me what a great employee I am. This letter reminds me how I've succeeded. The article reminds me I am a failure in some things.

I digress.

The music I've been missing was Motorace. Their Five Star Laundry CD was perfect for packing. Grunty, rocky, indie, loud, Australian and great lyrics.

I bought this CD in 2001. I guess it was one of the first indie sounding CDs I owned. I felt cool because I was listening to something 'alternative'.

Motorace were also one of the first bands I'd seen play at a pub. Maybe even the first. In 2000, I saw The Whitlams, Stella One Eleven, Motorace and the Screaming Jets at The Termo (RIP - it's since burnt down) in Albury. Good times. After the Motorace gig, I learnt the effects of drinking and late nights and smoky environments. I remember presenting a Human Resources assignment to the class the day after Motorace, and I'd lost my voice.

Their song Death Defy was the theme song to The Secret Life of Us, an Australian TV show set in St Kilda starring Claudia Karvan, Deb Mailman, Joel Edgerton and Samuel Johnson. I love love love this show. When I moved to Melbourne I hoped I'd live in a Secret Life of Us type arrangement. Sadly, this did not happen. But my claim to fame is I once kissed a guy who lived in the house where they filmed the rooftop scenes for The Secret Life of Us.

Here is some of the fabulous Secret Life of Us.



And you can hear Death Defy in this mashup of my two favourite shows - Rush and Secret Life of US! Evan (Secret Life) narrates the scene to Rush! (Warning - it is graphic)



My favourite song from Five Star Laundry is American Shoes. But I cannot locate a video.

So here is the title track, which I also like.



I love their sound. Apparently there is a live Motorace DVD which I must purchase. They have since disbanded. They were a great band.

I am really enjoying finding the music I've been missing.