They don't write them like they used to. But of course they do, if you care enough to look. Here for example. Café Oblivion, the finely titled, (people haven't gone to cafes seeking oblivion since the Existential set on the Left Bank have they?), the fifth album from Melbourne's Oh Mercy which came out earlier this year. They're a band that seem to have little or no profile over here which seems plain wrong.
Oh Mercy is essentially the project of a fellow called Alexander Gow who seems to have a fascination both lyrically and melodically for specific six-stringed aspects of the Eighties. Over the course of Café Oblivion I found myself minded at various points of Mike Scott, Matt Johnson, Roddy Frame and Grant McLennan. Fondly.
I chanced upon Gow and Oh Mercy through the Mr Jeremy Dylan - My Favourite Album Podcast listed on the right hand side of this page. There Gow sings the praises of Liberty Belle & the Black Diamond Express, the fourth album by his Australian counterparts The Go Betweens which came out in 1986. It's well worth a listen as a fascinating illustration of how a formative influence can provide the gateway for artistic birth and growth.
Café Oblivion is well worth a listen too. Gow and Oh Mercy have a lot of Go Betweens' spirit going for them. Literate, thoughtful, romantic, informed by books, films, art and life. They're a real find. Australia comes up with another musical boundary. Read a fascinating track by track account of the new record here, and then make a point of getting to know it better for yourself and then perhaps venture further into their back catalogue. That's my plan anyhow.
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