Good luck to The Basics: after gigging extensively around Australia for several years, releasing a number of CDs and garnering a fierce live reputation, their drummer’s side project became a pop phenomenon.
A three-year hiatus followed for the band while Wally De Backer (known to many as Gotye) attended to his booming global business, including a Billboard No 1 for the hit “Somebody That I Used to Know” and three Grammy awards. In 2013 he reunited with his old Melbourne chums, Kris Schroeder and Tim Heath, and The Basics were back in business.
The Lucky Country EP is typical of the band’s history of releases, which includes three studio albums and four other EPs. Finding themselves “sick of watching the soap opera of mediocrity that has become Australian public life”, the trio describe The Lucky Country as “a rock ’n’ roll rant against the age of entitlement and the leadership gulf”.
With five tracks, the longest clocking four minutes and the shortest just 1:03, the EP kicks out some jams from the get-go. Opener “The Lucky Country” is a powerful indictment of Australians’ fear of change, delivered like a crunching paean to Midnight Oil as De Backer channels his inner Rob Hirst:
“What are you so afraid of? / The world outside’s already here. What are you all afraid of? / Our sons and daughters turning queer … Don’t take our jobs, don’t take our wives / And kill our vibe.”
Next up, the bright, lilting Afro-reggae driving feel of “Tunaomba Saidia” belies the song’s sorry tale of Ugandan refugees forced into detention in Australia.
The last two songs, following the foot-stomping chant “Operation Sovereign Basics”, are more personal. But the poppy “Good Times, Sunshine!” still takes time to observe:
“Some days you’ve gotta be strong, some days will drive you crazy / But good days, sunshine’s ahead.”
Stylistically, every song on the EP is different. Each is strong in its own way and often catchy, but they almost work better in isolation, making The Lucky Country ideal for people who like creating playlists or shuffling tracks.
They’d also sound great performed live, which is a good thing as you can catch The Basics in Adelaide during the Fringe.
The Basics will play are the Aurora Spiegeltent ing The Garden of Unearthly Delights on February 13.
