Dilettantes took a lot longer to get in the blood. But once you see the boys play it, it really grabbed you by the cahones the way a You Am I album bloody well should. Maybe they just didn’t try hard enough? This album carries on the laid back, avante garde, possibly stripped down vibe of Dilettantes but has more depth. Side A seems to blend in with stuff off the last album, even Damage from Dress Me Slowly which all gels nicely. But the real stand out songs are when you flip the record over. The Ocean has a real simmering stoner rock meets Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys feel. Trigger Finger, with one of many guest female vocalist appearances is an absolute gem.

Davey Lane plays solos with such grace and restraint that in my mind he’s now a poster child for proper lead guitarists. Easily his best work with You Am I to date. Strangely though for an album that sounds so masterful and coherent, Tim Rogers talks of ’sending tapes’ to Davey by post to work out licks for the album. It doesn’t sound like it at all. While purposefully not an all out rockin’ album of flannelette and pent up fuck you-ness (remember Convicts anyone?) I’d argue it’s one of their best. Hopefully all that lament they had for not being able to better Hourly Daily is over and they can put out more albums like this.

On that note however, this album was almost not put out at all. The self management/distribution that You Am I have embarked on has been an absolute Mongolian cluster fuck of the highest order.  Despite PRE ordering the album and digital copy about October 21 from their web site, it wasn’t delivered until about December 20. That delivery date was only met because after I requested a refund if they couldn’t fulfill the order that week.  I dare say that given an email was sent approximately 6 weeks into the debacle confirming whether we’d received our records yet, I was not the only one. Moreover the digital copy I’d purchased was not available until the album was released. Their web site made it look like you’d get it immediately for download. But there was only one sample track available for about 10 days.

If there was a lesson learnt, Tim leave the money making and corporate stuff to Gene Simmons. You guys are clearly not cut out or resourced well enough for it. Yes Gene’s a schmuck, but he would’ve licked all the stamps personally to get those records out on time. He would have at least given some sort of freebie to at least acknowledge the piss poor co-ordination on a bungled album release. But from this band, not one word. A total stonewall. Pretty disappointing.

To be honest, I was still in two minds about the latest album, thinking it’s a bit too Radioheady. So the gig starts with the stage lights coming on and some of the ’samples’ from the latest album playing. They walk through the crowd onto the stage somberly, get up and just let rip with about 4 new songs non stop. I’m no longer so undecided. The new songs rock.

The album is still a bit too concepty for my liking, but it truly comes together live. And the mighty You Am I have lost none of there delivery. In fact, Rusty is hitting the skins harder than ever. His fold back kept visibly shaking the whole night!

Set wise, they played a decent spectrum of songs. And a very decent 2 hours worth! Virtually every song on the new album got a guernsey. At least 8 or 10 of them. At one point, Timmy unrepentently mentions that the band are playing what they want to play, fuck the singles. Although, Berlin Chair, Mr Milk and a hearty piss take of Heavy Heart were all in there.  The rest of the songs were mainly off Dress Me Slowly or Convicts. A big thank you to the boys for adding ‘Arse Kickin’ Lady from the North West’. That went down an absolute treat.

All in all, this was a beachy, small town gig and the whole vibe of the thing was great. The second support band Tame Impala(?) were unbelievable. Imagine the adolescent children of Black Sabbath and Syd Barrett Pink Floyd. That’s this Perth power trio in a nutshell. Totally trippy acid rock pulled off perfectly. They were young, but they cranked the psychedelic like they were 60 year old hippies. And if playing support for You Am I does for them what it did for Silverchair, watch out. These punk ass bitches could be the next Wolfmother! I’m not sure if Tame Impala are playing all supports but I hope they are. Not my style but a fantastic band.

Only complaint about the whole gig is Davey Lane’s hair. I’m fucking jealous! Timmy was his ever cocky self too, which is always good. Best of luck with the tour boys. If this show was anything to go by, it’s definitely one of the best tours I’ve seen you do. And I first saw you at Monash Uni circa 1996.

The cover of an album I'd love to love. I'll get back to you on that.

If this album was a wine, it would definitely need decanting and be left to breathe for a good hour or two. So far I’ve had one candid listen and for one thing, this does not take up where Convicts left off. This is like Radiohead meets Iggy Pop’s Kill City album. And I HATE Radiohead beyond what blogs can describe.

Recently I got the aforementioned Kill City album as well. Having got into The Stooges, you expect a sonic lump of fuck-youness blaring out of your speakers. What you actually get could almost be described as country tinged in parts, soulful, struttin’ and brutally honest. Dilletantes has that in spades, well except for the country. They might be antipodes of different rock generations but on first listen the albums have a lot in common. This is another postcard on the You Am I journey that’s so far off the main drag, it’s almost hard to tell how they got there.

Dilettantes I hope will be a creeper. One thing you must love about You Am I and Tim Rogers, is that they don’t write to sell records. It’s honest and straight up. And what this album lacks in fuck-youness that Convicts had, it definitely has in a sort of irreverent and infectious ambience that fills loungey bars. God I hope I like this album. I’m not totally convinced yet. Die Thom Yorke.

Looks like the boys are still on the Virgin label too, which is cool. Check out this new promo shot too. Looks like they are dressing back in their mid nineties grungy roots. At the very least drummer Rusty (second from the right) is lookin’ very Brit pop. Maybe he’s replacing Zack Starkey in Oasis?! Now there’s a rumour…

Anyways can’t wait to hear the new material. If it’s as fresh and ‘fuck you’-ish as Convicts was, it promises to be a schorcher.

And it looks like it’s gonna actually be called ‘I’m proud of my gay son’. So all in all, it looks like 2 or 3 months before this bad boy is in the stores – optimistically. This is gonna mean some rough sleeping patterns. In the words of old Big Kev, I’m excited!

In the mean time, support You Am I on the Facebook. Giddy up and become a fan and join the YAI group.

Oh and lo and behold, I just found this. One of the most insightful and interesting short vids I’ve seen of the great man in quite some time, discussing the origin of the Luxury of Hysteria.

Gone are the melancholy moments of Ghost Songs (an album to shoot yourself to) and the guitar sleaze of Dirty Ron and Spit Polish. The Temperance Union are still there but used sparingly. At the forefront are some brilliant orchestral arrangements. They add so much more texture and dynamism to a very familiar and rocking Rogers vibe.

I’d almost go out on a limb and say that the orchestral arrangements are far from classical, far from contemporary. They almost remind me of Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys went he started adding orchestras – yes to me at least this album is that good (I’m not a huge Beach Boys fan so please spare me the emails).

Most tracks feature Rogers’ trademark half flamenco, half steel string sounding guitar work. Definite highlights would be When Yer Sad and James the Second. But there’s no dead weight on this album. No flabby bits whatsoever.

5 out of 5 Mr Rogers. Perfect songwriting, perfect tunes. A truly stellar album. Just don’t scare us with a concept album ever again. Fingers crossed the next You Am I album is this good.

So Borders had it for $24.95. Gave it a very quick listen and man is it catchy. There’s none or very little of the melancholy strums of Ghost Songs, or the hip flask swilling sleaze of Dirty Ron, but a hell of a lot of tongue in cheek outright cheekiness. Will require several more listens to give a more thorough review, but so far the only track I don’t get is ‘Fire Escape’.  Frankly I think this easily tops that double album.

Everything else is fresh, and almost reaks of Willy Nelson and Johnny Cash (or Julio Iglesius(?)) duets of old. There is an aural texture to this album that seems instantly legendary. The superlatives keep coming. But you can hear whisky being poured between tracks it revels so well. Even Richard Kingsmill, radio JJJ music nerd, at first thought it was a throw away album and admitted Rogers had come out with some belters. He’s right.

Some of it also reaks of ‘What Rhymes with Cars and Girls’ which is a bloody good thing. Timmy has several solo tracks where this becomes apparent. One track had strong violin tinged bits which sound like the mellotrons used on ‘Hi Fi Way’. Tex has at least one. I hope the boys have another album in them. Because so far, this is a fantastic album. Rogers seems to be in a bit of a happier place with these tunes, but there’s some bitterness there. But it’s mostly good time, drinkin’ tunes. God bless ‘em. Some are for you and your lady will appreciate, but they work on all levels.

Of particular coolness are the last two tracks: Come on and Love Me (a very old Kiss song off the album Dressed to Kill) and Rod Stewart’s Tonight’s the Night. These are absolutely brilliantly cheeky but awesome acoustic renditions!

So bugger it. Tomorrow should be a sunny day. So buy this album, get some snags and a slab of Coopers Sparkling, fire up the barby and crank these tunes with some mates. That is the best possible way you can pay tribute to this album and these fine lads. Tim Rogers for president of everything.

There are some out and out classic tracks straight off the bat. Highlights are the angsty My Own Hand, the aforementioned Hit the Bottom, Nervous Kid and The Sweet Life. Slower moments such as Explaining Cricket (to Americans), Thuggery and Secrets still hit the spot. Even though they slow down, they never go below the speed limit. The page of this album is like mashing the loud pedal down through the floor and only slowing down when you see cops coming. All 35 minutes of it!

Sonically, this is You Am I’s best sounding album since Hi Fi Way. Songwriting wise, probably their best written since #4 Record. Every song is full of Roger’s trademark Aussie lingo and experiences. From the getting picked on by BMX Bandits as a teenager in Nervous Kid to the ‘You’re beautiful, but you’re fucked’ of The Sweet Life it’s all there.

What I like most about this release is that it’s the tightest lead guitarist Davey Lane has ever been with the band. There are great duel guitar parts in Gunslinger and sleazy bluesy harmonies in The Sweet Life and just plain no shit, hard hittin’ riffs all the way through.

If you want a listen, NineMSN are still doing a free preview of each track on the album. But you know what, screw that. It’s worth just going out and buying this. It’s pretty damn good.

Admitedly, when you hear the intro to this tune, it will throw you. It’s a bit of a departure from the typical You Am I stuff. I was expecting something remeniscent of the ‘Sound As Ever’ or ‘Hi Fi Way’ days when the band were first finding their sound. But with the opening Peter Townshendesque chords, I almost thought it was The Living End.

Frankly, (and I don’t want to jinx the boys, I love ‘em dearly), how can this miss? It’s short, it’s punchy and maybe even a little bit more radio friendly with slick, rocking grooves to it. This is a very, very catchy tune. Also it sounds a lot more cohesive than a lot of their stuff since the Dress Me Slowly album. Lead guitarist Davey Lane really is tight in there and sounds a lot more a part of it than the Deliverance album.

Oh and of course, look at Tim rock out in the video! The man is just made to rock. God bless Timmy Rogers, the world’s one and only true rock star in a world of clarlatin try hard pigs! Raise your glasses and salute the Jolly Rogers! Our boys are gonna go off this year if I have anything to do with it!

Launch the video on musichead.com.au.

http://www.musichead.com.au/site/artist.asp?actID=53500&bio=1

“Hey, d’you remember that night when you told me, ‘You know, you’re pretty good, but you’re no Ray Davies’?” asks Tim Rogers, with raised eyebrow and a sly grin, before cuffing me on the shoulder, laughing like a drain, and spluttering, “I’ll always remember that …”

To try and make amends for this gaffe, from a draughty vantage point roughly 4,000 miles north of your good self, this whinging pom would like to take a dew minutes of your valuable (drinking) time to reflect upon why Australia is one lucky-assed country to have a band like You Am I warming your cockles, nursing your broken hearts, and sound-tracking the downing of a schooner (or three).

Since 1992, You Am I have bagged seven ARIAS, set a record for three consecutive straight-in-at-No. 1 albums (“Hi-Fi Way”, “Hourly Daily”, “No. 4 Record”), attracted legions of adoring fans, sound-tracked two movies (Idiot Box, Dirty Deeds), picked up some heavyweight admirers/touring partners (Oasis, Soundgarden, Sonic Youth), been asked to gig with their idols (The Who, The Rolling Stones), gave foreign artists their first widespread exposure downunder (The Strokes, The Detroit Cobras, The Dirtbombs), AND inspired a host of Australian bands to do things their own damn way (Silverchair, Jet, The Vines, The Sleepy Jackson, Wolfmother, Dallas Crane, etc, etc). Well, that ain’t too shabby, for starters …

Now that we’ve got the maths outta the way (never anyone’s favourite part of the equation), it’s down to the real business at hand. Also, you can just forget them headlines concerning onstage meltdowns, celebrity dwarf tossing, and whiskey-stained action slacks, cos this here album offers cast iron proof that You Am I are still at the top of their game. And, as ever, ladies and germs, that game is pure-brewed rock’n’roll – in the form of a freshly-squeezed pint (and a half) of soul juice known as “Convicts”, You Am I’s first outing for their new home, Virgin/EMI.

To paraphrase the late Bob Hope, “Convicts” will put hairs on your chest (or other places), and part them in the middle. It’s a darned effective musical elixir for whatever ails you. It’s a quick (36 minutes), slightly grubby and occasionally freaky, 12-track reminder of Messrs Rogers, Hopkinson, Kent and Lane’s considerable collective charm. The sheer vim and vigour of “Convicts” makes it gosh-darn difficult to grokk that it’s YAI’s SEVENTH album – let alone their ninth, if you count live set “Saturday Night ‘Round Ten” and the double-disc retrospective, “The Cream & The Crock”.

From the feedback-strewn opening punch of “Thank God I’ve Hit The Bottom” (confesses Andy Kent, “We actually slowed that down”), it’s onwards and upwards in a riot of ear-melting rifferama. But never fear, tender hearts, as thanks to such tunes as the simply gorgeous “Secrets”, there’s also a Tim Rogers-sized portion of seriously heartstring-tugging humanity on the side.

If you ever danced your socks off at a “Rumble”, hit the pillow accompanied by “Heavy Heart”, played air guitar to “Who Put The Devil In You”, or got joyfully smashed while singing “waited all summer just to piss on your lawn”, then “Convicts” is a cert for your bar, boudoir or barbecue. No dreaded ‘comeback’ soft-soap here, this is the tightest AND loosest You Am I have ever sounded. It’s (yet) another Rogers-penned tour de force of rock’n’soul’garage’n’punk’n’beat’n’folk’n’country’n’Junk.

What makes “Convicts” all the more amazing is that its producer – veteran YAI mucker and “all-round good guy” Greg Wales – wrested this absolute rip-snorting monster of a rekkid from the tough’n’tender hooligans in a total of only 16 days in five different studios, spread haphazardly over the course of as many months. Rumour has it that they’ve even got enough material in the can for another album – whatta work ethic! Jeez, at this point in most band’s careers, they’re barely communicating, let alone working out their kinks (pun intended) on record, as You Am I do with “Convicts”’ supersonic second track, “It Ain’t Funny How We Don’t Talk Anymore”.

Yeah, bub, it seems like the whole darn world’s been starved of You Am I-style suss’n’strut for too frickin’ long. But nobody could accuse Tim, Rusty, Andy or Davey of resting on their laurels during You Am I’s hiatus, as each of ‘em managed to shoehorn another career into the available space: Tim toured all over the globe, acted on TV, and made a mighty fine, soul-scouring double album with The Temperance Union. Rusty started a record distribution business/label, Reverberation, and joined Radio Birdman, with whom he’s toured and made a new album. The inscrutable Andy Kent became a manager (and not just of You Am I, themselves), worked on boutique tours/records with Love Police and played bass on the latest Vines set. And for his part, dear Master Lane painted his own, full-length masterpiece with The Pictures, played with The Wrights and toured with Jimmy Barnes.

So, to sum up (and stop the waffling), “Convicts” is the new You Am I record, and it’s a cracker. Play it loud, right now, preferably at someone’s sister (or brother) …

Righty-ho, I’m off, and I guess I’ll see you at the bar? As Mr Rogers once suggested, during a lazy night in a smoky London boozer, “Let’s split this round – you do the poms, and I’ll get the convicts.”

I’ll raise a glass to that idea.

“God bless the fucking lot of us!”

Joss Hutton
Sonic Reducer
Londinium
March 2006

Album ‘Convicts’ will be released on May 13, 2006