Happy Patch - Here Comes Oblivion

Christos from Happy Patch was kind enough to make the long lost, and hard to find, final HP album, Here Comes Oblivion, available to us all.

It comes highly recommended by myself and ml68, whose I'd like to thank for his comment - which reminded me of my intention to write this here post!

You can find it on the BandCamp website here.

And while you're there, check out the other material available there, such as Degrees of Existence, by Shoulda Been Huge faves Dimmer, featuring Shayne Carter, the leading light behind the awesome Straitjacket Fits.

Obscure Australian compilation albums

Here are some bits and pieces from miscellaneous obscure Australian compilation albums that I'm sure most readers would be unaware of....

Happy Patch - Predator (FLAC) and Lucy Jr (FLAC), from The Sound Barrier, a 1993 compilation of Adelaide (South Australia) bands.

Eels - Mr E's Beautiful Blues, from More Music Live From the Panel. The Panel was an Australian talk show. E turned up for an interview and played both Mr E's beautiful blues and Fucker, which I think can both be seen on You Tube. This interview is not the legendary interview conducted a few days later where E joked he loved Melbourne as it was the smack capital of the world!

The Go-Betweens - Head full of steam, and Mercury Rev - When you wish upon a star, from the Studio 22 highlights album. Studio 22 is a late night TV show where bands perform in front of a small live studio audience. The bands are usually little known Australian bands (little known outside Australia, at least), but Mercury Rev popped in after the release of their awesome Deserters Songs album, and graced the show with a set that also included a cover of Neil Young's Motion Pictures.

The Go Betweens - Hammer the hammer, The Triffids - My Baby Thinks She's A Train, and Hoodoo Gurus - Dig it Up, from Triple J live at the wireless album. Triple J is an Australian youth radio station. They have an awesome archive of live shows, including a Birthday Party show from 1983, part of which is streamed here.

Smudge - I Just Get Caught Out, from Right Here - Go-betweens Tribute. A match made in heaven - one of my fave Australian bands covering one of my fave Australian bands. Smudge, of course, released the classic Don't want to be Grant McLennan single, wrongly interpreted by most people as a slag-off! They will be featured shortly on this here blog with a gushing/fawning review of their classic Manilow album

Happy Patch - Oleander Land/Hotstuff for Psycho

Everyone has a long lost favourite local band that shoulda been huge. Happy Patch are my long lost favourite from my hometown of Adelaide, Australia.

Happy Patch were originally known as Wintermind, and played progressive-alternative in the early 1990's: imagine The Smiths and REM combined with Television and early (first album) Verve - albeit before Verve. They were reinvented as Happy Patch, complete with new songs and a heavier sound, after another (inferior) local band The Mandelbrot Set signed to leading Australian independent label RooArt. Happy Patch recorded two songs for a compilation of local Adelaide bands, The Sound Barrier, before releasing two EPs (featured below) and the album Here Comes Oblivion, before again reinventing themselves as the country-tinged Tuscadero.

Happy Patch were built around a solid rhythm section which provided the dual guitarists with a canvas for understated guitar artistry. The guitars often played interweaving lines and counter melodies to each other (and sometimes the vocals), and also provided the musical dynamics, rising and subsiding, alternating between clean and distorted as appropriate. The vocals had a distinct but non-overt Michael Stipe influence, and the lyrics frequently focused on the innocence of youth. The songs were well crafted and avoided standard structures.

The Oleander Land EP features the mid-tempo title track, describing growing up in the Western suburbs of Adelaide. Believe is a joyous track with strong dynamics, whose lyrics "sleepy town where no-one really cares" again surely refer to Adelaide?! Hound is a great song, written from the perspective of a dog, capturing the child-like enthusiasm of man's best friend and describing all the great things about having a dog! A very promising debut, unfortunately suffering from a mediocre production which stifles the song dynamics a little.

The Hotstuff for psycho EP is a step forward on several fronts. It has a much better production allowing the song dynamics to shine through, and the band use dynamics without necessarily invoking the turbo chargers on each song. The inclusion of acoustic guitar also adds further diversity to the sound. Nancy, about US ice skater Nancy Kerrigan ("she's gracious and her thoughts are clean"), is poppy, with tasteful melodic lead guitar and great dynamics. Skywards is a slower tempo song based around acoustic guitar. Bedroom Nation features more great dynamics, and is noticeable for being in 5/4 time without sounding forced. Formaldehyde has a relaxed feel, built around lolloping bass, clean guitar, and melodic lead guitar.

I have yet to hear the Here Comes Oblivion LP - getting my hands on that is one of my major objectives! This may help compensate for the devastating loss of my TDK AD90 cassette containing their fantastic 5MMM session!!

Happy Patch - 1994 - Oleander Land


1. Another
2. Oleander Land
3. Believe
4. Hound
5. Rust yard

MP3
FLAC


Happy Patch - 1996 - Hotstuff for Psycho

1. Vanilla Girl
2. Nancy
3. Skywards
4. Bedroom Nation
5. Formaldehyde

MP3
FLAC