RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
Odyssey Number Five - Powderfinger
I’ve written of my love of Australian artists many times on this thread, but although I’d heard of Powderfinger, I’ve never heard their music. I’m pleased to report that I enjoyed Odyssey Number Five, but there are some caveats.
“Waiting for the Sun” is a great opening to the album: nice mid-tempo rocker, not too hard, but it has a 60s psychedelic feel. "My Happiness" and "The Metre" are pleasant enough, displaying Beatles-esque jangle, chord changes and harmonies (OK, despite what I said the other, this is where they do come a little close to the Crowded House sound)."Like a Dog" ups the tempo again, which is a good move because it makes the transition to "Odyssey #5" all the more appealing. I like the guitar and atmosphere on this, and it acts as an interesting segue to the second half of the album.
"Up & Down & Back Again" starts slow and builds in a satisfying way, the guitar getting stronger, but then I was disappointed with both "My Kind of Scene" and "These Days", which were filler at best. "We Should Be Together Now" good old-fashioned rattling drums and rumbling bass with a great guitar crescendo. One of the best on the album.
"Thrilloilogy" – Wow, this is a song of two halves. An average song that sounds like it’s going nowhere suddenly has a nice mid-song break: the bass rumbles, there’s a few background noises, then it’s mostly quiet except for a piano. Then some background vocals kick in. It’s a song of a few well-executed left turns and all the better for it.
The acoustics and mellotron-type sound on "Whatever Makes You Happy" bring the album to a close.
On the back of this album, I listened to one of their earlier efforts that had been noted as a good example of their sound, both by @mancity111 and some review I was reading. This album, Double Allergic, was a fine listen, a bit more guitar-heavy, and it suggests that with their later efforts Powderfinger were aiming for a more commercial audience, something our Australian correspondent mancity111 also noted. Nothing wrong with that: you can see the same pattern with earlier Aussie bands like INXS and Midnight Oil.
Whilst Odyssey Number Five is generally a satisfying listen, it does sound like too many of the edges have been rounded off compared to the band’s earlier sound. It’s a shame because like the Hoodoo Gurus, it seems as if Powderfinger are a solid act that never made a big splash outside of Australia.
Every band from that neck of the woods that has made the leap to international attention has something about them: Nick Cave peddles a unique brand of dark storytelling; Midnight Oil had a long career mixing hard rock and politics (mostly Australian), but they widened their songwriting to encompass ecological matters and were rewarded with a growing audience overseas; INXS transitioned from new wave to dance-rock and, thanks to the appeal of a world class front man, became world class; Crowded House wrote songs that anybody could whistle and had chart success on both sides of the Atlantic, and AC/DC never changed but never had to!
For all their qualities, Powerfinger fall between all these stools – they don’t have a USP that marks them out as different. However, on the evidence of this album and a few other listens, they do make rock music that is satisfying and very listenable. 7/10
I’ve written of my love of Australian artists many times on this thread, but although I’d heard of Powderfinger, I’ve never heard their music. I’m pleased to report that I enjoyed Odyssey Number Five, but there are some caveats.
“Waiting for the Sun” is a great opening to the album: nice mid-tempo rocker, not too hard, but it has a 60s psychedelic feel. "My Happiness" and "The Metre" are pleasant enough, displaying Beatles-esque jangle, chord changes and harmonies (OK, despite what I said the other, this is where they do come a little close to the Crowded House sound)."Like a Dog" ups the tempo again, which is a good move because it makes the transition to "Odyssey #5" all the more appealing. I like the guitar and atmosphere on this, and it acts as an interesting segue to the second half of the album.
"Up & Down & Back Again" starts slow and builds in a satisfying way, the guitar getting stronger, but then I was disappointed with both "My Kind of Scene" and "These Days", which were filler at best. "We Should Be Together Now" good old-fashioned rattling drums and rumbling bass with a great guitar crescendo. One of the best on the album.
"Thrilloilogy" – Wow, this is a song of two halves. An average song that sounds like it’s going nowhere suddenly has a nice mid-song break: the bass rumbles, there’s a few background noises, then it’s mostly quiet except for a piano. Then some background vocals kick in. It’s a song of a few well-executed left turns and all the better for it.
The acoustics and mellotron-type sound on "Whatever Makes You Happy" bring the album to a close.
On the back of this album, I listened to one of their earlier efforts that had been noted as a good example of their sound, both by @mancity111 and some review I was reading. This album, Double Allergic, was a fine listen, a bit more guitar-heavy, and it suggests that with their later efforts Powderfinger were aiming for a more commercial audience, something our Australian correspondent mancity111 also noted. Nothing wrong with that: you can see the same pattern with earlier Aussie bands like INXS and Midnight Oil.
Whilst Odyssey Number Five is generally a satisfying listen, it does sound like too many of the edges have been rounded off compared to the band’s earlier sound. It’s a shame because like the Hoodoo Gurus, it seems as if Powderfinger are a solid act that never made a big splash outside of Australia.
Every band from that neck of the woods that has made the leap to international attention has something about them: Nick Cave peddles a unique brand of dark storytelling; Midnight Oil had a long career mixing hard rock and politics (mostly Australian), but they widened their songwriting to encompass ecological matters and were rewarded with a growing audience overseas; INXS transitioned from new wave to dance-rock and, thanks to the appeal of a world class front man, became world class; Crowded House wrote songs that anybody could whistle and had chart success on both sides of the Atlantic, and AC/DC never changed but never had to!
For all their qualities, Powerfinger fall between all these stools – they don’t have a USP that marks them out as different. However, on the evidence of this album and a few other listens, they do make rock music that is satisfying and very listenable. 7/10
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