The Aints!

When the lauded, influential first incarnation of The Saints split in 1978, Ed Kuepper, the sonic architect and primary songwriter of the original band and their three albums: (I’m) Stranded (1977), Eternally Yours (1978) and Prehistoric Sounds (1978) left behind a plethora of unreleased material. Rather than attempt to salvage what could have been Kuepper chose to move on forming the legendary Laughing Clowns, performing and recording in Australia and the UK from '79 to '84 before embarking on an ARIA award winning solo career that has kept him touring and recording since '85.

Come the 40th anniversary of The Saints seminal debut in 2017, Kuepper was persuaded it was time to revisit and celebrate the music of his youth. Recruiting like-minded souls in Sunnyboys bassist Peter Oxley, drummer Paul Larsen Loughhead (The Celibate Rifles / The New Christs), jazz pianist Alister Spence and trumpeter and brass arranger Eamon Dilworth the band performed as The Aints! Play The Saints (’73 - ’78) covering Kuepper’s tenure with the band and all the classics to large crowds and a hugely appreciative response. But rather than purely recycle those formative songs Kuepper began to introduce the new-old material to an audience eager to hear what else Kuepper had been sitting on since 1978. A further positive response from the music department of the ABC saw these two iconic Australians join forces and bring to light what is in essence, the long lost fourth album by The (original) Saints.