The Go-Betweens

The Go-Betweens were perhaps the quintessential cult band of the '80s: they came from an exotic locale (Brisbane, Australia), moved to a major recording center (in their case, London) in a sustained bid to make a career out of music, released album after album of music seemingly tailor-made for the radio in spite of their having little use for contemporary Top 40 musical/lyrical formulas, and earned considerable critical praise and a small but fervent international fan base. Although the Go-Betweens were absent throughout the '90s before re-forming in the new millennium, both of the band's songwriters embarked on respectable solo careers in the interim and, while rarely reaching the heights the Go-Betweens scaled, they still managed to uphold the group's legacy.

<a href="spotify:artist:4yvuCAFk8vERXXBf138h8S">Robert Forster</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7tfS18oUEffScrxryTgwyC">Grant McLennan</a> began as a pair of teenagers obsessed with the earthy rock of <a href="spotify:artist:74ASZWbe4lXaubB36ztrGX">Dylan</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3IYUhFvPQItj6xySrBmZkd">CCR</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1nJvji2KIlWSseXRSlNYsC">the Velvet Underground</a> and encouraged by the Australian punk of <a href="spotify:artist:6OWPd5ByKaNSFAZ3TCe5AO">the Saints</a>. As collected on The Able Label Singles, their first two singles show a fondness for scruffy, British Invasion/new wave-influenced pop/rock. Picking up permanent drummer Lindy Morrison, they recorded their debut LP, moved to England, and signed a short-lived deal with Rough Trade. Going for a lush, tuneful sound crammed with nonstandard rock instrumentation, they went on to record five more excellent LPs. Though their pre-Beggars Banquet albums were traditionally hard to find in the States, that label finally reissued all six albums on CD in 1996.

In 2000 the band reunited and released a new album, The Friends of Rachel Worth, which also featured all three members of <a href="spotify:artist:4wLIbcoqmqI4WZHDiBxeCB">Sleater-Kinney</a>. It wasn't just a fluke, as the band recorded follow-up albums released in 2003 (Bright Yellow Bright Orange) and 2005 (Oceans Apart). Documenting a 2005 concert in their hometown, the DVD/CD package That Striped Sunlight Sound arrived in early 2006, just a few months before the death of <a href="spotify:artist:7tfS18oUEffScrxryTgwyC">McLennan</a> in May. ~ Michael Ribas, Rovi