The Someloves

Though the Someloves only released one album and remain virtually unknown on an international level, that record, 1990's Something or Other, is highly regarded among power pop collectors. Unsurprisingly, the Australian group was declared an admirer of several artists that power pop enthusiasts consider giants in the genre, such as <a href="spotify:artist:3UvcmAOZt64oKpP95f6MMM">Big Star</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5G6M0zMrYh1mOMVzp7E0OW">Dwight Twilley</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4pJCawaKSZ40EnxN0YEYw3">Badfinger</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1pJEZXU2hJApJW3rM7LmMu">the Easybeats</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7Kkx4dACo6kFSeT9wjfVA5">the Raspberries</a>. They even did some of the recording of their album with a noted American power pop figure, <a href="spotify:artist:27tICP1Y2IuLqCpORpfNxF">Mitch Easter</a>, in North Carolina. But the record found relatively few listeners, and certainly few outside of Australia, and the band broke up soon afterward, in part because they wouldn't commit to touring.

Although there were other musicians who played on Someloves records, the band was essentially the project of songwriters Darryl Mather and <a href="spotify:artist:00w3xZNIDS5v04FlKmhr1l">Dom Mariani</a>. Prior to forming the Someloves, both had been in notable Australian alternative rock bands of the early and mid-'80s. Mather did some time in <a href="spotify:artist:00uHQwsBLcSFJpfAxEu7IF">the Lime Spiders</a>, while <a href="spotify:artist:00w3xZNIDS5v04FlKmhr1l">Mariani</a> was part of a less celebrated group, <a href="spotify:artist:0aJ02dgmmONlBUAeQzyFsc">the Stems</a>. These groups were based on opposite sides of Australia, but when Mather spent some time in Perth after leaving <a href="spotify:artist:00uHQwsBLcSFJpfAxEu7IF">the Lime Spiders</a>, he became friendly with <a href="spotify:artist:00w3xZNIDS5v04FlKmhr1l">Mariani</a>. Mather returned to Sydney, but he and <a href="spotify:artist:00w3xZNIDS5v04FlKmhr1l">Mariani</a> made their first recordings there in 1985, resulting in a single, "It's My Time," in 1986. With the help of bassist Tony Italiano and drummer Robbie Scorer, they recorded the bulk of Something or Other in Perth in 1989, doing some overdubbing and mixing at <a href="spotify:artist:27tICP1Y2IuLqCpORpfNxF">Mitch Easter</a>'s Drive-In studio in North Carolina.

The Mushroom label in Australia had invested a good deal of money in Something or Other, and when the band declined to tour (Mather, in fact, played a total of one song live with the Someloves while he was in the group), Mushroom in turn declined to give the go-ahead for a second album. Both Mather and <a href="spotify:artist:00w3xZNIDS5v04FlKmhr1l">Mariani</a> did remain active in the Australian rock scene, Mather going on to <a href="spotify:artist:2arTOQC5ACRANSMMamIPHY">the Orange Humble Band</a> album, and <a href="spotify:artist:00w3xZNIDS5v04FlKmhr1l">Mariani</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:5mGc9Y2bNcekFrHfEVMoV8">DM3</a> and the instrumental group the Majestic Kelp, also recording a solo album in 2004. In 2006, the two-CD Someloves compilation Don't Talk About Us: The Real Pop Recordings of the Someloves 1985-89 reissued the Something or Other album on its first disc, adding seven previously released non-album tracks and two previously unissued items on disc two. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi