yesterday i bought a remastered version of "stoneage romeos", the classic & quirky 1984 debut album from australian band, the hoodoo gurus. 20 years ago i first got a copy - taped onto blank cassette by a friend - of this album, while in high school. then it disappeared into the ether a few years later, as did my taped copies of their 2nd & 3rd albums. i got to see the hoodoo gurus live a few times while at university in brisbane during 1989-1991, and was never disappointed.

stoneage romeos - u'd go a long way to find a more solid debut album and funnily enough, the best comparison that comes to mind now is that of the stone roses (similar names & all). there's plenty of good short energetic rockin numbers, with quite a healthy dose of e.g. rockabilly, surf-type guitars, and garage/psychedlic rock influence at times, as well as plenty of snappy pop melodies ... and a couple of 'slower numbers'.

the rather unique subjects explored by many of the songs are interesting, obscure & impressive as well (in addition to a couple of unrequited love songs). for example:
- "dig it up": 'my girlfriend lives in the ground, my friends ask why she's not around ... '
- "zanzibar": 'did u offer my a dutch cigar? must have thought u were so bourgeoise; are u who u say u are?'
- "in the echo chamber": 'slowly i recovered, my head was achin bad! i was layin on the capret inside this madman's lab.'
- "leilani": 'his native girlfriend died a death quite violent, a tribal sacrifice made to the earth.'
- "death ship": 'near hidden reefs we appear in the gloom, luring mariners to their doom.'
- "i was a kamikaze pilot": ' ... they gave me a plane, i couldnt fly it home.'

i could go on - there isn't a bad track - but won't. suffice to say, this album was straight out of leftfield in the context of my musical world 20 years ago and it is a classic in my mind, particularly given it's a debut effort. for the record i do like the hoodoo gurs' 2nd album "mars needs guitars" a little more than this one, but that's another story.

"stoneage romeos" is kinda like some fun, kaleidosopic collage of the ramones with a bit of johnny b goode & maybe dick dale thrown in on a hollow-bodied guitar, and a good amount of b-grade sci-fi movie & comic-book-like themes. it's brilliant! and after a long absence, my album collection is more complete with it.

oh yeah - i only just read about this - but last year some great australian bands did covers of the songs of this album and called it "stoneage cameos". this bit's mostly for dan: you am i appear, doing a cover of "tojo". and other artisits involved include spiderbait, dallas crane, and davey lane.

~