What Is Australiana?
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- Опубликовано: 6 авг 2024
- In this video I take you through what I believe Australiana to be. From its origins in the colonised country, through to modern times.
0:38 What is Australiana
2:10 Origins
3:20 70's Skyhooks
3:58 80's Pub Rock bands and Paul Kelly
5:30 80's Australiana songs
6:10 90's Jebediah, Powderfinger, You Am I
7:35 00's Indi Folk Australiana and Aus Emo
8:50 10's revival The Smith Street Band and Courtney Barnett
10:46 current wave of Australiana
I felt as though hilltop hoods, despite being rap, they spoke a lot of australian life
How about... The Herd, Sleek The Elite, and Regurgitator!
I was kind of thinking that they might come up
As a bloke who grew up in Adelaide during the 00’s…some of their songs still hit home, it’s like going back to when I was in middle school and what Adelaide was like aesthetically, but in a sound. Glad you brought them up
And it was all cringe
@@politikilter6446 fucken fully sick sleek the elite.
Fuck that guy was underrated. Should have never left Fat Pizza
Honestly, I'd argue that TISM are Australiana in the wildest way. No one else but Australia love them and understand them like we do.
Also, the Whitlams for sure, their storytelling is exactly Australiana.
They were the two bands I was thinking of
I'd include the Hard Ons also.
TISM are so criminally under-rated! I hope this channel does a deep dive into them one day 🥷
Don’t forget Machine Gun Fellatio, maybe even Da Gurrrrrge
It's very important not to forget John Williamson when it comes to australiana, probably the most Australian artist, not quite country but always not folk. Singing about every corner of the country in an aussie accent with over 30 albums behind him. He also sung his songs at Steve Irwins memorial.
I immediately thought of John Williamson too, him and Paul Kelly would be the two I'd put at the forefront of Australiana in their own way.
came here to say this.... i've just started getting him back in my playlist rotation. Dad and I used to listen to him all the time. True Blue makes me cry these days since dad passed 9 years ago. I'd have him above Paul Kelly in my eyes
The band 'The Triffids' with their album 'Born Sandy Devotional' would be an album I would give a foreigner if they wanted a sound that encapsulates our wonderful country.
its a wide open road
I can't believe you spaced on GANGgajang dude! The sounds of then is an Aussie icon
Cant believe nobody is talking about redgum! Such an amazing band, constantly criticising the aus government. Provides an interesting bit of insight into aus politics at the time. A lot lot of it sounds pretty familiar ;)
Australiana is a comedy piece by Austen Tayshus that makes puns about Australia's cities, wildlife, and nature.
Very funny, would recommend.
Written by the genius Billy Birmingham, marvellous!
I have that single
TISM, Paul Kelly etc, basically any band I think about and go “I love this song, but would someone from overseas get it” and get the answer of no…I consider that Australiana 😂 great video fella
TISM…perfect! eg. The parable of Glenn McGrath’s haircut
@@leggera1 the really get that irreverent, dry Australian humour…but are also actually just really solid songwriters hahaha
When you got to the 00s and said that Australiana had essentially taken a break I knew what you were gonna snub. How do you forget about The Drones though. Wait Long By the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By and Gala Mill are specifically about WA and Tasmanian history. Locust and Sixteen Straws I'd recommend, brilliantly written songs that fit in the 'Australiana' unbrella
Yes, great call. I should have mentioned The Drones.
16 Straws takes place near Brisbane.
Totally agree. Solitude's vid is one helluva "basic" take
agree. Gareth Liddiard's solo album is also amazing and very under-rated and under listened
Now, now, don’t be hasty.
Private Function engage a lot with Australian iconography in a fun silly way in songs like 'No Hat No Play', 'Dial Before You Dig' and their ode to Albury/Wodonga.
I feel like Missy Higgens also hits this category, not for her accent just for the overall nature of her music
I don't want to be tasteless, but you can't deny that Rolf Harris was hugely significant as an Australiana artist in the 1960s, along with the Seekers. He was bigger than the Beatles...
I reckon Australian Crawl and Sticky Fingers are big parts of Australiana history, great video btw
In my opinion Aussie crawl are the creadance of Australia…probably the best band to come out of Australia!
Smith street are so unique with how the songs are sung and played, whenever I try to play one of their songs I think it should be easy enough but it never is (for me anyway) great vid btw
We gotta talk about The Drones and Tropical Fuck Storm in this context as well. My personal faves. Great vid mate.
I love the use of the phrase ''spatial awareness" it really does describe a hard to describe quality that makes sense at least to me. Great breakdown!
Edit: Oh and if you're looking for some Australiana vibes from a Gen Z artist, check out Julia Jacklin. Songs like Pool Party, Cry Cry Cry and To Perth, before the board closes are some examples of heartland sound and lyrics
I think you might be trying to define Australia’s musical identity more than establishing a clear-cut genre. What makes Americana and Britpop recognisable (outside of lyrical topics and accent) is that they have a sound that you can immediately associate with that genre. Britpop was generally bombastic and took stylistic influences from acts like The Kinks and XTC, while Americana is deeply based on its country and folk music.
That’s not to say an “Australiana” doesn’t exist, I just think the genre wouldn’t necessarily be as broad as you’re suggesting. Assuming that it’s based on folk inspirations similar to Americana, I would include Paul Kelly, Weddings Parties Anything (+ Mick Thomas solo), Neil Murray, Mia Dyson and Robert Forster as definitive Australiana artists. At a stretch, you could possibly include Courtney Barnett, Warumpi Band, The Triffids and The Go-Betweens too.
And did Kevin Bloody Wilson come up in the video? Pretty certain he'd fit rightly
Glad you mentioned the Chats and Amyl (albeit briefly), out of all the artists you’ve mentioned pretty much since Midnight Oil (except Courtney probably) they’re having the biggest impact overseas. I sometimes wonder how they’re perceived by non-Aussies (like what you said about Smith Street I feel like they’d be someone incomprehensible even to other English speakers, particularly the Chats who have very nuanced Aussie slang and references) but they seem to be cutting through massively. Chats are headlining above legacy punk bands at US festivals and Amyl are playing bigger venues in the UK than they do in Aus. PS I hope in a year's time we'll be talking about King Stingray amongst all these other artists! Gizzard are taking them out in the US this year so hopefully that gives them a bit of a break!
Dune Rats is another Australiana band, maybe Violent Soho too?
Heck yeah , love the dune rats and soho
FOAM and The Love Junkies as well!
Oh and The Smith Street Band
Richard Clapton?
He deserves more recognition
The Drones and Tropical Fuck Storm singer Gareth Liddiard sings with a very thick Australian accent, lots of references to Australian life as well, especially convict stories
wonderful vid! im planning and reserching on doing an equivalent for Australian film at the moment for uni!
The Triffids’ “Born Sandy Devotional” stands right towards the top of this list, damn near perfect LP.
Feel like The Saints and Ed Kuepper deserved a mention here. The Saints being a reaction to Joh Bjelke-Petersen and then Ed’s solo career going through phases that perfectly matched the Australiana vibe (Laughing Clowns were an excellent band as well but probably not that relevant here)
Finally, Tactics. No one remembers them - practically no one cared about them back in the 80’s either, aside from a small cult following on the underground Sydney scene. Their first two albums though…some of the most creative stuff to ever come out of this country. As for Australian-ness, their second album was literally titled “Glebe”. Also some tracks off their first LP “My Houdini” are directly written about Australia or australian issues - those songs being: Buried Country, Settlers Complaint and National Health
I can't believe you mentioned Tactics! They were so original. Definitely an Australian sound, but also a bit Dunedin/Flying Nun - to my ears, anyway. A Second Language is their best known (i.e. more than one person has heard it!) song i guess. Frozen Park tho... So strange, so good.
@@noroomforsquares4483 I originally heard about them through a RUclips comment, ironically. I think it was on a Laughing Clowns video that someone complimented Clowns and Tactics for their uniqueness and creativity, in what was otherwise a pretty dry (pub rock) music scene - pre Triffids, Go-Betweens, Moodists…and just about pre-Birthday Party I guess as they were still Boys Next Door
Lot of comments here not quite getting what is referred to here as ‘Australiana’. It’s not just any successful Australian act (although I think the inclusion of Powderfinger might make it seem so, even admitting a Hindley and Vulture Street references I can’t quite hear the Australian vibes being pointed to here).
We’re talking self deprecating, local references, jangly guitars and Aussie accents often referred to as ‘Dolewave’, plus other adjacent genres (the punkier Aussie accent stuff like Kisschasey is a good inclusion).
I think the Go-Betweens and Paul Kelly are great touchstones here. Lot of archetypal ‘Dolewave' bands (Twerps, Dick Diver, Bitch Prefect etc) grew up influenced by Paul Kelly, The Sunnyboys, Darren Hanlon and other Candle Records stuff.
Also gotta mention Eddy Current Suppression Ring and the Drones (both Australian Music Prize winners from memory).
Shout out to Bedroom Philosopher too, his Northcote Song made huge waves and should rightfully be included in the canon.
Love your vids bro. Keep it up
‘One More Day’ by the Slingers is the most Australiana song I know from recent years. Also Peter Bibby fits the bill for suuuure
This is one of your better videos Liam, glad to see that it's blown up
Yeh thanks. This is my fastest growing viewed video yet.
As a young Aussie, thank you for this education :) YAY I have a lot of listening to do!!
Really good break down mate.
love this content. brilliant
Cosmic Psychos deserve a mention for sure! Nice day to go to the pub
Despite Little River Band becoming huge in the States, they ensured their origins were in Australia by referring to Australiana through calling their albums Diamantina Cocktail and Sleeper Catcher. They would even clip a toy koala to their mics on stage.
TISM are incredibly underrated. Most commercial radio listeners will only know them as a joke band with the 1 (maybe 2) “hits”. The band themselves outwardly never appeared to take their music too seriously and yes, their lyrics are usually fun albeit tinged with darkness.
Dig even slightly deeper into their significant catalogue and you will find a massive collection of, often Australian specific, sociopolitical musings at a macro level. The songs are often a product of their time with references to contemporary issues.
Listen to “Hot Dogma” in its entirety for what I consider the best example of this theme. It wasn’t their most successful release but I think it was the most cohesive. That being said, every album has its gems.
“The last Australian guitar hero” cuts as deep today as it did upon release as I watch more and more venues close to live music.
The indie surf rock with its reggae and Aussie rap influences also comes to mind.
Redgum had a good run of albums in the 80's that dived heavily into the politics of the time, their own version of Australiana using folk/country and blues rock
I love gyroscope who are from Perth, they were high on rotation in my radar during the 2000s
Another band was the hot lies
Love midnight oil, Paul kelly , kisschasy and I'm a big fan of smith street band!
Also Dune rats and amyl
Great video, the ones who get the attention aren’t even half of it. The bands at the local level thrive off an Australiana sound.
Loved the Jebidiah shoutout. Imho The 2000s best examples were Something for Kate & Motorace.
Some many great Aussie bands missed out - Stevie Wright, Australian Crawl, The Grates, TISM, the Living End, Parkway Drive, Karnivool, the Superjesus to name a few. All have had an impact whilst fitting into a sound that can only be described as Australian.
A great video, maybe should be an intro to a deeper dive on Australiana and the bands that have shaped the musical landscape here over the decades.
Tim Minchin - White Wine in the Sun
Tim Minchin - quite a lot of his stuff, especially if we’re including the Timmy The Dog stuff!
Great video. Something that I feel that you didnt touch on much is that a big part of the Australiana sound (in my opinion) is musically capturing the sparseness/emptiness of our flat and desolate landscape paired the angst that that comes with colonialism and our complicated past. So many bands portray this sound with sparce guitars and ambiance. Icehouse, Goanna, The Triffids and more recently The Drones, Jack Ladder, even early Kirin J Callinan. I think sonically weve found a "sound" that matches our landscape and history. Much like Iceland seemed to have found in the last 30 years.
Also, I love the video and insist you keep it up ❤
I love Kisschasy - you’re right in essence it’s a different suburban Australiana especially if I can still recognise all the sites in their music videos haha
Stella Donnelly could have been along the same sort of genre as Courtney Barnett but I guess it's hard to include everyone in a short video.
Johnny O'Keeffe, The Masters Apprentices, Tex Perkins, Spencer P.Davis, X, Beasts of Bourbon, Easybeats, early AC/DC, The Missing Links etc etc
Recent ones are Courtney Barnett, Sticky Fingers and gang of youths (a little bit).
Also a lot of Aus rap fits this too.
John Williamson wrote some uniquely Australiana songs.
Can't get much more unique or uniquely Australian than Cosmic Psychos and TISM
I'm surprised that Violent Soho didn't get a mention. They tick quite a few boxes. More alternative/grunge sounding but singing with an Aussie accent, singing about Aussie culture (especially Like Soda) and making those very specific cultural references.
Luke Boredam sings with a thick american accent. I think he is highly inspired by Pavement with his singing style.
Try listening to the version of I Was Only 19 by The Immolation Scene… and also the rest of their music
how would you rate:
-The Whitlams?
-Sherbet & Daryl Braithwaite?
-Mental As Anything?
-Christine Anu and Batchelor Girl come across to me as very aussie sounding singers from the 90's.
Arr...the Cosmic Psychos. How more Aussie can you get.
Growing up I used to be sort of embarrassed about Australian music because I was influenced so much by American music. Now I understand how culturally important it is to tell stories and make music about where you're from.
Radio birdman, dead livers, redgum (you all know the song), spiderbait, regurgitator, the cockroaches, rose tattoo, testeagles, beasts of bourbon, (early) nick cave.. there are so many more that created the groundswell for the iconic ‘twang’ of Australian music.. and not to forget that punk and the ‘pub rock’ sound was already mature before the time that grunge was making any waves within popular music..
my 2 cents.
Oh.. I second that TISM is probably the most Australian band to have made music relating to the suburbs.
Even though it’s got that more reggae sound Sticky Fingers for me really speaks to the experience of being Australian.
Maybe most here are a bit young to remember, but there are many 1960's and 1970's bands that fit the bill perfectly that have been missed, possibly the most important being The Dingoes and Stars. By your definition these are pretty much quintessential 'Australiana' bands. An obvious 'one off' song that is missing is This is Australia by Ganggajang
how did you leave out Do Re Mi... or TISM, for that matter?
A great 2010s band I never hear discussed much anymore is Dick Diver. Their whole discography is steeped in Australiana.
Please make a video on the grogans
5:18 if anybody wonders why there are no images of the legend it's because aboriginals don't like to have photos of themselves after they have died
Pub rock as we understand Cold Chisel is quintessentially Australian. Other nations have a very different understanding of what “pub rock” is
liking and subbing for the wallabies mention
I thought this was going to be an Austentatious reaction. He released a single called 'Australiana'.
The peep tempel are probably the ultimate as far as australiana goes , absolutely nail it
James Reyne has some quintessentially Australian subject matter,.. but what the fudge would you call the accent he sings in???
Opiate Drawl
The waifs are a band I thought should have been in there.
What about very distinctly Aussie Hip-Hop, Hilltop Hoods, Butterfingers etc?
I’m an American, introduced to those bands by my Australian husband, and while they take me a few listens to figure out what’s being said, I bloody love them
@@allisonbergh4429 yeah it's dope! There's a lot of Australian Hip-Hop and R&B-with-bars that is just done in an American accent to appeal to an international audience, not these lads. Personally I think anyone who doesn't rap in their own spoken accent is whack, with the possible exception of The Streets, so it's nice when you really hear them lean into it.
@@kohhna I’m currently getting a chuckle from the tv ad for some food delivery service, which features the cool-sounding (I guess) line “dollar dollar bills, y’all”, when “y’all” haven’t had those in Oz for quite a while 😆
Definitely Peter Bibby!!
Also rolling blackouts coastal fever
I think of bands like Midnight Oil as Australiana.
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever should get a mention.
What, no AC/DC, Australian Crawl, Dragon, Litle River Band, INXS, John Farnham to mention just k a few? What the hell mate?
I probably could have mentioned aus Crawl in the list of 80s bands, but the others you mentioned didn't do as much 'australiana' specific music. They are australian artists, yes, but they didn't lean into aus culture as much as the other artists I've mentioned in the video. I've mentioned those you have listed in many of my other videos. This video is not to just mention the best australian bands, rather those that leaned into australian culture in their content.
Another couple spring to mind. Redgum & Gangajang
Dune rats, dz death rays, violent soho. A tad more recently skeggs and lime cordiale. King stingray have a few bangers too
I thought sticky fingers would be mentioned they seem decently popular and make awesome music
i grew up so obsessed with the us and american culture.
all i wanted was to go to an american high school and to go to prom, but as i’ve gotten older more australian artists, and actors stepping into the spotlight have given me a sense of not nationalism but like australian pride.
i love our beautiful county
I’m American born but always wanted to live in Australia! And now I do, and I can tell you it’s better here😅
@@allisonbergh4429 right!? what a beautiful country we live in!!!
i’m so glad you like it here!
Julia Jacklin is pretty australiana
I’m suprised you didn’t mention the easy beats at the start but then again they were almost a bit britpop ish
Get on to Coober Pedy University Band!
The Hard Aches mentioned! So based lol
Lol.. who else in Australia came here thinking this video was about the wordplay by Austen Tayshus 🤣
Also, the stranglers
No mention of Sticky Fingers is criminal
Recent favourites would be Middle Kids
Bit of a taboo one but sticky fingers, their music was an absolute phenomenon when i was in highschool, they were the soundtrack to many a good time. Too bad one guy had to be a bad person
Gangajang?
The Pretty Littles have this down to a T. Especially with their new release Australian Dream
The Saints.
How on earth do you not mention Jimmy Barnes Darryl braithwaiye John Farnham and inxs. Also little river band. AC/DC. You missed literally most of aus biggest and most well exported acts that define eras for us. We also had a big rap scene with hilltop hoods and many others who truly defined an Aussie sub culture.
The waifs!? Surely they’re classified as Australiana
Not that I'm the biggest fan of her music, but Ruby Fields was quintessential Bogan rock haha
Redgum?
A lot of the time, it means the same drumbeat.
Shannon Noll is as Aussie Bogan you can get, in a good way.
Frankie Davidson is the almost the founder of Australiana.
The Angels..Doc Neeson was the king in the eighties
The smith street band!!
William Crighton and T.C.Jones ( a shameless plug)
Did you miss Redgum?
Frenzal Rhomb
Isn’t Australiana a personification of Australia. Like Brittania is too the UK or Columbia too the US?