Tex Perkins' Dark Horses - Sweet Nothing

Tex Perkins' Dark Horses - Sweet Nothing - 2003

from Rockthegate

To discerning fans of Australian music, the work of Tex Perkins holds pride of place. In the popularity stakes, there have been number one albums, ARIA Awards aplenty, and a litany of unforgettable live performances that are the stuff of local rock & roll folklore.

More recently, beyond the rebel rousing status earned from fronting seminal outfits such as The Cruel Sea and The Beasts Of Bourbon, Tex's solo records (1996's Far Be It From Me and 2000's Dark Horses) have revealed a more intimate side of the artist: That of an emotive singer/songwriter, an acoustic guitar strumming balladeer with a voice that delivers its message in a whisper rather than a roar.

And now, Sweet Nothing.

On the creative side of things, Tex has changed everything with Sweet Nothing, moved, as the artist himself puts it, from "portraiture to landscape". "To me, this isn't another journey to the interior, this feels like… standing on the outside…looking out.".

Songs come across like dreams, smoke signals from the subconscious. But their sound, you'll soon discover for yourself, is as broad and textured as the outback.

Much of the credit for the vast vision of Sweet Nothing, Tex hastens to point out, goes to The Dark Horses, the band that came together following the release of the album of the same name. For SWEET NOTHING is not really another solo recording at all. It is, in fact, the debut release by Tex Perkins and The Dark Horses.

"The Dark Horses features the divine and sublime talents of Joel Silbersher (bass) and Charlie Owen (guitar, keyboards), Tendrils by another name. Then there's Tex's closest collaborator of recent years, Murray Patterson (guitarist), and the most recent addition to the outfit, Skritch (drums).

Together, in various configurations as well as a whole, the five men each contributed to the songwriting of SWEET NOTHNG. As a performing ensemble, it's as if their combined talents have invented a new type of music that appears to physically grow as you listen on.

As always, there's a self-assuredness that shines even through apparent despair, such as on the rather direct lament of "Days Like These". But more than just coming on like Tex unplugged, The Dark Horses also show they can crank it up when it comes to the atmospherics stakes in songs like "Lucid" and "A Name On Every One", which sound more suited to a rock stadium than the backyard.

Sweet Nothing is a work of incredible beauty and delicacy. A major new work by one of the most distinctive vocalists and performers this country has ever produced.

01. A Hair Of The God
02. Midnight Sunshine
03. Lucid
04. Cold Feet
05. Great Apes
06. Changelings
07. Days Like These
08. Hang On To My Love
09. This Wind
10. A Name On Every One
11. Everything Or Nothing




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The Cruel Sea - Down Below

 The Cruel Sea - Down Below - 1989

By bringing together two very different influences, almost like adding oil to water, the Cruel Sea created a style of rock which extended Australian rock & roll culture and, at the same time, made them one of the most successful Australian groups of the '90s.

It started as an idea guitarist Danny Rumour had carried with him since his days in punk rock bands. As a regular at a Sydney pub, whenever a band cancelled or there was no gig on, Rumour would jump on stage with a few local musicians and play an instrumental set using equipment the hotel kept in a back room. People always loved it whenever it happened and when Rumour's group Sekret Sekret split up after seven years, he decided to explore the idea with a permanent group. The new group the Cruel Sea took its name from a Ventures instrumental from the '60s.

The instrumentals-only Cruel Sea played its first gigs in 1988, setting up behind the pool table at another hotel in Sydney. There was so little room, the guitarists would have to move so pool players could play their shots. But within weeks of starting this residency, the Cruel Sea was drawing regular crowds of up to 300 people. Operating the lighting at some of those performances was moonlighting Beasts of Bourbon singer Tex Perkins.

It wasn't until a party a few months later that the Cruel Sea and Perkins were formally introduced. The Cruel Sea was playing and Tex Perkins came up and said he'd like to have a go at putting lyrics to some of their instrumentals. That was something else Rumour had had in the back of his mind: to attract the right singer one day. Already an Australian music legend for his rock & roll swagger, the Cruel Sea couldn't have wished for anyone more qualified or interesting than Perkins.  

READ MORE HERE

01. Down Below    
02. The Gap    
03. Deadwood    
04. Navigate    
05. I'll Take Care Of You    
06. Zip It Up    
07. The Drift    
08. Margarita    
09. Reckless Eyeballin'    
10. How Low    
11. I Don't Know Why






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