by request
Artist Biography
by Ed Nimmervoll
Three-piece thrash pop group
Spiderbait
are one of Australia's most distinctive and popular bands of the '90s
and 2000s, a group that almost has to be seen live to appreciate their
uniqueness. Drummer
Mark Maher
(or "Kram") is the group's main vocalist. His drums are never set up on
a rise, but sit on an equal level with the other bandmembers, bass
player
Janet English, who shares some of the lead vocals, and guitarist Damien Whity ("Whit").
All three hail from Finley, a small town with a
population of about 2,200 located in Southern New South Wales. Kram and
Whit began jamming together at school before Kram enrolled in the
Victorian College of the Arts School of Music in Melbourne, studying
percussion and guitar. He also plays guitar, bass, and a bit of
keyboard. Kram quit the course in his third year and returned to Finley
to form
Spiderbait. At that point he had the choice of either teaching Whit and
Janet English
what he knew about music, or forgetting everything to learn from
scratch with the other two. He chose the latter course. As a result,
their music follows no traditional line, shifting easily from jazzy
instrumentals to frantic distortion based rock/pop.
Their early performances were rough and chaotic.
Their first indie albums, 1992's P'tangYangPipperBangUh!! and 1993's
Shashavaglava (Yugoslavian for dickhead), were roller-coaster listening. By the time they picked up a major deal in 1995,
Spiderbait had found their way to a richly adventurous and confident style. Their first Polydor Australia release,
The Unfinished Spanish Galleon of Finley Lake, was followed by two Top Ten albums,
Ivy & the Big Apples and
Grand Slam, as well as tours of Canada, America, and Japan.
Janet English has formed a splinter group
Happyland, with
Quan Yeomans from
Regurgitator.
Tracklist
| 1 |
Cracker |
3:06
|
| 2 |
Glokenpop |
3:19
|
| 3 |
Shazam! |
2:03
|
| 4 |
Dinnertime |
2:11
|
| 5 |
Plastic |
2:31
|
| 6 |
Bessy's Last Journey |
3:17
|
| 7 |
Daisy May |
1:58
|
| 8 |
White Trash Superstar |
3:27
|
| 9 |
Buster |
2:13
|
| 10 |
By The Time I Get To Howlong |
1:59
|
| 11 |
Stevie |
3:00
|
| 12 |
Jellybean Drifter |
2:45
|
| 13 |
King Of The Northern |
2:12
|
| 14 |
Tallygaroopna |
1:13
|
| 15 |
Ultralite |
4:01
|
| 16 |
Lickety Split |
2:45
|
| 17 |
Lost In Adelaide |
3:22 |