Live At The Pleasuredome
by The Southern River Band

I spent my teens living in Thornlie (my parents still live there), went to Thornlie High and Gosnells (now Southern River High) and have seen the band live around 30 times!

I picked up the vinyl copy of this album after a chance meeting with the bass player. After our brief chat, I hopped online that night to listen to the song Through the Forest and the Trees on MySpace. Wow, I knew all the street name references from my misspent youth as a regular at Thornlie local, the Lakers. I quickly ordered the album. It arrived a week later, signed by one Callum Kramer.

What an album. Chock full of rockin' hammering tunes. From then I figured this band were set for stardom. Favourites: the above is a special song for me as my folks still live close to Thornlie High, Chasin' AFter Love, Let It Ride, Tow Times a Fool, Little While. They all rock.

Some Might Say the songs lack subtlety and, ala ACCADACCA, a tad similar but I Beg to Differ. For me, there's more melody happening in these tunes. Take Chasin' After Love ('ll Burn a Hole in Your Shoes). It's a classic and builds to a sing-along response to the Hunters' Aussie classic 'You Don't Make me Feel Like I'm A Woman Anymore'. The background vocals are awesome and, despite other updated versions of the song, this is the best. In better times, when the masses looked to music rather than the WWW for their soul, it would have been a Top 10 hit.

How a 17-year-old masterminded this classic is beyond me. The audacity of youth? Expert assistance from master craftsman/producer/and now fully fledged member of the band, Dan Carrol? Maybe Cal did a deal with the devil when missing the 212 bus and ended up where Beelzebub reigns - the Canning Vale prison bus! A good place to observe the seedier side of Gosnells life that has fuelled many of their songs since.

They followed the album with Rumour & Innuedno - another raucous classic!

I planned to catch them live as soon as I could. They seemed to be touring all the time. But life got busy and then COVID hit - a major blow for the band who were one date into their first national tour supporting the Darkness. It also came after a regrouping with a complete line-up change, including the arrival of the intrepid bass player and awesome back-up singer Pat Smith, who I'm indebted to for the introduction. They recorded a live album during COVID, wrote more killer tunes and welcomed the bearded best of a guitar player Dan Caroll!

I caught them after COVID at the Charles. They blew me away - so much so I uncharacteristically surged the stage to shake Cal's hand at the end of the gig.

Sadly, the world remained ignorant with no Aussie radio support and a lack of interest from record companies who were focused on the next TikTok sensation. Their loss.

The band had a strategy though - more shows, more killer tunes, hilarious social media starring Cal and Carlos, his direct spoken Da.

Still, criminally underrated, they continue their pursuit 666 per cent proof rock’n’roll with songs full of liquor, women, drugs, killing…” see The Vice City series now being released by a real record company and supporting rock royalty.

Cal recently lamented from the stage the lack of record company support for a 10-year reissue of the album. If they are really that dumb Fuck 'em - I'll support a local Thornlie release!!!

Travel from wherever u are to see 'em at a show in Gosnells that's no doubt coming soon before there's a queue round the block. Maybe check out the Lakers, the Thornlie roads (pop in on me and Cal's M&D ) and that bus while you're in the neighbourhood. Deals await ya...

Best release of the last decade...and from my hood....WOW!