Various - 4ZZZ PresentsBeyond The Banana Curtain

Tue 31st Aug, 2010 in Music Reviews

One of Australia’s oldest community radio stations 4ZZZ in Brisbane is turning 35 years young this year. After releasing a popular compilation in 2000 – a 25-year retrospective titled Behind The Banana Curtain – it was decided to release a new instalment to celebrate the latest milestone. Beyond The Banana Curtain focuses on Brisbane bands to feature prominently in the 4ZZZ Hot 100 (Australia’s longest running listener poll no less) during the period 2000 – 2010.

The 23 tracks were chosen from the artists with the most frequent appearances in the list and the songs chosen were generally those to place the highest. The proceeds from the sale of the record go towards a good cause, nurturing the growth and maintenance of the station enabling them to continue supporting local talent. It’s a win-win situation as many acts have gone on to achieve national and even international success.

The set is not a very cohesive one as it takes in a very large variety of styles, from the intense blues punk of Vegas Kings to electronic dance by Monster Zoku Onsomb! Then there’s electro-power pop ( Sekiden ); dark instrumental manifestations ( Del Toro ); Siouxsie Sioux fervour ( Butcher Birds ); and international darlings, Violent Soho. It means that the set feels more like you’re actually listening to the radio. Or at least listening to radio as it should be with long playlists full of variety. Sure, there’s no announcers introducing the songs but isn’t that a good thing to be rid of those pesky, aspiring John Laws and Kyle Sandilands-types and after all, it IS a CD!

Mouthguard lead the charge having had 13 songs in the Hot 100. Brisbane City is a proud and rousing ode to their hometown with some Saints-like punk. It almost seems like the former are carrying the torch for the latter in the new millennium.

The station supported The Grates early on before they cracked the mainstream. Their contribution is a garage rock show with Patience definitely trying to be Jack White in White Stripes persona.

Other acts referencing American music include Dick Nasty with the fabulously titled, I’m More Australian Than A Book Full of Bush Poetry By Russell Crowe. They seem to be perfectly placed as an angsty, Australian equivalent to NOFX. Texas Tea meanwhile, take on an alt-country vibe where you could almost see singer, Kate Jacobson doing a June Carter Cash performance to a new time period and a yoof audience.

Gin Club provide some psychedelic pop and sound as though they’ve captured a transitory moment in the heady sixties. Doch reside on a completely different plane and instead brim with exoticism by creating a unique blend of gypsy music from violin, trumpets and clarinet, a strange flavour in a sea of mostly guitar-based music. Basically, their instrumental Eastern European sounds would be more on the money on a world music compilation but here they’re content to be smoking hookahs while the other contenders stick to their beer bongs.

Beyond The Banana Curtain celebrates 4ZZZ and the highs of Brisbane music from 2000 to 2010. These are great successes that should be observed, as many of these acts managed to top the poll (or at least the pointy end of it) on the back of some low-key releases and a DIY-attitude. The record is dedicated to all the people from artists, management, media, industry types, crew and fans that made Brisbane music what it is today. Beyond The Banana Curtain therefore is a testament to all those players and we really should take a step back and applaud their tremendous efforts.