78 Saab - Good Fortune

Thu 28th Oct, 2010 in Music Reviews

When faced with recording any album beyond your debut you’ve invariably got two choices. Do you experiment with your sounds and keep things fresh but also possibly face the ire of your listeners? Or do you do an AC/DC by releasing virtually the same record by building on your strong foundations and giving people more of what they had initially liked. If you’re Sydney band, 78 Saab you certainly fit the latter mould.

The group’s fourth studio album, Good Fortune, is again produced by Tim Whitten (Powderfinger, The Go-Betweens, Augie March) where he has now well and truly earned the title of long-time studio cohort. The band once again hone their craft of producing sublime alt-country songs propelled by the unique vocals of Ben Nash, the excellent lead guitar twang of Jake Andrews and the superbly tight rhythm section, Garth Tregillgas on bass and Nicholai Danko on drums.

In the album dedication the boys drink to getting by with just three chords, a kick drum and a whiff of rubbing alcohol, while Peabody’s Bruno Brayovic lends a paragraph about re-runs and getting caught up in a play-rewind-play cycle. These things are all apt summaries of the album, particularly when we consider the songs Whatever Rules You Break and Avarice, the two most Saab-like tracks of the collection even though the latter contains more keys then you’d have heard on their previous works.

78 Saab are the band that sang about sunshine, no illusions and love being like the beat of a drum. This time around the lyrics take in an old friend’s passing ( Warm Jets ), childlike wonder ( Small Things ) and cool water ( All At Sea ). Musically, the group touch on things like riding along the Australian landscape passing bush, sand, surf and sun and willing away time by daydreaming under a blood red sky. But if you’re after specific artists then the boys hint at Wilco and The Church (especially the guitar work on Never Gonna Be) while Chasing The Light shares a few things with R.E.M’s Shiny Happy People.

Finding the right balance between light and dark, whimsy and poignancy and all the while retaining a crystal glow and muted reverence, Good Fortune is a short offering of alt-country songs that see the group honing their songwriting craft while paying homage to some musical greats along the way. Like a well-worn pair of shoes, this record won’t earn you great compliments or kudos from your mates but there is something oddly beautiful and extremely comforting in the familiar, in knowing precisely what kind of music you’ll be lending your ears to. So let that alt-country play-rewind-play and let the beat of their drums continue on as it has done since 1995.