The Gin Club -Gabriel/Drug Flowers

Tue 27th Sep, 2005 in Music Reviews

The Gin Club are favourites of the Brisbane live scene, with an eclectic live show; an eight piece band featuring at least five singers, alternating instruments and vocals with every track. On the back of their recent album Virginibus Puerisque, they’ve released a double a-sided single, Gabriel/Drug Flowers, and it’s a damn fine EP, one of the year’s best.

Gabriel is an tempo country number, the kind the Gin Club are famous for. It’s yearning but never depressing, and has standard country lyrics. Drug Flowers has been doing the rounds on Triple J, and opens with a beautiful acoustic guitar, while the singer compares various drugs to the colours of numerous flowers. Once the rest of the instruments kick in, it’s not dissimilar to Gabriel, although it’s slightly more toe-tapping and upbeat.

The extra songs on the EP are live tracks from a Triple J recording of a gig from the Zoo club in Brisbane. Triple J listeners should recognise You Don’t See, and possibly Country Romance, but its closer Wylde Bitch which makes the most impact. It’s sing-along tale of heartbreak is beautiful, and when all the members of the band join the chorus at the end of the song, its not hard to picture them all on stage, singing along defiantly.

All in all, this fine EP is probably one of the releases of the year, a fine introduction to a seasoned and finely tuned band, and should prompt many listeners into purchasing their excellent album.