Thundabox - Here ToRuffle Ya Feathers

Fri 7th Oct, 2005 in Music Reviews

There are venues in the world where even the very talented would fail to get a gig without having the right promoter or booking agent; places where the band on stage will beg fans to sign them on the off chance that they turn out to be covert record label A & R reps. These are the places where competition is brutal, and if you’re not wearing the nominated hair style of the week or your level of nonchalance isn’t quite right, you’re out. 

Fortunately, Australia possesses a musical spirit not found anywhere else in the known universe. It lives up to our egalitarian self-image, in a way it is almost like a celebration of mediocrity. There are some venues which cultivate the fashionable ideals of the day and serve as launching pads for the next batch of commercially popular acts.  While those venues are often entertaining, and offer punters a chance to say “I saw them before they were famous”, there is a certain thrill in turning up to a bar, whether it be in a suburban, city or country locale, and watching a few half-pissed locals strutting the band riser and belting out some half-arsed pub-punk.  It’s not classy, it’s not commercial, there are no production values and the songs don’t really mean anything – and that’s the point.  It’s entertaining in the most basic way and combined with a couple of pints, the music makes everything okay.

Buoyed by the cheers of the regulars, the occasional round of free drinks and a quiet inner-glow generated by being the centre of attention for 45 minutes on a Saturday night, some of these bands may even decide they should lay down some tracks at the local studio and release an album.  One can only assume that this, in some way, explains the album Here to Ruffle Ya Feathers by Thundabox.

Like some sort of unholy union between Lobby Lloyd and the Coloured Balls, Joe Dolce and the Hard Ons (the band thanks Keish on the album sleeve – could there be a link to the Hard Ons?), Thundabox revel in their distinctly Aussie pub-punk-rock sound, and they certainly don’t hold back with their Australian-ness.  Songs like Belly As A Plate, Dickhead and Aussie Battla are all good examples. 

The songs themselves don’t really warrant too much scrutiny, they all sound exactly how you would imagine them – fast, simple and destined to be played at full volume in a car with mag wheels, tinted windows and fluffy dice. The vocals sound a bit awkward in some of the songs, but otherwise, the album is well produced.  Songs like To Memories of You really do sound vaguely similar to some of the early Hard Ons releases. The main difference is that the band really lacks that sheer animal intensity that made the Hard Ons so intense and quite unique. 

Overall, the album doesn’t really have much of a flow, and it’s fairly apparent the boys aren’t intent on making this their career.  It’s unlikely that Thundabox will be headlining the Big Day Out any time soon, and they are obviously not trying to be that sort of band.  However, if they happened to be playing at the local there is no reason why you shouldn’t have a beer and enjoy what they have to offer.