The Makers of the Dead Travel Fast ~ The Vessels [M Squared] 1981

A1 No Threat
A2 The Shadows Of Mde. Velo's Story
A3 Illuminated Bay, Illuminated Buoy
A4 Row Boat
A5 Into The Arc
A6 Dance Of The Trout
A7 Copper Hats

B1 Mesh
B2 Lovers Of Observatory Time
B3 The Barbers, The Barbers
B4 Zebra Crossing



Peter Richardson [piano, keyboards]
Greg Addison [guitar]
Steve Couri [bass, guitar, synth]
Tim Schultz [bongos, saxophone]
Shane Fahey [synthesizer]

Recorded at M Squared Studios

'One of the best kept secrets in rock n' roll is the renaissance in Australian music in the first half of the 80s. Almost every capital city in the nation produced at least one or two really good bands, and Sydney and Melbourne a stack. Makers Of the Dead Travel Fast were likely the most obscure of the lot.

I simply must tell you this story, because it illustrates the band perfectly. The Makers gig we attended in Sydney in 1981 was the most laid-back rock n' roll show I've ever seen. The entire audience was sitting cross-legged on the floor. The band came on, six or seven people. They never introduced themselves, they just played. Throughout the entire show no one in the band said a word. Not a single person clapped, cheered, booed or even talked during the songs. We couldn't even figure out if it was them or not, because no one had ever seen a photograph of them, and they didn't play anything off the album. Then they played "Zebra Crossing". The song finished and we cheered like maniacs - all five of us! The band walked offstage. That was it.

The Vessels is post-punk instrumental music. The album is bookended by probably the two weirdest pop songs I've ever heard. It is pop - melodic, concise - but it's just out there. Electronic, robotic..? But catchy! And lyrics to boot: "Two of my former idols have now gone to the pack/ I pitted them against each other while we were countin' back to back.'

Between these bookends is the mood music. The mood is of being adrift on a still dark ocean in the middle of the night. It is curious, it is creaking. Just when things seem to be sinking right down into ambience, the pace lifts a tad again, piano-playing respectful and measured. And then.. "Copper Hats"!! One of the classic weird rock n' roll songs, 'Copper Hats' is the sound of a bunch of retards banging pots and pans and muttering - yet still the ever-lingering pop catchiness!

Side 2 sees the band clearly transcending the ambient tag with the addition of some free-form brass which reflects the milieu of jazz-punk contemporaries Laughing Clowns and others. This side is less essential, with repetitive, hypnotic pounding beginning to drag by the middle of the side. A strong finish though, with 'Zebra Crossing'. The Vessels, another minor classic; the sort of obscure rock n' roll grail you could - if you were that way inclined - spend the rest of your life searching for.' ~ source

one of the dreamiest albums from Oz's answer to Tuxedomoon, who retain a haunting vibe throughout without resorting to too much saxophone silliness. simply stunning piano musique, 320 enchanting evocations later