Gravity Pirates - New Age Dreams - LP (1987), Australia

I've realized, it's been a while since the last update. My apologies to all who were expecting monthly updates, but my interest in this blog temporarily veered off course. Now that I'm back, here is Gravity Pirates' second album, New Age Dreams. After their smashing debut album, This Way To The Cargo Cult, the band decided to make a 180 degree turn or how some would say, "Jumped the shark".

New Age Dreams, released in 1987, represents an unexpected change from the group. Instead of gradually evolving their sound like most other bands, they abruptly attack the listener with a callous statement, "Here's our new sound, love it or leave it!" All of the thundering drums, profound synths and cold guitars from their previous effort are now missing and substituted with acoustic guitars, light weight drumming and female vocals (by Sharon Van Tromp). To describe the new sound, I'd say it's a combination of Folk with touches of New Wave. One would really have to sit down and listen with an open mind to grasp the feeling of this album.
What happened? It's difficult to understand what provoked the band to promptly change their direction, but whatever the reason was, it definitely turned into a displeasing result. Although they did a decent rendition of Lou Reed's Femme Fatale, this album's surmountable paltry effort is just too much to take notice. Sorry Gravity Pirates, but I don't like it.

Details:

Gravity Pirates - New Age Dreams - LP (1987), Australia

Side One:

1. Feather

2. Driving

3. Bitterness & Tears

4. Chee

Side Two:

5. Lazy Sunday

6. Everyday

7. Femme Fatale

8. New Age Dreams

9. Plip Plops

Review

More Information:

Official Myspace?

Discography

Gravity Pirates - This Way To The Cargo Cult - LP (1986), Australia

Originating from the land of down under, the home of wacky-haired Yahoo Serious and the subject of many over the top post-apocalyptic movies, arrives a band who are seldom mentioned and still remain off the radar of most people. Gravity Pirates from Sydney, Australia is a group shrouded in obscurity and will remain so until some more insight is revealed. I was a bit frustrated to find very little information beyond what is on the vinyl's sleeve cover.

The only notable things I could uncover is who all the members were involved while the band existed, the sparse discography (2 LP's) and a Myspace page (with just a grainy music video, music samples and a short magazine article). The people connected with the band were: Steven Hindes (guitar, vocals and piano), Sharon Van Tromp (vocals), Paul Hindes (keyboards), Alistair Stevenson (bass), Pierre Della-Putta (drums) and Keith Boots (drums).

This Way To The Cargo Cult, released in 1986 (not 1984, as the Amazon and iTunes download pages insist) by Survival Music, is quite a find and amazed it didn't go for as much as I'd expected it to go for online in physical form (I got mine for $8). Full of brooding sounds and murky vocals, Gravity Pirates' debut album is the type of music followers of the post-punk genre and the like shouldn't miss out on! The most outstanding tracks are the killer, head bopping opener This Way To The Cargo Cult and the slow, dark and ambient Backtrack. With respect to the artist, I've only put these two songs up for review since high quality remastered digital versions are readily available on Amazon and iTunes individually for 99¢ or the full album for about $7.
There's less than two months left before the year ends, so sit back, listen and bask in the sea of gloominess!

Details:

Gravity Pirates - This Way To The Cargo Cult - LP (1986), Australia

Side 1:

1. This Way To The Cargo Cult

2. Float So Wide

3. Backtrack

4. Frontal Attack

Side 2:

5. Exposure Of My Senses

6. Take My Time

7. Shape Of A Point Of View

Review

More Information:

Official? Myspace

Discography

iTunes (Buy and Download)

Amazon (Buy and Download)