Graded on a Curve:
Scott & Charlene’s Wedding, Mid Thirties Single Scene

Scott & Charlene’s Wedding is the brainchild of globetrotting Aussie Craig Dermody; his endeavor’s latest effort is primed to scratch ears itching for the savvy combination of raw pop and punkish riff bashing, with leader’s vocal exuberance intermittently recalling none other than Mr. Lou Reed. Swiping top-notch moves from predecessors both Down Under and international and then enhancing them with refreshingly personal thought-gush, the energetic and exciting Mid Thirties Singles Scene is out on LP, CD, and digital September 2 through Fire Records.

Australia has a knack for absorbing well-loved influences, particularly from the USA, with Chuck Berry, proto-punk Detroit, and The Ramones being three big examples. Crucially, the models are recalibrated into appealing and most-importantly distinctive sonic motion; the immediate impression given off by Scott & Charlene’s Wedding (named after a long-running Aussie soap opera that once starred Kylie Minogue) is of the post-Cale Velvet Underground with a bit of Stooges mingled in, but after time spent that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

Finding Dermody back in the home country after considerable touring and a stay in NYC, Mid Thirties Singles Scene is Scott & Charlene’s Wedding’s third full-length, the lineup for the album featuring noted Melbourne record engineer Jack Farley on bass, former Spider Vomit bandmate Gillian Tucker on guitar, Joe Alexander on drums, and Esther Edquist on keyboards and vocals.

Across nine songs they very effectively manage the difficult trick of balancing near instantaneous familiarity with a crucial streak of individualism, and icing the cake are flashes of melodicism that can inspire a singalong scenario right out of the shrink-wrap. The Loaded-era VU stomp of “Maureen” opens matters with a bang, though the explosiveness is imbued with a ’77-ish punk edge and an extended lyrical portrait of the titular character suggesting the Go-Betweens’ Able Records output; as SACW have previously and effectively covered the early Robert Forster nugget “Karen” this is no coincidence.

“Maureen” will likely egg more than one assembled crowd into a frenzy, and in terms of engendering audience participation the ensuing track is a stone cinch. First comes bass and drums quickly followed by a dose of Dermody’s sleepy drawl; as the rough-edged guitar enters the fray “Don’t Bother Me” gets its first big boost toward the exceptional, but it’s the lyrical examination of life’s uneventfulness (bad dance moves, weekend football games, the nagging necessity of crummy jobs) and the defiantly emphatic choruses, again positively begging for listener participation, that raise this gem to a special plateau.

Altogether, it’s a bit reminiscent of fellow Aussies Eddy Current Suppression Ring, but with less of an art-edge and more of a gloriously ragged pop-rock thrust. SACW have also been compared to Pavement on occasion, and while not an inapt tag it’s really a hypothetical Pavement less smitten with The Fall and instead totally taken with Richard Hell, Television, and as detailed those Stooges and Velvets.

But akin to The Fall, SACW can be assessed as a prole-art threat, but in a distinct way. Dermody is the clear leader a la Mark E. Smith but instead of striving for a potent ground-level eclecticism he plunges into the universalities of existence, e.g. rituals of activity fending off boredom, the difficulties of communication, and small moments of happiness or melancholy getting transformed in remembrance. A fine example is the “Hardest Years,” its atmosphere composed of recollections, layered guitars, and later in the track, the beautifully achy strains of organ.

At times Dermody’s examination of the everyday can take on depth reminiscent of Jonathan Richman; please see “Scrambled Eggs,” which lingers on the borderline of nostalgic mundanity before bringing it to a relatable place: “on them cold frosty mornings I get up before the sun/eat my scrambled eggs in the dark/Melbourne winter’s so cruel it makes you introspective/I wonder where you are, I wonder who you’re with.”

“End of the Story” follows, sounding like a live recording with the controls set for the heart of the Reed zone but deepening the journey with an attention to ’60s-ish pop-rock tunesmithing the vast majority of Lou idolaters leave underexplored. Likewise, SACW’s indie indebtedness is engagingly not by-the-numbers; although brandishing a rougher disposition, the lengthy “Bush” reveals a likeness to ‘80’s indie pop (think Wolfhounds or Close Lobsters), but farther in it dishes an effects-pedal-driven solo triggering visions of pre-corporate grunge.

Topically, the focus remains completely Australian, an element retained in the more succinct and decidedly ’90s-inclined indie rockisms of “Distracted” (the call and response chorus with Edquist is a nice touch). And just when it might seem as if the album is qualitatively frontloaded, along comes another Reed-ish rave-up “Delivered,” this one sturdy enough to thrive on its own EP.

It’s also the third straight track on Mid Thirties Singles Scene to find Tucker really stepping on that wah-pedal. Given the prominence of Edquist’s piano during her vocal duet with Dermody and his strumming acoustic, intrigued indie poppers will potentially find “Forever and a Day” an especially attractive proposition; it delivers a sweet denouement to Scott & Charlene’s Wedding’s raucous but highly approachable exceeding of expectations.

GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-

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