Mick Thomas
and the Sure Thing - Dust On My Shoes (Croxton Records)
Without
question or qualification Mick Thomas is one of Australia's finest
songwriters. Why qualify it? He's one of the finest songwriters
you'll find anywhere, but the "Australian" does belong in front
because you really can't escape the fact that these songs are very
much about Mick's immediate environment, which happens to be Australia,
even when he's not actually IN Australia (Hard Currency). Mentions
of the Big Day Out, East Geelong, the local cafe. Mick likes detail.
More important is the way that attention to detail applies itself
to the bigger picture Mick is painting, the stories he's telling,
the people he's describing, the situations he's describing. Mick
belongs to that rare group of songwriters - like Paul Kelly, Billy
Bragg, Bruce Springsteen - to whom a good song is a good yarn, something
that touches on and maybe adds something to the human spirit. We
meet people we've known, or people we can identify with, or sympathize
with. Add a great melody to a good yarn and you've really hit pay
dirt. A couple of years ago Mick made the huge step of ending his
career with Weddings Parties Anything, with a repertoire of popular
song he could have kept singing for the rest of his life. That's
what he didn't want to do. It's taken Mick longer than he probably
intended, but it's songs like those on this album he's rather sing
and have you hear than the old favourites. He's challenging himself
and us to continue the quest. There was a live album before this,
which just kept career ball rolling. This album is where Mick makes
his new beginning. Musically there are changes, if subtle. Weddings
albums always needed to accommodate the band, much as the band were
about doing the best job for the songs. Now you get the impression
that it's all about the song. Mick is being Mick, the modern-day
bush balladeer, but you can feel the musical freedom he must be
feeling, stretching his melodies and vocal style into new corners,
without veering dramatically from where his music is at. The album
songs are presented like a book, divided into chapters, but there's
no clear story or plot. Each song is a chapter in its own right,
starting with the boy who dares to be a goth in a country town,
and ending with a twist on an Australian expression, 'it was no
picnic'. An illustrious songwriter and singer takes the next bold
step in his career.
Without
question or qualification Mick Thomas is one of Australia's finest
songwriters. Why qualify it? He's one of the finest songwriters
you'll find anywhere, but the "Australian" does belong in front
because you really can't escape the fact that these songs are very
much about Mick's immediate environment, which happens to be Australia,
even when he's not actually IN Australia (Hard Currency). Mentions
of the Big Day Out, East Geelong, the local cafe. Mick likes detail.
More important is the way that attention to detail applies itself
to the bigger picture Mick is painting, the stories he's telling,
the people he's describing, the situations he's describing. Mick
belongs to that rare group of songwriters - like Paul Kelly, Billy
Bragg, Bruce Springsteen - to whom a good song is a good yarn, something
that touches on and maybe adds something to the human spirit. We
meet people we've known, or people we can identify with, or sympathize
with. Add a great melody to a good yarn and you've really hit pay
dirt. A couple of years ago Mick made the huge step of ending his
career with Weddings Parties Anything, with a repertoire of popular
song he could have kept singing for the rest of his life. That's
what he didn't want to do. It's taken Mick longer than he probably
intended, but it's songs like those on this album he's rather sing
and have you hear than the old favourites. He's challenging himself
and us to continue the quest. There was a live album before this,
which just kept career ball rolling. This album is where Mick makes
his new beginning. Musically there are changes, if subtle. Weddings
albums always needed to accommodate the band, much as the band were
about doing the best job for the songs. Now you get the impression
that it's all about the song. Mick is being Mick, the modern-day
bush balladeer, but you can feel the musical freedom he must be
feeling, stretching his melodies and vocal style into new corners,
without veering dramatically from where his music is at. The album
songs are presented like a book, divided into chapters, but there's
no clear story or plot. Each song is a chapter in its own right,
starting with the boy who dares to be a goth in a country town,
and ending with a twist on an Australian expression, 'it was no
picnic'. An illustrious songwriter and singer takes the next bold
step in his career.