Customer Reviews

Send Me a Lullaby

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3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
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The Go-Betweens debuted as a three piece: Robert Forster on vocals and guitar, Grant McLennan on vocals and bass and Lindy Morrison on drums. Along with the Church, the Go-Betweens were Australia's best kept secret for much of the 1980's. The Go-Betweens would go on to record another five albums of brilliant, exquisitely produced pop that, to the eternal shame of music fans everywhere, failed to gain a mainstream audience.

In stark contrast to the rest of their catalogue, however, "Send Me a Lullaby" is notable for its rough, amateurish sound. This album shows a band still attempting to find its distinctive voice. Additionally, Forster and McLennan's songwriting had yet to mature when this album was recorded. There are definitely flashes of what was to come on tracks like "Eight Pictures" where Forster had already developed an ability to slap the listener in the face with lyrics like "I shot you with my Camera/Caught you making love with him/I've got eight pictures" while McLennan showed flashes of his uncanny melodic instincts on tracks like "One Thing Can Hold Us." Those two tracks, along with the warped, almost jazzy "Your Turn, My Turn" are the highlights of this album.

But the rest of "Send Me A Lullaby" suffers from uncertain melodies and less-than-satisfactory playing. The role that the Go-Betweens assign to the bass guitar, however, is what makes even the rawest tracks on this album worth a listen. The bass, not the guitar, often takes the lead, reminding me of Chris Squire (in sound, not ability) of all people.

But this is not an album for newcomers. If you are new to the Go-Betweens, start off with "16 Lover's Lane" or "Liberty Belle." It also pays to keep Forster's advice in mind: "Don't get "Send Me A Lullaby" without owning at least three of our other albums first. It won't make sense otherwise."

I have to say that I quite disagree with the other two reviewers here. I think this is a very strong record, probably it's my favourite of the Go-Betweens. It's got none of the polish and lushness of the mid-period work, and yes, it lacks the focus of Beyond Hollywood, but there's a blissful sense of discovery about it that I find timeless. It's the sound of two young songsmiths discovering their voices, and setting out to make the most interesting and authentic record they could within their relatively naive means. Rhythm in particular is very scratchy and experimental but the stripped-down arrangements are so creative, so fresh... It might take a few plays to get into but there are no duff tracks here and a number of heartfelt gems. I urge you to give a listen. Lovely stuff.

Musically, there is very little on the Go-Betweens' debut album to suggest any riches to come, or, for that matter, to mark them out from the post-punk/New Wave-giving-onto-indie-rock early-80s pack. It's all tight, rhythmic drive, where everything - drums, vocals, guitars, bass - are inseperable from the general, homogenous, grey effect. This setting is perhaps appropriate for some squirmingly honest lyrics, whose very precision in charting quick-switch moods point to the Go-Between's future.

There are four songs that make the album worth listening to - 'One thing can hold us', the nearest thing to a tune; 'Midnight to neon', with its violent saxophone explosion; the proto-Pulp epic 'Eight Pictures', an uncomfortably comic story of voyeurism and violation; and 'Careless', with a guitar solo that lights up the album like a flare in the night.