The Birthday Party | ||
| Allmusic Biography : The Birthday Party were one of the darkest and most challenging post-punk groups to emerge in the early 80s, creating bleak and noisy soundscapes that provided the perfect setting for vocalist Nick Caves difficult, disturbing stories of religion, violence, and perversity. Under the direction of Cave and guitarist Rowland S. Howard, the band tore through reams of blues and rockabilly licks, spitting out hellacious feedback and noise at an unrelenting pace. As the Birthday Partys career progressed, Caves vision got darker and the bands songs alternated between dirges to blistering sonic assaults. Originally, the Australian band was called the Boys Next Door, comprising Cave, Howard, Mick Harvey (guitar, drums, organ, piano), bassist Tracy Pew, and drummer Phill Calvert. After the Door Door album and Hee Haw EP under that name, the band moved to London and switched its name to the deceptively benign Birthday Party. Once they arrived in Britain, their demented, knotty post-punk began to gel. They released their first international album, Prayers on Fire, in 1981, earning critical praise in the U.K. and U.S. While the band was preparing to record the follow-up, Pew was jailed for drunk driving; former Magazine member Barry Adamson, Harry Howard, and Chris Walsh filled in for the absent Pew on 1982s Junkyard. After the release of Junkyard, the Birthday Party fired Calvert and moved to Germany, where they began collaborating with such experimental post-punk acts like Lydia Lunch and Einstürzende Neubauten. Harvey left in the summer of 1983. The group briefly continued with drummer Des Heffner, but it soon disbanded after a final concert in Melbourne, Australia. Cave had the most successful solo career, recording a series of albums in the 80s and 90s that maintained his status as a popular cult figure; Harvey joined Caves backing band, the Bad Seeds. Howard joined Crime & the City Solution, which also featured his brother Harry and Harvey. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 17 Title: The Birthday Party Released: 1980-11 Tracks: 10 Duration: 32:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Mr. Clarinet (03:43) 2 Hats on Wrong (02:48) 3 The Hair Shirt (04:03) 4 Guilt Parade (02:48) 5 Riddle House (02:47) 6 The Friend Catcher (04:21) 7 Waving My Arms (02:16) 8 The Red Clock (02:49) 9 Cat Man (02:28) 10 Happy Birthday (03:59) |
| The Birthday Party : Allmusic album Review : Originally released in 1980 and credited to the Boys Next Door, that early incarnation of Nick Caves Birthday Party had existed in the Australian punk scene from as early as 1973, and their debut album marks one of the most significant diversions in punk rock music of the era. The Birthday Party only lasted three years and produced an album trilogy that is surely one of the most influential catalogs in the genre, besides that of the Sex Pistols or the Clash (whose recorded works incidentally frail next to "Nick the Stripper"). By the turn of the millennium, Nick Cave had metamorphosed into one of the greatest balladeers of the era, not to mention his deranged beginnings as one of the most ferocious rock performers since Iggy Pop, with a voice as harrowing as Howlin Wolf. The Birthday Party also sported one of the most extraordinary set of musicians, who seemed intent on redefining rock by poisoning its very essence. Mick Harvey, Tracy Pew, Phillip Calvert, and Rowland S. Howard made up the group which -- by chance or virtue -- could sound simultaneously inept and agile -- a razor edge in which they crept with both skepticism and skill; the approach resulted in some of the most tense and threatening music put to record during the 80s. Their jaundiced cabaret sound as a band has similarities to Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band in the way that they seem to be swinging in and out of tempo, lurching from one twanging blues passage to another with blinding, furious noise squalls. "Mr. Clarinet," "Hats on Wrong," "The Hair Shirt," and "Guilt Parade" display some of Nick Caves darkest lyrical content, attesting to the gothic tag later (unfittingly) thrown at the group. "The Friend Catcher" is an utterly horrifying track, an album highlight. The following albums -- Prayers on Fire, released in 1981, and Junkyard in 1982 -- didnt let up from the original formula displayed to brutally harsh degrees here. Only the last EP, Mutiny, with the addition of Blixa Bargeld from Einstüerzende Neubauten, took things a notch higher and the rest is history. Call it the Birthday Partys first album or the Boys Next Doors sole document, The Birthday Party is an essential piece of punk history representing the beginnings of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. Not to mention a seminal influence on groups such as the Jesus Lizard, Swans, Cop Shoot Cop, and more. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 17 Title: Prayers on Fire Released: 1981-03-30 Tracks: 13 Duration: 41:50 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Zoo-Music Girl (02:36) 2 Cry (02:39) 3 Capers (02:38) 4 Nick the Stripper (03:50) 5 Ho-Ho (03:06) 6 Figure of Fun (02:47) 7 King Ink (04:39) 8 A Dead Song (02:12) 9 Yard (05:02) 10 Dull Day (03:03) 11 Just You and Me (02:01) 12 Blundertown (03:10) 13 Kathys Kisses (04:06) |
| Prayers on Fire : Allmusic album Review : It should come as no surprise that there is an album in Nick Caves oeuvre called Prayers on Fire; a fascination with the dark, (self-)destructive side of religion is more than evident in his later work with the Bad Seeds. While there might not be any of the explicit Biblical imagery on Prayers on Fire that Cave would later ejaculate, the title of the album is apt, and its aptness is revealed almost immediately. Over the tribal thud of floor toms, shards of trebly guitar, the throb of an organ, and even a creepily out-of-place trumpet come the possessed, chant-like vocals -- not an incantation to any god, but to "Zoo-Music Girl." Its the religion of depraved sexuality, bestial urges, and sadomasochism. "We spend our lives in a box full of dirt/I murder her dress till it hurts/I murder her dress and she loves it," howls Cave, echoing Leonard Cohen and finally concluding with the berserk plea, "Oh! God! Please let me die beneath her fists." Meanwhile, Cave sounds like hes actually being assaulted by the music, emitting horrific gasps and primitive grunts. And this is only the first track. On the next two tracks, language itself is violated and found inadequate. Words collapse upon themselves in "Cry," with Cave tossing out self-annihilating binaries like "space/no space," "fish/no fish," "clothes/no clothes," and "flesh/no flesh." On "Capers," penned by Genevieve McGuckin, semantics are made into sausage -- words are chewed up and regurgitated as warped neologisms: "gloomloom," "clocklock," "paperparrent," "diehood." The lyrics for "Figure of Fun" arent even printed in the booklet; instead, merely "obsessive, deadpan, moribund, seasick, etc." And perhaps that best sums up Prayers on Fires graveyard poetry. The rest of the album is a subterranean labyrinth full of "sand and soot and dust and dirt," peopled by bizarre characters like Nick the Stripper and King Ink, and replete with images of murder, decay, blood, and Kafka-esque insects. Then, of course, theres Cave himself, the literate ghoul with an impressive vocal range who just stepped out of a B horror flick, trying to parry the intensity of the music like an Iggy Pop wasted on goth pills. But be careful not to overlook his subtle sense of humor and his awareness of the camp -- there are also chickens to be counted, nuns inside his head, and Fats Domino on the radio. With Mick Harvey being the only future Bad Seed on hand (Anita Lane also contributed one set of lyrics), the music here foreshadows Caves later work without quite resembling it (with the exception of his first album). The Birthday Party are closer to Joy Division (only more theatrical), the Pop Group (only spookier), or Pere Ubu (only more percussive). Though present on most of the tracks, the moody piano that would dominate much of Caves solo work is never really prominent here. Instead its the squiggles of Rowland Howards guitar dodging the blows of the furious rhythm section that distinguishes the Birthday Party. Oppressive and unrelenting, Prayers on Fire is highly recommended for those aspiring to advanced states of dementia. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 17 Title: Drunk on the Popes Blood / The Agony Is the Ecstacy Released: 1982-02 Tracks: 5 Duration: 34:38 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Pleasure Heads (03:40) 2 King Ink (06:01) 3 Zoo-Music Girl (03:00) 4 Loose (05:27) 5 The Agony Is the Ecstacy (16:30) |
 | Album: 4 of 17 Title: Junk Yard Released: 1982-06-02 Tracks: 13 Duration: 47:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Blast Off! (02:17) 2 She’s Hit (06:05) 3 Dead Joe (03:08) 4 The Dim Locator (02:49) 5 Hamlet (Pow, Pow, Pow) (05:33) 6 Several Sins (02:56) 7 Big-Jesus-Trash-Can (02:59) 8 Kiss Me Black (02:48) 9 6″ Gold Blade (03:34) 10 Kewpie Doll (03:32) 11 Junkyard (05:49) 12 Dead Joe (2nd version) (03:07) 13 Release the Bats (02:30) |
 | Album: 5 of 17 Title: The Bad Seed Released: 1983-02 Tracks: 4 Duration: 15:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Sonnys Burning (03:17) 2 Wildworld (03:25) 3 Fears of Gun (03:54) 4 Deep in the Woods (04:46) |
 | Album: 6 of 17 Title: Mutiny Released: 1983-11 Tracks: 4 Duration: 16:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Jennifers Veil (04:56) 2 Mutiny in Heaven (04:16) 3 Swampland (03:28) 4 Say a Spell (03:42) |
 | Album: 7 of 17 Title: Its Still Living Released: 1985 Tracks: 12 Duration: 47:19 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 King Ink (05:23) 2 Zoo Music Girl (03:06) 3 The Dim Locator (03:21) 4 Shes Hit (06:17) 5 A Dead Song (02:42) 6 (Sometimes) Pleasure Heads Must Burn (02:50) 7 Junkyard (06:18) 8 Blast Off (02:20) 9 Release the Bats (03:14) 10 Nick the Stripper (04:22) 11 Big Jesus Trash Can (03:47) 12 Dead Joe (03:35) |
| It's Still Living : Allmusic album Review : As a document of the Birthday Party at the peak of their powers, Its Still Living is impressive. Though the sound is marred by technical glitches (mainly the sounds of the amps crackling and shorting out), the performances are stellar. Frontman Nick Cave sounds possessed, howling against the elements with abandon, while guitarist Rowland Howard spits out shards of jagged guitar. In between songs, he even treats the audience to his typical black humor, explaining that "Release the Bats" is the audiences favorite but the bands least favorite, and introducing "Junkyard" by comparing the venue unfavorably to one. The song selection is fairly comprehensive, pulling tracks from the Partys two full-length albums, Junkyard and Prayers On Fire, as well as the EP Drunk on the Popes Blood, and if the release seems a tad short, it still contains virtually every essential track the band performed live. The Live 1981-82 collection may have surpassed this set (especially since it is longer and sounds clearer) but this raw recording is still a worthy introduction to the Birthday Party. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 17 Title: A Collection... Best and Rarest Released: 1985 Tracks: 12 Duration: 39:42 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Blast Off (02:11) 2 The Hair Shirt (03:51) 3 King Ink (04:27) 4 Junkyard (05:27) 5 Big Jesus Trash Can (02:50) 6 Release the Bats (02:21) 7 Blundertown (02:46) 8 Kathys Kisses (03:53) 9 Ho Ho (Nick Cave vocal version) (02:56) 10 The Friend Catcher (alternate version) (02:10) 11 Scatterbrain (03:24) 12 The Plague (03:26) |
 | Album: 9 of 17 Title: A Collection Released: 1987 Tracks: 12 Duration: 49:13 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Blast Off (02:21) 2 The Hair Shirt (04:05) 3 King Ink (04:42) 4 Junkyard (05:49) 5 Big-Jesus-Trash-Can (02:59) 6 Release the Bats (02:32) 7 Shes Hit (06:08) 8 Kathys Kisses (04:06) 9 The Friend Catcher (04:22) 10 Zoo Music Girl (02:39) 11 Nick the Stripper (03:52) 12 Hamlet (Pow, Pow, Pow) (05:33) |
| A Collection : Allmusic album Review : A Collection draws from the Birthday Partys Junkyard and Prayers on Fire albums, adding a few tracks from the Hee Haw EP and some alternate takes. The compilation has also been issued under the title The Best and the Rarest and provides an effective introduction to the band. | ||
 | Album: 10 of 17 Title: The Peel Sessions Released: 1987 Tracks: 4 Duration: 12:15 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Release the Bats (02:34) 2 Rowland Around in That Stuff (03:29) 3 (Sometimes) Pleasure Heads Must Burn (02:35) 4 Loose (03:34) |
 | Album: 11 of 17 Title: The Peel Sessions: The Birthday Party II Released: 1988 Tracks: 4 Duration: 14:59 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Big Jesus Trash Can (03:04) 2 Shes Hit (05:35) 3 Bully Bones (02:45) 4 Six Inch Gold Blade (03:35) |
 | Album: 12 of 17 Title: Hee-Haw Released: 1988 Tracks: 13 Duration: 40:48 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Mr. Clarinet (03:43) 2 Happy Birthday (03:59) 3 Hats on Wrong (02:48) 4 Guilt Parade (02:48) 5 The Friend Catcher (04:21) 6 Waving My Arms (02:16) 7 Cat Man (02:28) 8 Riddle House (02:47) 9 A Catholic Skin (02:29) 10 The Red Clock (02:49) 11 Faint Heart (02:59) 12 Death by Drowning (03:12) 13 The Hair Shirt (04:03) |
| Hee-Haw : Allmusic album Review : The initial tracks on Hee-Haw come from two of their earliest proper Birthday Party singles, "Mr. Clarinet" and "The Friend Catcher." Three other tracks included on the 1980 self-titled American-only compilation, the squealing sax and raunch of "Hats on Wrong," the slightly more straightforward punch and thrash of "Guilt Parade," and "Riddle House," surface as well. All showcase the violent, thrashing energy of the Party of legend perfectly; even the organ on "Mr. Clarinet" sounds like its being strangled as much as being played. Cave may be in utterly hyperdramatic mode throughout, spitting out barks on "Happy Birthday" and braying out the title call on the slow, brilliant burn of "The Friend Catcher," but the band arent holding back either; Howards spindly, aggro guitar work complements Calverts drum punch nicely, balancing nerves and body slam, while Pew and Harvey flesh out everything else in the same spirit. Things arent quite on the level of sheer sonic pain of later releases, but with the help of engineer Tony Cohen, who brings out the overall performances well, the fivesome is already well on its curious way. The last five songs come from the original Hee-Haw EP, which was also the final Boys Next Door release. While not quite as frazzled as what the group would soon fully mutate into, the tracks do have a more pushing, discordant air than the earlier Boys tracks, Cave still hesitant at points but starting to let go a bit elsewhere. "Faint Heart" has a great breakdown into random vocal mumblings and instrumental nuttiness, especially on piano, while "The Hair Shirt" especially is already the Birthday Party in anything but name. | ||
 | Album: 13 of 17 Title: Mutiny / The Bad Seed EP Released: 1989-08 Tracks: 10 Duration: 39:41 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Sonnys Burning (03:17) 2 Wildworld (03:25) 3 Fears of Gun (03:54) 4 Deep in the Woods (04:47) 5 Jennifers Veil (04:55) 6 Six Strings That Drew Blood (03:32) 7 Say a Spell (03:41) 8 Swampland (03:28) 9 Pleasure Avalanche (04:22) 10 Mutiny in Heaven (04:16) |
 | Album: 14 of 17 Title: Hits Released: 1992-10-12 Tracks: 19 Duration: 1:15:44 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Friend Catcher (04:21) 2 Happy Birthday (03:59) 3 Mr. Clarinet (03:43) 4 Nick the Stripper (03:50) 5 Zoo-Music Girl (02:36) 6 King Ink (04:39) 7 Release the Bats (02:30) 8 Blast Off! (02:17) 9 She’s Hit (06:05) 10 Hamlet (Pow, Pow, Pow) (05:33) 11 Dead Joe (03:08) 12 Junkyard (05:49) 13 Big-Jesus-Trash-Can (02:59) 14 Wildworld (03:25) 15 Sonnys Burning (03:17) 16 Deep in the Woods (04:47) 17 Swampland (03:28) 18 Jennifers Veil (04:55) 19 Mutiny in Heaven (04:16) |
| Hits : Allmusic album Review : As an album title, Hits is an intentionally ironic misnomer for one of Australias most influential rock bands of the late 70s and early 80s. Having "hits" was the furthest thing from the Birthday Partys collective mind over the course of five tumultuous years that followed the groups move to England from Down Under; the members reviled anything that hinted at mainstream acceptance. Ten years on, the intensity of this music is still frightening. Its a dense, mutant hybrid that evolved from punk, progressive rock, funk, and improvisational jazz, without directly owning up to any of these base materials. Vocalist Nick Cave (who has gone on to an equally creative solo career) didnt just sing about societys dark, depraved underbelly, he lived the experience right there on disc and on stage. | ||
 | Album: 15 of 17 Title: Drunk on the Popes Blood Released: 1994 Tracks: 11 Duration: 43:33 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 (Sometimes) Pleasure Heads Must Burn (live) (03:40) 2 King Ink (live) (06:02) 3 Zoo Music Girl (live) (03:00) 4 Loose (live) (05:33) 5 Ho Ho (Nick Cave vocal version) (03:12) 6 The Plague (03:40) 7 Scatterbrain (demo) (03:42) 8 The Friend Catcher (demo) (02:21) 9 Dead Joe (2nd version) (03:14) 10 After the Fireworks (04:33) 11 After, After the Fireworks (04:33) |
 | Album: 16 of 17 Title: Live 1981-82 Released: 1999 Tracks: 34 Duration: 2:28:02 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Junkyard (06:26) 2 A Dead Song (02:41) 3 The Dim Locator (03:09) 4 Zoo-Music-Girl (03:05) 5 Nick the Stripper (04:08) 6 Blast Off! (02:39) 7 Release the Bats (03:05) 8 Bully Bones (03:04) 9 King Ink (05:53) 10 (Sometimes) Pleasure Heads Must Burn (02:47) 1 Big-Jesus-Trash-Can (03:33) 2 Dead Joe (03:47) 3 The Friend Catcher (05:02) 4 6″ Gold Blade (03:41) 5 Hamlet (Pow, Pow, Pow) (05:11) 6 She’s Hit (07:11) 7 Funhouse (08:29) 1 Junkyard (06:26) 2 A Dead Song (02:41) 3 The Dim Locator (03:09) 4 Zoo-Music-Girl (03:05) 5 Nick the Stripper (04:08) 6 Blast Off! (02:39) 7 Release the Bats (03:05) 8 Bully Bones (03:04) 9 King Ink (05:53) 10 (Sometimes) Pleasure Heads Must Burn (02:47) 11 Big-Jesus-Trash-Can (03:33) 12 Dead Joe (03:47) 13 The Friend Catcher (05:02) 14 6″ Gold Blade (03:41) 15 Hamlet (Pow, Pow, Pow) (05:11) 16 She’s Hit (07:11) 17 Funhouse (08:29) |
| Live 1981-82 : Allmusic album Review : Though various live releases had emerged over the course of the bands existence, no full-length capturing of the Partys particular bacchanalia approved by the group had officially emerged until this release. Stitching together tracks from a London date in 1981 and a German show in 1982 (plus a ringer cut from Athens, Greece -- a version of the Stooges "Funhouse" with Jim Thirwell aka Foetus on sax)), Live threatens at all points to leap from the speakers and throttle innocent bystanders. Clear sound on the first ten songs, all from the London date, makes resistance even harder. Given the sometimes (though intentionally) unclear or unexpected mixing of Party songs in studio, hearing everything via in-your-face stun methods brings out the abilities of the band all the more, especially Pew and his vicious bass work. Songs like "The Dim Locator" and "King Ink" cut all the more closer to the bone as a result. "Nick the Stripper," amazingly, is even more viciously sleazy than the original, which is saying something and a half; Cave sounds like hes summoning his voice from his shoes on up. The German dates sound is only slightly less thorough than the Londons, and the performances no less wired. "Big-Jesus-Trash-Can" thrashes around like theres no tomorrow, Pews bass again shooting through the mix, while "The Friend Catcher" seethes with a creepy, frigid energy. Harvey takes over on drums for the last two German tracks and the "Funhouse" cover, but even down to four people the band still generates more noise and activity than most other acts could hope to achieve. Definite bonus points have to go to Cave for his occasional, softly spoken between-song asides -- "Thank you, I love your haircuts as well." | ||
 | Album: 17 of 17 Title: The John Peel Sessions Released: 2001 Tracks: 16 Duration: 57:05 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Cry (02:57) 2 Yard (04:28) 3 Figure of Fun (02:19) 4 King Ink (04:09) 5 Release the Bats (02:34) 6 Rowland Around in That Stuff (03:29) 7 (Sometimes) Pleasure Heads Must Burn (02:35) 8 Loose (03:34) 9 Big Jesus Trash Can (03:04) 10 Shes Hit (05:41) 11 Bully Bones (02:45) 12 Six Inch Gold Blade (03:38) 13 Pleasure Avalanche (04:13) 14 Deep in the Woods (04:40) 15 Sonnys Burning (02:58) 16 Marry Me (Lie! Lie!) (03:52) |
| The John Peel Sessions : Allmusic album Review : Though a couple of Peel Session EPs had snuck out in the late eighties, it wasnt until this long overdue and utterly worthwhile collection surfaced that all the various recordings the Birthday Party had made over years for John Peel finally saw official release. Combining both familiar numbers and a fair share of rarities or oddities, The John Peel Sessions contains four sessions recorded over the space of two years, conveniently documenting the bands England-based career. The obvious debt owed to Iggy Pop and the Stooges gets repaid in full with a scorching take on "Loose" (incorrectly listed as an original in the songwriting credits), making for a reasonable studio alternate to the equally gone live version on the Drunk on the Popes Blood EP. Another track that appeared on Drunk got its only released studio take here -- "(Sometimes) Pleasure Heads Must Burn," a jazzy jump blues noir not far off from the work of fellow Aussie Foetus -- while the same session produced a fierce one-off, "Roland Around in That Stuff." Whether or not the titles a bizarre dig at guitarist Howard, the whole combination of brisk drums, Howards agreeably crazed work and Caves practically barked vocals makes for an excitingly ridiculous vamp. Other obscure material includes "Bully Bones," which only appeared elsewhere on the Live 81-82 compilation, and "Pleasure Avalanche." Elsewhere, sessions focus on material from the main or upcoming releases of the time -- the first four songs are all versions of Prayers on Fire songs, including fantastic versions of "Yard" and "King Ink," the latter of which is pure threat and drama set to music. Other great takes on familiar songs include "Shes Hit," Howards slashing guitar line in the chorus particularly vicious, "Release the Bats" and "Deep In the Woods." | ||