The Go-Betweens
City of Origin: Brisbane, Australia
Period of Activity: Late-70s to late-80s, reunion in early-mid-2000s
Members: Amanda Brown, Robert Forster, Grant McClennan, Lindy Morrison, Robert Vickers, John Willsteed
Related Artists: None that I know of, somehow!
Discography:
- Send Me a Lullaby (1981)
- Before Hollywood (1983)
- Spring Hill Fair (1984)
- Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express (1986)
- Tallulah (1987)
- 16 Lovers Lane (1988)
- The Friends of Rachel Worth (2000)
- Bright Yellow Bright Orange (2003)
- Oceans Apart (2005)
Social Media: None as far as I know, they've been broken up almost twenty years.
From their post-punk beginnings through to the more polished jangle pop of their late 80s work, the Go-Betweens were always the Australian indie band. That being said, I've never really given them the attention I probably ought to. I know enough to know that Forster and McClennan were the two main songwriters, and the contrast between their styles is a big part of the appeal (sort of like an indie Lennon/McCartney), but not enough to know what exactly that contrast is. My personal recommendation is their post-punk masterpiece Before Hollywood, which is not too dissimilar from what someone like R.E.M. was doing at about the same time. However, the consensus pick tends to be 16 Lovers Lane, which I do enjoy some songs off of, but it feels a bit too polished from what I remember. As for those three albums recorded when they reunited in the 2000s, I actually have no idea what those are like! I remember at one point a Discogs seller offered to send me a free copy of it to make up for some problem with my order, but it got lost in the mail. Apparently it's good though, I'll have to get around to it sometime.