It's All Coming Back To Me Now - Brisbane. Then.

Powderfinger: What the hell are they looking at?

Brisbane. Then.

by Matt Bond

Over the last two weeks, we counted down the twenty bestest music makers you can find in Brisbane today, from grungey surf-rockers Go Violets to the astronomic pop of Astrid and The Asteroids, the iconic Bernard Fanning and a whole lot more. There is of course quite a storied history to Brisbane's music scene and I'm totally not going to go into it. Do some research of your own! So I'm not going to go in depth because there's this guy called Bob over at That Striped Sunlight Sound that can teach you a thing or two. I will take this Vintage Thursday opportunity (Jo's on vacay recovery week... it's a thing now) to look at some of the Sunshine State capital's music acts from years gone by I've enjoyed. You've probably enjoyed them too. Let's enjoy them together. Enjoy! 

Custard

One of Brisbane's most loved 90s bands, Custard would be best known for the Hottest 100 hit/educational number 'Girls Like That (Don't Go For Guys Like Us).' Loved around the country for their live shows, light-hearted music and award winning music videos, the band spent a decade entertaining Australian fans before calling it quits. They've played sporadically since 2009 but haven't ruled out making new music. In all honesty though, if Custard taught me anything, it's that the Julio Iglesias just ain't scientific. It's the honesty in the lyrics that really speaks to you. 

Savage Garden

Don't act like you didn't like them too. No one could resist the 'chic a cherry cola' charms of 'I Want You' and you know all the words to 'Truly Madly Deeply.' Yeah, you do. Personally, I was more partial to the pop-rock goodness of 'Break Me Shake Me' and 'To the Moon and Back.' Like you, I hated the song 'Affirmation' and questioned who was buying it and why radio played it a thousand times a day. Possibly the best thing about Savage Garden was their break-up, which saw the non-Darren Hayes one find out via the media. When asked about the duo ever getting back together, Hayes supposedly said, "we are never ever getting back together. Like ever." In all seriousness he actually said, "No, never. I once said I'd only do it if it cured cancer, and that's still how I feel." Savage Garden have reportedly signed on for season 2 of the UK television show, The Big Reunion. Music groups on the show gear up for a comeback show. If this is true, one can assume Savage Garden are about to reveal one of the greatest medical breakthroughs of all time. 

The Go-Betweens

Brisbane loves The Go-Betweens so much, we named a bridge after them! It wasn't until the release of 2005 album Oceans Apart and the track 'Finding You' that 18 year old me heard the band and I quickly became a big fan of the Robert Forster/Grant McLennan team. APRA put together a list of the 30 greatest Australian songs of all time in 2001, with The Go-Betweens' 1983 track 'Cattle and Cane' making the list. 

Powderfinger

Well, duh. Throughout the 90s and 2000s, Powderfinger became arguably Australia's most loved band, with Silverchair being their major rivals for that title. They topped Hottest 100's, won a bucket load of ARIA awards, toured relentlessly and even had a song played on Grey's Anatomy as a dude is executed in a prison. That last one is a personal highlight. The albums Internationalist, Odyssey Number Five and Vulture Street are some of the best to ever be released by an Australian music group. One hopes that if any Brisbane band is ever going to get back together, it's going to be these guys. 

The Veronicas

Oh, The Veronicas. I've yelled at one of you a couple of times in the Valley. I believe I even sang/shouted the lyrics to '4Ever' at you outside The Family, but you just sort of picked up your walking pace. Then I think I saw one of you in front of me in line at the 7-11, but I couldn't really tell and you just bought your stuff and ran out. Those were good times. In other news, I am not stalking either Jess or Lisa from The Veronicas. Now, why have I thrown them in the vintage pile? Because we're just going to pretend they only ever released two albums. Because if that 'Lolita' song is anything to go by, their next album is going to suck and blow. Perhaps they're reworking the entire thing, because how long ago did that 'Lolita' song come out anyway?