- Even as a young punk, former Weddings Parties Anything singer Mick Thomas was a bit of an old soul. Their folk-rock songs were pub yarns, tales of Australian history, and wry observation rather than raw emotion.
So more than thirty years after their first album, we shouldn’t be surprised if Mick Thomas’ music hasn’t changed much with the passing of time. His new EP Boxing Day Drive, recorded with his current band The Roving Commission, is a preview of upcoming new album Cold Water DFU and contains many of the familiar elements that has endeared him to Australian audiences over the years.
The title track is actually the only new one of the five songs; the others being loose folky versions of songs from his extensive back catalogue. It’s a song that will go down easy for long-term fans – a journey of redemption “on the road to make it right”, except the way is littered with “gifts I didn’t need” and Pacific Highway roadworks. It’s an enjoyable song and a good sign for the new album.
After this we get a few oldies – Hug My Back dug up from its place as an obscure album track is fun but still kinda throwaway. House Of Ghosts is a b-side and a warm portrait of the loneliness of old age. Aqua Profunda is from his solo career and about the meditative value of swimming laps. The EP ends with maybe the most iconic of Mick’s songs – the dramatic story of Tasmania’s cannibal convict Alexander Pearce that is A Tale They Won’t Believe. It does work well as an acoustic track, given it’s easier to hear the lyrics and follow the story. Plus it’s just a great song that is always a pleasure to hear.
I guess we have to wait until next year’s album to hear what Mick Thomas has been up to more recently; but this EP cherry-picking tunes from his last three decades is a reminder of his value as a songwriter – picking up the bits of life and culture that others had passed over and turning them into funny and profound folk songs.
- Andy Paine.