- “The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there.”, is the opening line to L.P. Hartley’s The Go-Between, suggesting what happens when you look back in time and either half-remember or actively misrepresent what took place there. So, what from our past is “bad”? Hairstyles, early tastes in forgettable music, and the greatest judgement of all – fashion. Was corduroy that bad a fabric choice? Flares, paisley jackets, tie-dyed shirts? Something of that past immediately rose to mind when dipping into the first track Attitude from the Brisbane multi-instrumental band First Beige’s EP Mirrors.
That first song had so many memories in it – bongo-like percussion, fuzz synthesizer, keyboards mimicking horns, and that iconic wah-wah groove guitar lick. Throw in a bit of late-'70's/early-'80's synth-drum hits and the memory-train-trip is complete. David Versace, Julia Beiers, Oscar Borschmann, Jasper Gundersen, Troy Doolan and Cain Robertson who make up First Beige have studied the past well and found a rich vein to mine.
Joie de Vivre opens with a perfect slap bass line, once the staple offering of people like Nile Rogers’ Chic or Earth, Wind & Fire and it sets a ground for the band to build the developing groove upon. The construction of several mini-virtuoso pieces points this track as much in the direction of funk/disco as it does in a neat jazz-fusion style.
How Do You Love Someone is a short piece of aural pick'n'mix that is like a quirky palate cleanser for the last two tracks, Desire and Oscars Car. Desire dropped ahead of the EP and it is as classy as the penthouse suite at the Sydney Sebel Town House, which, in its heyday, was the place all the hip people stayed. It tinkles with a cool keyboard in the background, the percussion drives the show, and –yes– there’s a flute! It’s a rich sonic tapestry that ends just when you’d hope it will keep on going – bit like the old-style salad and dessert bars that the USA gave the world (along with obesity and high cholesterol) in the '70s.
The pure disco drive –no pun intended– of Oscars Car brings this nostalgia-fuelled journey to a very satisfactory close. Once again, the percussion is doing a sterling job, but don’t ignore that chattering rhythm guitar or the knob-twiddling synth, that is right out of the Farrah Fawcett styled hair, pina colada drinking, flared-out-nylon-jumpsuit days.
The production is clear and crisp with not a fleck of mud anywhere, even if the colour of the time was strongly “brown” as the undertone for everything. For a cool retro summer, find a fondue set, set up the papa-san chairs around the patio beside the pool and put First Beige’s Mirrors on as your soundtrack.
- Blair Martin.