Here's the score. Most demos arrive at the Strawberry Hills post office up above Central. I'll usually ride my bike over once a week and pick them up (making sure to grab a falafel on the way - yummo!). I'll go through the mail, pay the bills, recycle the junk and send down the mailorders and the bulk of the demos to Nic in Melbourne. Then a few weeks ago, he sends back a demo cd I'd recently sent to him. "What's this?" I thought. There was a note attached, in Nic's increasingly messy handwriting, saying "Luke is a dear friend of mine and this cd is absoluty (sic) fantastic and I wanna make it demo of the week but as he's my friend...Soph, can you?"
Great. What if I don't like it? I'll have to make some shit up about something that has never wandered up my alley. And Nic seems to have forgotten I do have a proper job to go to.
I looked at the cover. Luke Russell. The Kiss That Lasted All Weekend it's called. I put the cd on. Wow. Very pop. Thought it would be your typical singer-songwriter in the bedroom stuff. What a voice! This guy can sing. Hey, what's that tugging at my heartstrings? What's that squishy feeling in my stomach. Luke Russell, I think I'm falling in love with you. Well, with your songs, your voice, your exemplary arrangements, the oohs, the ahhs, the lyrics (what a romantic you are, my beautiful man!). Okay, okay, I'm getting carried away here. I don't even know you, Luke, but I'm sure we'll get on, have the same interests. Do you like fried Haloumi? Sophie, STOP!
It's classic pop. It's the story of love. It's a love of classic pop story. Phew! Luke isn't afraid to really sing, sing his heart out. And sing about his inner-most feelings of love, unrequited love, old flames, new loves. And throughout the cd is an abundance of pop instruments - he has raided the Imperial Bedroom's cupboard full of percussion, keyboards and guitars. Oh, and handclaps, too. All twelve songs are originals and Luke closes the album with a Stephin Merritt tune 'I've Got New York'. Perfect. Yes, that's what it is. It's not Power Pop. It's Perfect Pop.
Nic, you put out records by your friends, don't you? -SH
luke.russell@arts.usyd.edu.au
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