Search - Whitlams :: Eternal Nightcap

A Story In Every Song

Prince Saxonius III | Adelaide, Australia | 08/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you do one thing today, buy this album.



The Whitlams have been together since 1992, and started out as a 3-piece and released their first album, a ten-song collection including two ballads, two short and odd songs, a few masterful jazz/rock pieces and even a 25 second hillbilly song about lighting your mother on fire.



After this, they only got better, with Undeniably, an album released in 1995. It contained numerous fan favourites including the singles I Make Hamburgers and Met My Match/Following My Own Tracks.



Unfortunately, in 1996, lead singer and guitarist Stevie Plunder (real name: Anthony Hayes) was found dead at the bottom of a cliff in New South Wales.



After four months, Tim Freedman got himself together with an assortment of musicians, Including Louis Burdett, Ben Fink, and original Whitlams member Andy Lewis (who went on to commit suicide in 2000).



This album, released in late 1996, is the result of all that history.



It opens with No Aphrodisiac, one of the most famous and influential songs in Australian music in the 90s. Tim Freedman wrote the entire song in one night with a keyboard and a bottle of scotch, with the obviously un-Whitlams like bridge written by friends Machine Gun Fellatio.



The next song, Charlie No. 2 (buy now pay later) is totally touching, and even better live, as it is played faster, with more rock.



Love Is Everywhere is a great jazzy little interlude that is only really there to give you a break before the next masterpiece -



You Sound Like Louis Burdett - an ingenious rock song, played with heavy piano and bass. This is one of my favourite songs of all time, and with good reason.



Melbourne, the original single off the album is a bittersweet love song, and is beautifully orchestrated.



Where's The Enemy and Life's A Beach are great, but not up to par with the rest of the album, but wedged in between them is Charlie No. 3, the final song in the Charlie trilogy, and probably the best.



Tangled Up In Blue is up there with No Aph, Louis, and Melbourne as the best songs on this album. An old Bob Dylan song about love and seperation, a favourite of mine.



Of the remainder of the album (Laugh In Their Faces, Charlie No. 1, Up Against The Wall, Band On Every Corner), you cannot find a single fault. Especially with Up Against The Wall - a song about seduction, lies, and betrayal.



Overall, this is a must have for anybody who likes any album of the Whitlams, as it bridges the gap between Introducing and Undeniably to Love This City and Torch The Moon.



But it. Buy it now. You won't regret it.

"

Great CD!

Michelle | Perth Western Australia | 11/13/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Eternal Nightcap is an eternal classic, I first purchased this cd after hearing No Aphrodisiac on the radio (this song was voted number 1 for the year in JJJ hottest 100) and have been loving this CD every since. I have seen the Whitlams live and loved them...Tim certainly knows how to work the crowd and the best part was he hung out at the bar like a regular guy during the support acts, I also have seen Tim doing a solo show - just him and his piano fantastic I will never forget that night (sorry I had to rub it in to all of you USA types!!). Eternal Nightcap will in my opinion never get old, everytime I listen to it something else grabs me - especially the hidden track."

One of the most extraordinaries

Brian Macaskill | London, Ontario Canada | 05/26/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are so many discs we (North Americans) miss. To think that a world of music passes us by, music that we might otherwise pick up and kiss.Kiss this."