I am not a big patriot. I don’t go in for flag waving and rhapsodic proclamations about ‘freedom’ and ‘the best country in the world’. Yes, I owe a lot to America. It has been home to me for about 15 years of my life. I did my university there. One of my passports is issued by the Department of State. And though I have family and many friends and lots of fond memories of my years in America, I’ve never considered it home.
Don’t even get me started about the current President and his cabal of oafs and knaves.
But when it comes to music my foundation is American music. Rock ‘n roll, blues, country, bluegrass, jazz or Americana are my reference points, not punk, ska, prog, krautrock, Oasis or Britpop.
And even here in my adopted land of Australia, a place of incredible creativity and musical vision, I’ve been [criminally] slow to explore the Australian popular music landscape.
A couple months ago I read an interview with Don Walker, whom I’d never heard of. [Obiously,] I was aware of Cold Chisel. Who isn’t? And I have been a fan of Tex Perkins for some time. It didn’t surprise me to learn he had had an important part to play in the pub rock of the former, as well as the slackjaw musings of the latter. But to hear him referred to as one of Australia’s finest song writers I paid closer attention. That’s quite an accolade considering the company of fine song writers in Australia is vast. My interest was piqued.
I got hold of a couple of his solo albums (he’s been /remains involved in a number of other groups/combos) hoping to test the songwriting claim. I chose Cutting Back (2006).
I’ve been listening to it a lot and can confirm that Don Walker does indeed deserve high praise. Cutting Back has an alt- country/roots/Americana feel to it. Acoustic guitars, swirls of pedal steel and a lazy snare. Front porch music made with no sense of urgency or of the need to get to any particular place. Which is not to say its stumbles about without aim or purpose like a pissed newt. The album explores love from a baker’s dozen angles: the pained love of separation as well as the silly feelings of loving a woman so much you want your kids to look just like her; from the bittersweet relief he feels for an ex to the mesmerised paralysis he gets from your ‘sweet eyes’.
Walker’s singing makes me think of the world weary ways of Nick Lowe but his songcraft brings to mind John Hiatt. His lyrics have that ‘lived-in’ feel; they may not be entirely autobiographic but they are definitely things he’s experienced. They are introspective without being self obsessed and many of them are road songs. With just a phrase or a word Walker is able to place his songs within a physical landscape, be it beach or a highway or a back alley in Sydney, and give an added contour to the emotional world he’s singing about.
Like Hiatt and Lowe, Walker’s lyrics come forth with a confidence of the master. Be it the many shades of love or (not on the album) a portait of a gangster or the romping anthem of Khe Sanh, Don Walker’s songs are polished gemstones that reflect endless prisms of light depending on how you hold them. And there is no shortage of sly humor and piss taking of the idiots of this world.
It would be easy to say he is the John Hiatt of Australia but I don’t think that’s right. Let’s pay some respect to Don Walker (and his plentiful Aussie compatriots) who is the equal of many of those big-record label-backed American icons. The question is, should John Hiatt be considered the Don Walker of America?
Track Listing:
01 Get Along
02 I Want My Kids To Look Like You
03 Yakuza Girls
04 Four In The Morning
05 Silos
06 No Reason
08 My Ex-Wife
09 Cutting Back
10 Sweet Eyes
11 At The Piccolo Bar
12 Barkly Highway West
13 The Way You Are Tonight
e-lecK-tric saar-deen 