The Spliffs - House of Seven (1987, Revolution)

It's with utmost pleasure and beaming pride that I present to you a record that has eluded me for about...oh, say, two years or so, but it's been a damn loooooong two years.  And almost immediately upon being enlightened of this Queensland, Australia quintet, I also learned that The Spliffs were the province of collector-scum record vendors on Ebay and Gemm.com - and very few of them at that.  It's a damn shame these jangle-wranglers from the Northeast quadrant of Oz didn't break out beyond the handful of local indie labels that would have them during their 1985-88 run.

It only took two Spliffs songs to win me over as a posthumous, albeit lifelong convert: "Merry Go Round" from this album, which I initially caught wind of via a fanzine comp CD, Off The Hip 4, and "You Know What They'll Say" from the band's debut single, posted on the now defunct littlehits.com blog.  Admittedly, "Merry Go Round" rings a little precious, at least sonically, but with lines like:  "Mary go round, talk to the boys/Take another ride on the merry-go-round/When Mary goes round they treat her like a toy," the sentiments raised may not be as innocuous as they seem.  Hmmm.  A Ricken-pop classic, as are "4 Seasons" and the memorable leadoff cut, "Never Say Goodbye," which would later make it onto a single, also released by Revolution Records.  House of Seven isn't quite the unremitting jangle pleasure-palace that I had pined and anticipated to frolic in, with more than a few selections applying a more mature singer/songwriter tact, sounding not far removed from what Crowded House were doling out due-south in New Zealand.  The only clunker in the bunch is "(I Work For) K.A.O.S.," a cheesy, sax-laden ditty celebrating Get Smart that's frivolously out of character with it's nine accompanying "bona-fide" songs.  Regardless, this album is a major and phenomenal find.

I would be remiss if I failed to point out that Twilightzone! blog did an entry on House of Seven in late 2009, however this rip is straight from my recently purchased copy, ripped at 320 kbps (for a change)!  You can also check out the Spliffs "You Know What They'll Say" 45 over at Sons of the Dolls.  Enjoy.

01. Never Say Goodbye
02. Blow Away
03. Once Again
04. Jester's Song
05. Merry-Go-Round
06. (I Work For) K.A.O.S.
07. 4 Seasons
08. Slow Train
09. Can't Live With Myself
10. Are You Happy Now?

MP3  or  FLAC