The New Christs: Distemper 1989

 

Founded by ex-Radio Birdman vocalist Rob Younger, Australia's New Christs have managed to

persevere through many personnel changes, as well as Younger's many commitments producing other bands. Initially started as a one-off to record a single ("Face a New God," 1981, now worth big money down under), the band did not perform until 1983 when Younger assembled an all-star lineup featuring members of the Celibate Rifles, Birdman, and a future Hoodoo Gurus to tour with Iggy Pop, then making his first venture down under.
                      

Younger, perhaps Australia's most charismatic frontman, apparently left Pop (who, it must be noted,

had a relatively inferior band) in the dust. Several singles and lineups followed and the debut album, Distemper, was not released until 1989. That version of the band included Charlie Owen (Divinyls, Louis Tillett, Tex Perkins) on guitar; then unknown, he is now renowned as one of Australia's finest musicians.
                         

A greatest-hits CD (or as Younger puts it, "the songs I can still stand") called Born Out of Time, named

after perhaps the band's finest single, was released in Canada in 1996. The 2" tape transfer gave the songs a sonic quality not heard on the original versions. Younger had the band up and running again with the Pedestal EP in 1995, Woe Betide in 1996, and Lower Yourself in 1997.
                            

Distemper is the first non-compilation album by The New Christs. It reached #1 on the Australian Alternative Charts. Louder than War described the album as "rabid [and] incredibly feral", calling it "a

classic case of an album being so definitive that it was hard to see how it could be bettered, despite the consistently high quality of subsequent New Christs’ albums." Mark Lanegan of The Screaming Trees named the album as an influence on his music, calling the album "catchy in a really weird way and [Rob Younger's] singing is so out there and unique. He works around the music and he’s really aggressive."The US website Fast 'n' Bulbous ranked it 83rd best album of the 1980s.

LINE - UP

Rob Younger – Lead Vocals
Charlie Owen – Guitar, Piano, Organ
Jim Dickson – Bass, Vocals
Nick Fischer – Drums

with

Louis Tillett – Piano, Organ (1,5,10)

The New Christs – Distemper
Label: Citadel – CGAS 807 CD
Format: CD, Album
Country: Germany
Released: 1989
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, Garage Rock

TRAXS

                              

01. No Way On Earth    4:42
02. There's No Time    3:32
03. Another Sin    3:33
04. The March    5:28
05. The Burning Of Rome    5:14
06. Afterburn    4:47
07. Circus Of Sour    3:56
08. Coming Apart    2:55
09. Bed Of Nails    6:26
10. Love's Underground    3:14
11. Disconnected    6:26
12. Headin' South    4:09

Flac  Size: 426 MB