So what else was happening in Brisbane in
1976? Apart from the unusual score in the Grand Final, orthodoxy says not much
and we’re pretty sure that this time it’s right. If you couldn’t stomach 4IP
approved cover bands, country, bluegrass or blues then you’d have been making a
beeline for Club ‘76 with the rest of the uplifting gourmandisers.
But what’s this? Coming out of the upper
levels of the Penney’s Building at 210 Queen Street (now in the mall), the CCC
Band released this obscure LP in yes, 1976.
We’ve long been dubious about a Brisbane
Sound – a twee, thin shouldered, short-sleeved shirt and short-wearing light
pop. Sure, post ’83 there was a bunch of bands that could be viewed as having
taken the Go-Betweens ball and run with it (to use a completely non-apt
sporting analogy) – Let's Go Naked, Leap In The Dark, Birds Of Tin, Antic Frantic, Dog Fish Cat Bird, Too Green
For Summer, Tangled Shoelaces and others. But prior to that the sounds of
Brisbane were way too varied for us to find much of a common denominator (world
class punk rock aside). The Striped
Sunlight Sound of the first two Go-betweens always seemed a one-off.
CCC though, at least on parts of their LP, showcase
a lethargic, sun-affected whimsy that makes us at least reconsider our stance.
Songs about cordial, the Golden Circle cannery (which every Brisbane
schoolchild visited at least once), lollies and other childhood signposts make
us wonder if those mid-80s era bands were actually riffing off copies of this
record found at op-shops rather than Send Me A Lullabye and Before Hollywood.
Probably not.
Elsewhere on the album there’s some fairly
dire electric blues, and some aimless jamming but the charming faux-innocence
means it’s mostly likeable. Faux? Well, Eating Snakes is clearly about
fellatio. We’ve picked our favourite tracks below. If we’re really stretching
our long bow we could posit Lemon Tree, which appeared on the Left Of The Middle cassette, as early minimal synth.
We once thought CCC were one of those bands
who had a Department of Education gig touring schools and playing shows. Doing
it for the kids, literally. But we can’t actually find any evidence of that, or
of anything really. For now P. Richardson, D. Brown, G. Peters and T. Mullooly
remain obscure.
Captain Cordial Rock [Download]
Eating Snakes [Download]
Lemon Tree [Download]
