Jebediah - Slightly Odway

MINE

Leaving Home was so huge for Jebediah it's almost permanently implanted in my brain.  Or at least that's how I remember it.  But I never bought the album as it was then and remains to this day just a bit teenage-boy-type music.  Created by the demographic for the demographic, it's not really the type of music that appeals to me.  I can see why it attracted YourZ though, especially when the band namechecked Archers Of Loaf.

However I'd recommend it to any women trying out their cougar-claws.  Sure to attract those young boys...

VERDICT: TIRN IT DOWN

YOURZ

I remember when I first heard Jebediah's single, Jerks Of Attention, way back in the early 90s, then heard how young they were (lead singer Kevin Mitchell was just 18 when it was released), I felt both jealous and somewhat irrelevant, being a hoary old muso in my early 30s.  Yeah, I know, what a sap but when faced with such youthful presence and exuberance, what do you expect?

Yet another example of the brilliant music coming out of the isolated environs of Perth, their exuberance fairly spills out of the speakers when you listen to Slightly Odway, their début album.  The songs are brash and loud, with just the right amount of teen angst.  Kevin's idiosyncratic vocals might sound contrived if not carried off with such raw honesty.  You almost believe he actually speaks like he sings.

The success of this album lies in the huge singalong choruses of tracks such as Leaving Home, Harpoon and Military Strongmen, but every track on this is a winner.  The strength here is in the attachment their audience felt to some of the other tracks, like Puck Defender and Teflon, that became huge live favourites and led them to supporting some of the biggest acts in the world at the time.  It's such a shame that they never really broke anywhere else apart from the antipodes.  Maybe their slightly odd ways were simply too much for the rest of the world to handle.  Whatever it was, I'm certainly glad this is still in our collection.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information: http://www.jebediah.net/