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Breathe |
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Breathe
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Breathe |
Don't let the fuzz-guitar- and keyboard-drenched single, "Underwater," mislead you. On Breathe, the latest album in Midnight Oil's ten-year career in the U.S., the politically correct pop band doesn't stray far from previous efforts. Most of its songs are the pub-rock-cum-folk-rock anthems that U2 doesn't make anymore and Simple Minds can't make anymore.
But that doesn't mean Breathe isn't contemporary. Midnight Oil has kept up with the trends in college rock. That means that on Breathe we have spooky synths laying the mood in "Common Ground," gutbucket fuzz bass getting your blood pumping for "Star of Hope," and Hammond organ and Beatlesque harmonies breathing life into "Barest Degree." These guys are no quaint relics of the 1980s.
But that doesn't mean Midnight Oil has pulled a U2 and stopped singing about political causes and the underclasses. The detached but urgent voice of Peter Garrett takes a stand on political, environmental and economic oppression with as much conviction on Breathe as on the band's introduction to these shores, 1987's Diesel and Dust.
The magic of Midnight Oil is that Garrett never becomes preachy. The band has always tried to awaken consciences with passion and earnestness, not zealous ramblings. Furthermore, they never let a message get in the way of a good tune.
Indeed, you can't tell what Garrett is saying on half the tunes on Breathe. And it matters not a whit. The band's guitar-based blend of folk-rock, Brit-rock and blues-rock is so arresting that you'd be tapping your toes and shaking your booty no matter what Garrett was uttering.
As if to bring home that point, Breathe's rousing collection of rockers and strummy folk numbers ends with an instrumental, "Gravelrash." The funky organ and sinewy electric guitar part would be at home in any rock band in the world, yet it sounds definitively like Midnight Oil's chunky, breezy style.
If there were a contest for political earnestness, U2 would have won back in the '80s based on clout. But now Midnight Oil are winners of that fictitious rock trophy by default: They're the only guys left in the ring.
Reviewer: Faith Quintavell