Trail Through The Wilderness

The final Triffids’ reissue of the current batch is ‘Beautiful Waste And Other Songs’. Whilst this compilation documents an important time in the Triffids’ career, during which the band re-located to Europe, their output during this time was unconventional as, unlike the previous reissues, there is no full length LP at the core of this release.

Instead, ‘Beautiful Waste …’ collects together several releases of varying length, principally the ‘Raining Pleasure’ and ‘Lawson Square Infirmary’ mini-LPs and the ‘Field of Glass’ EP. Rather than attempting to create a cohesive record out of such disparate elements this is a chronological collection of these records. It’s a sensible decision and the collection is completed by the inclusion of both sides of an unreleased single and the title track, which was released as a single in its own right.

In retrospect ‘Raining Pleasure’ is actually quite a diverse work. The developing, heavier side of the band is represented by ‘Property Is Condemned’ (also the B-side of ‘Beatutiful Waste’) and a gothic reading of a traditional Australian song ‘St James Infirmary’ whilst there’s a lighter touch in evidence on songs like ‘Jesus Calling’. The Jill Birt sung title track however probably remains the stand-out.

‘Field of Glass’ was originally recorded for the band’s first John Peel session and features 3 songs which had featured in the band’s ferocious early UK live shows. The menacing live approach carried into the session however turned out to be something of a cul-de-sac in the Triffids’ development. Whilst the lessons of this period were undoubtedly learnt well, the next LP turned out not to be the all-out sonic assault predicted by FOG but instead the far more ambitious masterpiece that was ‘Born Sandy Devotional’.

‘Lawson Square Infirmary’ meanwhile was a side project featuring all the male Triffids plus a couple of guests which came between these two releases. It’s something I hadn’t heard before and given it’s looser, live, country feel, it’s tempting to dismiss it as lightweight. But whilst it’s far less intense than, say, FOG it is nevertheless an excellent collection of songs which signposts some future Triffids’ developments not the least of which was future member Graham Lee’s first performances with the band.

The 2 tracks from the unreleased single, ‘Native Bride’ and ‘Dear Miss Lonely Hearts’ were actually released before on the Wide Open Road 12” but are both terrific songs which belie their B-side status. ‘Beautiful Waste’ meanwhile concludes the set and has worn well.

As a testament to the breadth of the song-writing talent of David McComb, ‘Beautiful Waste …’ is possibly without peer within the reissue programme to date. The only possible gripe is the omission of single ‘You Don’t Miss Your Water’ which, apparently hasn’t been forgotten about, but is one of only a few UK released songs not to have featured so far. Still, this is yet another highly commended Triffids’ release.

The Triffids – ‘Raining Pleasure’ (from ‘Beautiful Waste and Other Songs’) [Buy it] [Download it]

It’s impossible to reflect the LP with one track but equally I don’t want to strip it bare. So here are a few more tracks from the different releases featured on the LP from a contemporary radio broadcast “Caught In The Act 3PBS FM”:

The Triffids - Mercy (live)

The Triffids – Field of Glass (live)

The Triffids – Native Bride (live)

The Triffids – Property Is Condemned (live)

The above version of ‘Field of Glass’ is something of a rarity since it comes from early in the song’s development before it was paired with the entirely separate song, ‘Pleasure Slide’ (featured on here a few months back from the same broadcast). If you like these tracks, please, please buy the CD.

Photo from www.thetriffids.com

~ by manicpopthrills on May 2, 2008.