UK-born, American-based Dan Melchoir is a longtime Holly Golightly and Billy Childish collaborator and his old band, The Broke Revue, had a string of albums out on Sympathy for The Record Industry and In The Red.
He’s not as prolific as Childish but he’s not far off. How he got to record in Queensland with two members of Australia’s Ooga Boogas (Richard Stanley and Perl Bystrom) is unclear. I'm willing to bet it came of paths crossing at one of those underground gatherings in the US like Gonerfest.
“City Lights” is a cover of a song by obscure electronica band Shadow Ring and it’s killer. A molten wall of Moog ’n’ fuzz, a lurching feel and Melchoir’s disaffected vocal are rolled up into an A side that sounds great with the stereo turned up to 11. Nicely loose and brutal.
Flip it to “The Drunken Galah” and you’ll hear a meandering directionless squawl. It’s “LA Blues” without the sax and the grunts, an extended guitar intro looking for a song to join. That’s almost certainly the exact intent. Good for a spin but I can't hear it getting too many repeat listens The A side is enough, however, to have me wondering if there was an album put to tape.
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