The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 46

AMPLIFICATIONS- Staying in tough Hardy iimdiepeimdeinits John Harrison Christine Amphlett pleasure or pain? absorbed the influences, but delivered something that is uniquely theirs. They are destined for much bigger things, especially after their imposing Love Will Go EP is released, possibly at the end of this year. They have the ability to combine commerciality and musical muscularity in a way similar to the Hoodoo Gurus, except they are a much better band. It won't be long before a perceptive major label snaps them up. Ups and Downs The Perfect 0me(Basket Case Records).

QUITE simply a master work of melodic pop. The Ups and Downs utilise the sweet clang of some very jangly guitars in a manner reminiscent of REM and The Church. But they possess a bonus those groups don't have, in the pure, rich voices of the Atchison brothers. To categorise this as power pop would be to belittle the achievements of this young Brisbane-based band, who have shown an ability to create a shiver-down-your-back atmosphere without any trouble at all. If you want melodic music, check them out.

Vicious Kites Speaking Minds (Offbeat Records OB-R001). WELL, three out of four ain't bad. The Vicious Kites aren't quite as contrived as their name, but they come close. Musically, the ringing guitars and jungle drums of Speaking Minds are fine, but the chorus is meaningless and ignorable and most of their rhyme is pretty strained. To be fair, the other bands have all had previous recording experience, whereas this is the Kites debut, so they may improve.

The kindest thing would be for everyone to forget this effort. THE words "Australian Independent" on a record are almost an iron-clad guarantee that the disc will never grace the turntables of commercial radio. It's a pity, because the vibrant independent record companies of Australia seem to be able to release musical gems from a variety of genres with effortless ease, and have been doing so for a decade. Already this year. The Stems' She's a Monster, The Eastern Darks' Julie Is A Junkie and The Never Nevers' Just A Few Thousand Miles have testified to the quality and diversity of the independents' product.

The Guide this week looks at some Australian Independent releases. Remember that groups such as INXS, The Models and Mental As Anything all got their starts on small, independent labels. Die Pretty Next To Nothing. EP (Citadel Records CITP901). NEITHER of this band's early 45s would prepare you for the sophistication of this record.

The band has transcended the pop style of Out Of Hie Blue and the thrash of Mirror Blues, to develop a layered sound which alternates between sobriety and tumult. Ron Peno is not a strong vocalist in the traditional sense, but his ability to convey emotions through variations in phrasing and inflection is a powerful tool. The combination of that voice with Frank Brunetti's moody organ and Brett Myers guitar, which can chime quite innocently or roar uncontrollably, are the key elements of this band, and these are used to splendid effect on all four EP selections, especially the epic Plaining Days. An essential purchase. The Stems Tears Me In 7W (Citadel Records CIT013).

WESTERN Australia's The Stems were impressive during their east coast sojourn this year, as was their strong debut. She's A MonsterMake You Mine. This follow-up consolidates them as one of Australia's hottest new bands and matches the strength of their initial offering. Their abiding quality is the ability to. stay continually on the right side of the line between assimilation and imitation.

There are elements of 60s garage bandpsychedelic music, most notably in the weedy organ and distorted guitar, but this is no mere stab at revivalism. Like Die Pretty, The Stems have True to form. Madness have come up with another clip befitting their name. Yesterday's Men is more nonsense from one of Britain's better bands. Although they have moved away from the ska tag that brought them fame in 1977, Madness still incorporate a full-sounding horn section.

This, along with their own variations on "silly make Madness clips reminiscent of Looney Tunes. Little wonder they wound up on The Young Ones. Speaking of craziness, there is a program on Thursday evenings with the strange title Rock 'n' Roll Wrestling. What I thought would be bizarre frolicking between the likes of Meatloaf and Simon Le Bon turned out to be nothing more than a mob of yobbo Yanks who weren't too sure if they should have been at one with the Bhagwan or Richard Simmons. The little I saw of it had lots of roll and very little rock.

Not so with Forearm Jolt's Over The Ropes clip. This collective of Victorian musos has released a video montage of such legendary local wrestlers as Brute Barnard, Killer Karl Cox, Mario Milano et al, to accompany their rap-inspired song Over The Ropes. Most of the "rapping" is courtesy of Sir Eric Pearse, the gentleman who originally called these bouts during the sixties. Apart from the nostalgic value, Over The Ropes is a neat snippet of funk. And not only that, it features belly buttons the way you've never seen them before.

Henry Everingham THE DIVINYLS, after a noticeably long absence, are. back on the scene with a new video for their latest single, Pleasure and Pain. In the band's finest tradition, the song can only be described as Apart from their unmistakable brand of hard-driving rock music, the lead singer, Christine Amphlett, is in top form with'her peculiar nasal growlings. Female singers are invariably filmed in the inevitable spring garden or seedy palace, but not our Christine. The studio set for the Divinyls last clip, Never Let You Go.

was a hurricane-wire fence and little else. This time Ms Amphlett is found writhing on top of what appears to be a steamy sewer grating. Da boys thrash out their riffs in the background, but it is Amphlett 's impudent pouting and suspender-belted thighs that will have the record company's executives jiving in the boardroom. I hate to tell you this, but Haysi Fantayzee has been cloned. From the dreadlocked hair to the 81b belt-buckle draped six inches below the belly button, Amazulu warble and waddle to the same style of nursery rhyme pop that Haysi Fantayzee (rather appropriately) never took past Countdown.

Amazulu's Excitable clip is barely tolerable, if only for the myriad backdrop of colourfully animated shapes; just the stuff every new-born needs. Who invented stereo FM receivers? HarmanKardon naturally. ANGEL COMPACT DISC THE FIRST COMPACT DISC STORE AQJ1 There's tuners and there are Haiman Kardon tuners. Two of the very best actually. In 1958 Hannan Kardon manufactured the very first stereo receiver.

In 1963 it was phase locked loop circuitry. And in the eighties they've done it again by dramatically improving FM reception. The sample and hold multiplex decoder not only retains the strongest signals but, virtually eliminates irritating phase shift and switching pops inherent in conventional tuners. Choose from the digital TU915 or the analogue TU910. Both offer the very best combination of performance and value for money.

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I CASTLE HILL 2154 PHONE: 634 1617 OR 6802541 uwn cara ooowngs 2664600. SmCTiy UMJTEO SEASON The Compleat CD. Store M.L.C. Centre Shop C27 235 3630 Prices Shown until Monday 141085 harmankardon WESTON DS2I in I cteure. Sound Hear the entire range of YAMAHA HI-FI at Leisure Sound's new store in Cremorne YOUR YAMAHA STORE LTL! 102 GLOVER ST, CREMORNE 908 3611 5 SMH The Guide, Monday, October 7, 1985.