Love Outside Andromeda - 'Love Outside Andromeda' (2004)

Versions:
CD

Tracklisting:
1. Tongue Like A Tether
2. Made Of Broken Glass
3. Gonna Try To Be A Girl
4. Boxcutter, Baby
5. Something White & Sigmund
6. Your Baby, My Blood
7. Hecate Pose
8. Chameleon
9. Improper Methods
10. Juno
11. If You Really Want So Little From Me
12. Achilles (All 3)

Best Tracks:
If You Really Want So Little From Me
Juno
Something White & Sigmund
Made Of Broken Glass
Tongue Like A Tether

Currently listening to: CD

Love Outside Andromeda are still one of my all-time favourite Australian bands. It's a shame that they're no longer with us (and that I only fell in love them about 18 months before they broke up). This is their first album, which came out in 2004, and it's stunning. And, unfortunately, in 2014, it seems to be largely forgotten.

Many people had told me to check out this Melbourne band called Andromeda, as they were originally known, after 'Something White & Sigmund' took off on Triple J. Mainly because, I was told, they sounded like PJ Harvey. I saw the video for the song, and quite liked it. I added the band to the growing list of bands I needed to investigate, and all but forgot about it. It didn't help that, not long after, the band changed their name.

A year or so later, rage played a special on female artists. I have rage to thanks for many of my musical discoveries of the late 90's/early 00's. Being that I taped rage most weekends, and that most of the music I loved was (and still is) predominantly made by women, I eagerly relished this particular rage special (even if it was a little sexist). It featured 'Something White & Sigmund' and 'Made Of Broken Glass'. I was instantly smitten with both. I also (finally) worked out that Andromeda and Love Outside Andromeda were, in fact, the same band.

I bought the album the next day (happily, it was packaged together with the Something White & Sigmund EP). I loved those two songs so much that I was worried that the album wouldn't live up to my expectations. How wrong I was. I was instantly gob-smacked.

'Tongue Like A Tether' kicks the album off, and you know they mean business. I remember reading an interview with Sianna Lee where she said the song was inspired the anger in Hole's 'Violet'. 'Tongue Like A Tether' is possibility even more convincing than 'Violet'. It's not a happy song. And, this is not a happy record. From the gritty 'Gonna Try To Be A Girl', to the tender 'If You Really Want So Little From Me', this album will rip your face off with it's sheer force, then rip your heart out with it's raw beauty. It became the soundtrack to my life for a few years in my early 20's when I was falling in love with the wrong people and generally crap at life. Which is an indication of the subject matter. Oh, yes, this is one for anyone who's had their heart chewed up and spat out again. And, it's perfectly executed. It's a fucking great album.

Here we are ten years later (ten years!) and I still love this record. There's so many good songs on this album. 'Made Of Broken Glass' and 'Something White & Sigmund' should have a much bigger place (or, at least a place) in Australian music history than they do. I think that Sianna Lee is possibly the most underrated songwriter in Australian music of the last ten years (and not just for this album - the second, even more underrated, Love Outside Andromeda album and her solo album are both testament to this).

The first time I saw Love Outside Andromeda live was about a month after I first got this album. And it's still one of the best gigs I've ever seen. I saw them play a few more times before they broke up, but the first gig was really special. They had the cello player that played on the album with them. The main thing I remember was being really impressed with the musicianship - it sound wanky, and I'm not a musician, so rarely worry about such things. But, they were all such good players, and such a tight unit together. They were really impressive live. I saw them a few more times, before they broke up, which was - incidentally - on the same day they were due to play in Adelaide to support their second record, Longing Was A Safe Place To Hide. It's a shame. I still miss them.

I'd highly recommend this album, particularly to fans of PJ Harvey and Cat Power and that sort of thing. Love Outside Andromeda were often compared to PJ Harvey during their short lifetime - as much as that may be a compliment, it is also a lazy comparison that sells them incredibly short of what a great, great band they were.