Vulture Street
The Age
Friday July 11, 2003
Music review: Vulture Street Powderfinger (Universal) ***
As burdensome titles go, The Biggest Band in the Country is a serious weight of expectation to carry. That it falls on an unassuming five-piece from Brisbane is a source of ongoing joy and Powderfinger are a welcome riposte to those who promote marketing over songwriting. Vulture Street, their fifth album, has been made under no shortage of expectation - its predecessor, 2000's Odyssey No. 5, sold about six gazillion copies - but it arrives with little of the solemnity usually associated with a chart-topper. That also ties in with the advance word on the disc, which is that the band have moved back to basics, eschewing excess instrumentation and production licks for a rawer rock sound. As they rarely indulged themselves on previous releases, it's a somewhat misleading claim, but from the gnarled guitar that opens proceedings Powderfinger play as if they have a point to prove. Rockin Rocks is almost a satirical title, as if to say, ``We're more rock than any of these new rock tykes!" but the tone is serious. Guitarists Darren Middleton and Ian Haug have long known the secret of good guitar combo: less is more and the rhythm guitar is sacrosanct in the song, and on cuts such as the single On My Mind and Stumblin they shade an adept bass-and-drum combo with a set of ardent tunes. Whether set against a rippling Neil Young-esque lead guitar break on Love Your Way or gripped by the taut verses of Don't Panic, Bernard Fanning's vocals are nothing short of commanding. But where the protagonist on Odyssey No. 5 was gripped by heartbreak yet still defiant, there's an air of defeat on Vulture Street that is curiously at odds with the martial sounds on offer. ``I'm already tired of your chronic compassion fatigue," Fanning sings on Roll Right By You, setting an agenda of withdrawal. How Far Have We Really Come? is the overtly political lament but it lacks the resonance of its forebears, particularly The Day You Come from 1998's Internationalist. Indeed, that disc remains the high point of their career. Vulture Street is commendably well-composed and quite enjoyable but lacks for genuine surprises and narrative twists. The album is a touch too self-disciplined. When Fanning sings, ``If I invite danger/It might just do some good for me" he's alluding to both the problem and the solution.
-- Craig Mathieson
© 2003 The Age