The Wizards Of Oz

As comebacks go, the news that The Go-Betweens were returning to recording action after an absence of twelve years couldn t have been broken more subtly if it had come from the pens of Grant McLennan and Robert Forster themselves. In July, NME s On list of what s being played in the paper s offices stopped me in my tracks. There it was, staring me in the face : The Go-Betweens The Friends Of Rachel Worth (Circus).

What the hell was this? A bootleg? A live recording of last year s acoustic tour? A collection of lost gems from the archives? Even a trawl through the various websites dedicated to the band didn t turn up anything until it was announced a week later that, for the first time since 1988 s 16 Lover s Lane, The Go-Betweens had a new album ready to roll and had kept the lid on the news until the last possible moment.
We didn t want a fanfare," says Grant McLennan, sipping a pint in the library of the Central Hotel, "the road is littered with the stinking corpses of people who ve done that."
Just to recap, The Go-Betweens were an Australian group who produced six albums. Between 1981 and 1988 Grant and his songwriting foil Robert Forster created a body of work which stands alongside the finest ever, a stunning collection of songs both affecting and artful but which, for all their brilliance, failed to make a significant dent commercially. Their UK album chart stats comprise a week apiece for Tallulah and 16 Lover s Lane at Nos 91 and 81 respectively. So, while they hardly went into the studio again for the money, what led to the band splitting in the first place?
"Well, we d toured 16 Lover s Lane for the best part of a year, took a break and when we reconvened to rehearse songs for the next album it just wasn t the same. Something had gone inside Robert and myself. It wasn t like there were major rows or anything like that, just that for the first time since we d started the band it began to feel like a chore playing. Luckily he felt the same way, so one day we just said This isn t right, shall we stop? That was that we both went off and did our solo albums."
The lack of animosity between the core members of the band concerning the original split was obvious when they played a brace of live dates as The Go-Betweens in The Mean Fiddler four years ago, but it was last year s acoustic show in Vicar St. which prompted serious speculation that a reformation was inevitable. On that night a crowd of almost 800 people reacted in a manner bordering on the frenzied, which must surely have sparked thoughts of heading into the studio again.
"We were stunned by that gig," Grant admits. "The soundcheck was horrible, nothing seemed to be working, so to have it turn out the way it did was amazing. It was one of those nights when you almost forget that you re singing and playing and the whole evening takes on a momentum of its own. The idea of recording again with Robert had been in my mind from early on in the tour, but if he d said No that would have been fine. As it turned out he agreed that it would be the right thing to do.
"I thought it was time to start up that beautiful car that is The Go-Betweens, that s just been sitting in the garage with nice tapestries over it for all these years. There wasn t some grand masterplan to undertake a massive world tour apart from the fact that there are only a handful of places where we re actually popular it was simply to give Robert and myself the opportunity to work together again."
Having experienced their share of disappointments in the first phase of The Go-Betweens and indeed in their respective solo careers were they wary of becoming embroiled in industry machinations all over again?
"The last thing we needed was to get on the horrible rollercoaster again," he says. "Y know, hire Abbey Road, having to deal with A&R departments, being obliged to get a name producer, feeling under pressure to have a certain sound. We went back to the way we made our first records. A small studio, intimate working environment we just wanted to be gentle with it. There was no advance hype, it was a case of just making the record, getting it out and letting people make of it what they will."
In early February, Grant and Robert, along with bassist Adele Pickvance who d toured with Robert s band and in the 1996 version of The Go-Betweens, headed to Portland, Oregon to record the bulk of The Friends Of Rachel Worth, the first time the group had recorded in the United States.
"That came about after we d done an acoustic show in San Francisco, explains Grant. "Sleater Kinney came into our dressing room after the gig and Robert mentioned that we were planning the album. Immediately, Janet Weiss said I m your drummer and suggested this great place in Portland, which was perfect for our purposes. We hooked up with Sam Coomes from Quasi who played keyboards and the other two members of Sleater Kinney Carrie and Corin contributed some guitar and vocals. It was very organic. The last thing we wanted was hired hands. Y know, people who d played with Adam & The Ants or whoever. It wasn t as if they were continually asking Is this alright? rather everyone felt free to contribute and if it worked it was in. It was a lovely experience making the record."
The ease with which The Friends Of Rachel Worth was made is certainly reflected in the finished product. Both writers have delivered songs which rank alongside their best work Grant s Magic In Here , Going Blind and Orpheus Beach , and Robert s He Lives My Life and When She Sang About Angels (the latter a Patti Smith tribute which manages to rhyme Kurt Cobain , what a shame and Tom Verlaine in the space of three lines wonderful!) would easily qualify for any Go-Betweens best of and the album has a sparse, basic feel which perfectly complements the material. In many ways the album feels as if it hasn t been produced at all and that s meant as a compliment.
"Thank you, I know what you mean. We didn t want to be fussy with the arrangements at all, we wanted it to be as pure as possible. It s a collection of songs, there s been no radical change in the writing approach no change at all, in fact it s intimate and it says Here we are . That s what we wanted to do, and I feel we ve achieved that."
The fact that there s a certain audience for The Go-Betweens music in Ireland and in several other locations around the globe hasn t given Grant McLennan any delusions that the return of Australia s finest ever band is going to have the music industry in general digging out the bunting and preparing lavish street parties.
"We don t fit in," he says candidly. "We never have, so we re not going to start thinking about it now. That said, I see us as a contemporary band since when have songs ever become irrelevant? On last year s tour one of the great things was meeting people who were in their late teens and early twenties but who knew our stuff. Bands of their generation are listening to our material and namechecking us, but the thing is I m listening to those bands as well. I m still a fan.
"If you re interested in music, it becomes central to your life, then you ll follow your interests and eventually work your way back to what went before. It s all out there for you. It s the same for art, movies or literature you should explore everything. It s all about passion. If you maintain your passion there s no reason why you can t be an artist all your life."
And while he s certainly in full flow and enjoying life at the moment (Indeed, later on that evening the joie de vivre took a bizarre turn which found him donning one of Eamonn Carr s Horslips stage costumes from the early 70s alas, no photographic evidence) was there ever a point where he felt his passion had become diminished?
"Yeah, around the time of In Your Bright Ray about three years ago," comes the reply. "That s probably my favourite collection of songs but the label I was with in Australia didn t treat it with respect. That was a time when I doubted my whole belief system I couldn t find much in the world to vindicate it. But I got out of that trough. Y see, most things with me are always generated from love and art, so if the two aren t together then I m kind of out of whack. Then again, pretty much the last thing I want to do when I m ecstatic is write a song. You can write about happiness when you re not so busy living it."
With The Friends Of Rachel Worth, The Go-Betweens have not only made one of the albums of the year so far but have finally laid to rest one of the finest Pop traditions of the past two decades, namely the title is their first not to contain two letter L s in the title.
"Ah yes," laughs Grant. "That one was bound to go sometime! Still, at least it gives people like yourself something to talk about, but when you become totally familiar with the album you could always refer to it as The Pals Of Rachel Worth to get you over the disappointment!"
The Go-Betweens play theOlympia Theatre on October 26TH as part of the Pet Sounds series of gigs