By TANIA PHILLIPS
AFTER touring Australia for thirty years give or take a year or two, it is hard to find a venue that Mental As Anything hasn’t played.
So when it was announced that they were coming to the Soundlounge at Currumbin my first thoughts were… mmmm… have they done it? Have they actually found somewhere previously untouched by such tunes as The Nips Are Getting Bigger, Too Many Times and Live it?”
“I thought we had but our manager says we haven’t and they tend to know these things,” Greedy Smith said.
Greedy is one of the two original members of the group who as art students – urban myth has it -passed themselves off as a band in order to con the local publican into giving them a gig in exchange for a free beer.
“The ‘Soundlounge’ sounds a bit posh,” Greedy said, adding: “I may have to iron my bowtie.”
Greedy’s, partner in crime Martin Plaza and the band are out on the road (but then aren’t they always) touring Australia and bringing the music that we either grew-up with (pick me, pick me) or heard somewhere and just can’t stop humming.
There is something unique and uniquely Australian (even though two of the original members – Reg and Pete – were Kiwis). Brother’s Reg Mombassa and Pete O’Doherty are now off pursuing their art careers (cough cough Mambo anyone?).
Although Greedy says the boys – prolific songwriters even in their Mentals days (Beserk Warriors is still the best song ever written about ABBA as Vikings… mmm it could also be the only one but who cares) – are just releasing a double album through their project Dog Trumpet.
And the Mentals?
Is there a new album in the works?
Can we expect another brilliantly titled disc (Fundamental, Cats And Dogs, Espresso Bongo, If You Leave Me and the 2009 release Tents Up) full of instant classics and highly listenable garage pop including Spirit Got Lost, If you leave me and Mr Natural?
“No” is the quick answer but don’t despair – the boys have a plan… a cunning plan.
“We have big plans for lots of little releases,” Greedy said.
“The Dog Trumpet boys are bringing out a double album – there are actually five or six tracks they couldn’t fit on it. I suppose it’s been a few years since their last release.
“They are even bringing this one out on vinyl as well – it’s being done in America.
“But Martin and I have a plan to co-ordinate single releases – churn one out every few months.”
It is what they have done best over their long years of touring – release a single and then tour to support it! Why stop a habit of a musical lifetime – it would be mental wouldn’t it?
Who: Mental As Anything
Where: Soundlounge, Currumbin
When: 15 November
Interested? Get your tickets from the venue now!
