The brilliantly, if rather enigmatically, named band The Great Emu War Casualties have just released their debut entitled ‘Public Sweetheart No. 1’ after a series of EPs and singles released since the early 2020s, and it’s well worth the wait.
It’s a sparkling collection of jewels that combine humour, raw expression and anthemic choruses with delicate instrumentation and angelic harmonies.
Joe Jackson says of the album, with his trademark self-deprecatory humour:
‘Public Sweetheart No.1’ is a blunt, honest self-assessment of my own behaviour over an extended period of time and the various ways in which I have affected the people closest to me, so I’ve at least tried to make it catchy in order to better live with myself. It’s about the clarity I’ve found in going back to basics, in trying to remove the chaos and noise of the world in favour of honesty. An anthemic apology, with some ‘sorry, not sorry’ sprinkled on top. I am sorry though, really.
Indeed, this humour threads through the album with its wry look at the vicissitudes of life deilvered with a shimmering glow.
Opening track ‘Ashes’ has a jaunty light sparkle with an inherent pop sensibility, augmented by delicate harmonies and an anthemic sweep. ‘Old Dog’ is an almost funky little number, a joyous and high-stepping beat with splashing guitars and the trademark soaring melodies rippling throughout. ‘Overreacting’ similarly takes off like a rocket and I can’t help think of eighties bands like ABC with its pop sparkle. The lyrics are poetic and delicate, self-effacing:
You took the wind out of my sails on the ocean
I’ve been injected with a longing for the land
It’s unappealing to be causing this commotion
I’m overwhelmed by my failure to understand
‘Get What You Want’ and ‘Late Reply’ are similarly driven by driving guitars that splatter throughout like a bubbling stream under the soaring chorus, inflected by a touch of melancholy.
‘Donut’ starts with a gentle rippling of guitars before kicking off with a sprightly bounce and a trademark insouciant humour that threads its way through the lyrics.
If I were juice at least I’d have a use; I’d be part of the healthy revolution
Gluten free, full of ‘e’s and sugar
I’d be Helen’s favourite colour
We played that show
Until Max Watts I’d forgotten about it ‘cos in the morning you were gone
So I packed my bag and was at the airport when you sent me a Canva about a donut
The harmonies add a delicious frisson to the vocal delivery that coasts along on with the indelible melodies and a bedrock organ sound. It’s infectious and danceable and embellished with a particularly antipodean blush.
‘Wanna See You’ injects a little fuzz and barbed wire in the instrumentation with its hopelessly romantic autobiographical lyrics and wild guitars that scrape along the ceiling.
I was fruitlessly frittering my time
Then I woke up feeling strange
An asterisk * all irony aside
I wouldn’t change a thing about you
‘Don’t Be Sad’ is a sparse little ditty carried on an acoustic bed and infused again with a wry delivery and delicious harmonies. ‘Sob Story’ thunders, in contrast, with a wall of guitars like a Tsunami whereas ‘Turn My Lights Out’ shimmers delicately in the sky with a pulse-quickening anthemic chorus.
Vocals are to the fore in final track ‘Old World’ over tendrils of acoustic guitar riffs, delicate and complex with a melodic delivery. It has the pop sensibilities of something from Crowded House.
‘Public Sweetheart No. 1’, as the title implies, is an album filled with wry intelligent humour, carried on a bed of gentle pop and soaring anthems. It is a stunning debut from a band that deserves a lot of attention and a global audience.
The album can be streamed and downloaded here.
The Great Emu War Casualties are: Joe Jackson, Saskia Clapton, Bibek Tamang and Cat Sanzaro.
As an interesting post note, the Great Emu War was a nuisance wildlife management military operation undertaken in Australia over the later part of 1932 to address public concern over the number of emus said to be running amok in the Campion district of Western Australia. The unsuccessful attempts to curb the population of emus, a large flightless bird indigenous to Australia, employed soldiers armed with Lewis guns—leading the media to adopt the name “Emu War” when referring to the incident.
