When vinyl sales reached their nadir in the nineties, many classic albums from that era were only released on CD. Since the resurgence of interest in vinyl, boutique labels like Perth’s Love As Fiction Records have spent valuable time and resources reissuing less mainstream albums from that era in vinyl. It’s a labour of love and a great opportunity to experience the joy of remastered versions of old favourites in their most enjoyable and tangible form.
Having already turned their craft to reissue albums from nineties indie icons Ammonia and Bluebottle Kiss, Love As Fiction Records have now announced the release in vinyl of the classic Big Heavy Stuff release ‘Size of the Ocean’.
Big Heavy Stuff formed in Sydney in 1990 and released 4 albums and various EPs and singles over their career, with their fourth and last album released in 2004. The lineup for ‘Size of the Ocean’ consisted of Greg Atkinson (Vocals, Guitars), Carolyn Polley (Guitars, Vocals), Eliot Fish (Bass, Vocals) and Nick Kennedy (Drums). Kennedy continues to be the drummer of choice in a number of current bands capturing the contemporary Marrickville Sound. There are connections with legendary producers Wayne Connolly and Julian Knowles (Even As We Speak).
Reflecting on the band’s journey and the album in 2023, Kennedy writes:
After a few years of doing the east coast club circuit, we started an eye-opening tour of the country with local heroes Powderfinger and Jebediah, just as the headliners began to break. We played everywhere and created a solid bond with both bands that persists to this day.
Subsequent tours with Something for Kate, The Superjesus, Bluebottle Kiss and Ammonia took us everywhere in between. The band was then hand-picked as sole support for Radiohead’s Australian “OK Computer” tour of the nations’ entertainment centres. This experience, as well as witnessing shows by the likes of Jeff Buckley and others heading away from mid-90’s bombast, fed directly into our melodic direction explored on Size of the Ocean. ARIA award winning producer and long-time friend of the band Wayne Connolly perfectly captured the fresh sound the band had been working on after coming off
the road at the end of the 90’s.
Size of the Ocean was ultimately released at the turn of the millennium as we signed
to Redline Records in 2000, a label founded by Jebediah and Naked Ape
Management.
It was recorded and mixed to tape on one of the last Neve analogue consoles (as mythologised in the Sound City documentary) to operate in Australia’s golden era of sound engineering. As with our previous two releases, Size was recorded and mixed at the Charing Cross Studio located in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. The new vinyl edition has been mastered from a flat transfer of the original tape.
As a taste of what to expect, the label has released the tracks ‘Devil’s Tongue’/’Big Heavy Dub’, showcasing the band’s gentle jingle jangle melancholic tones that mix with a powerful thrum with a quiet/loud ethic:
The pre-orders are planned to go live on 16 October on both Bandcamp (above) and Love As Fiction website.
