Anthology serves as a celebration of The Clean, a band whose influence extends so far beyond their New Zealand home that even if you have never heard of The Clean before, you have surely heard of some of the bands (Pavement, Yo La Tengo, and Superchunk, to name a few) who have been influenced by their unique blend of homemade garage rock, hook-filled melodies, and psychedelic experimentalism.
The album is a compilation of songs from across The Cleans legendary musical career, which began in 1981 and continues today.
Hamish and David Kilgour formed The Clean in 1978. Hamish played drums, and David picked up a guitar and figured out how to play it as he went along. Various other folk passed through the Kilgour brothers orbit during the first two years or so before Robert Scott (The Bats) joined on bass. Hamish, David, and Robert all wrote songs and sang in The Clean, who made their first recordings for the renowned New Zealand label Flying Nun in 1981.
Anthology kicks off with The Cleans call-to-arms debut Tally Ho!; the story of the infectious tracks $60 recording bill is now legendary. From there, it continues with the early EPs Boodle Boodle Boodle and Great Sounds Great in their entirety. The hits Anything Could Happen, Beatnik, and Getting Older and live favorites like Point That Thing Somewhere Else and instrumentals Fish and At the Bottom all serve up memories of the joyous noise that characterized The Clean of that time. These recordings, mostly made by the band with Chris Knox and Doug Hood at the helm of the 4-track, capture the bright, raw sound of a classic garage band.
After a brief breakup, the band recorded Vehicle, their first full-length, in 1989. Vehicle was made in three days and engineered by Alan Moulder (later to become one of the top producers of the alternative era, recording the Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, and My Bloody Valentine). The sounds of Vehicle and the two albums that followed it, Modern Rock (1994) and Unknown Country (1996), make up the bulk of discs 3 and 4 of the vinyl Anthology. The Clean used organ and other keyboards to mix bouncing pop tunes with continued experimentation.
In addition to selections from these full-length recordings, Anthology includes two songs released only on an American 7-inch and two that appeared on a bonus flexi-disc with the Modern Rock LP.
The Cleans story is on-again/off-again purely by design. It suits the trios creative desires and keeps them clear of the machinery that threatened to interfere with that process from the moment they threatened to get awfully popular awfully quickly over thirty years ago. The Cleans modern age has seen them splitting time and hemispheres: David Kilgour has a reputable solo catalog; Robert Scott has The Bats; and Hamish Kilgour has been an endearing and enduring fixture in New York City, playing with assorted combos.
Tracklist
A1 Tally Ho
Engineer – Arnold*
Organ – Buzz (20)
A2 Platypus
Recorded By – Paul Kean
A3 Billy Two
A4 Thumbs Off
A5 Anything Could Happen
A6 Sad Eyed Lady
Backing Vocals – Chris Knox
B1 Point That Thing Somewhere Else
Written-By – David Kilgour, Hamish Kilgour, Peter Gutteridge
B2 Fish
B3 Flowers
B4 Side On
B5 Slug Song
C1 Beatnik
C2 End Of My Dream
C3 On Again/Off Again
C4 At The Bottom
Mixed By – David Kilgour, Tom Bell*
C5 Getting Older
Backing Vocals – David*, Martin Phillipps, Bob*
Trumpet, Viola – Robert*
C6 Scrap Music
D1 Whatever I Do It's Right
D2 Two Fat Sisters (Live)
D3 Odditty
D4 Quickstep (Live)
D5 At The Bottom (Live)
E1 Drawing To A Hole
E2 I Wait Around
E3 The Blue
E4 Someone
E5 Big Soft Punch
E6 Diamond Shine
F1 Big Cat
F2 Outside The Cage
F3 Safe In The Rain
F4 Secret Place
F5 Do Your Thing
G1 Linger Longer
G2 Too Much Violence
G3 Trapped In Amber
G4 Psychedelic Ranger
G5 Late Last Night
G6 Ludwig
H1 Wipe Me, I'm Lucky
H2 Franz Kafka At The Zoo
H3 Clutch
H4 Balkans
H5 Indigo Blue
H6 Chumpy
H7 Twist Pop
