New Wave / Power Pop
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Though not entirely familiar with their work this is what I do know about the group. From Melbourne Australia they played their first professional gigs in 1980. They were at first a garage band consisting of five members in 1979. Mark White ( vocals and drums ) and Mick Vallance (vocals and Base) and three unknown members that were dropped after they met Peter Farnan (vocals and guitar). Their early success was due entirely to word of mouth as they had no recording contract. As the popularity of their music grew the the number of gigs increased and they would play regularly. By the late 80's Serious Young Insects has opened for bands like XTC, and the Cure. What set this band apart from many others was that all three were singer song writers and as such provided the band with lots of material, and also different styles. Their first single release in 1981 was "Trouble Understanding Words". In early 1982 they released their first album Housebreaking which was worked on by veteran engineer John French. The first single of the album was called "Be Patient" it wasn't well received. In October of 1982 the third single was release "Faraway Places". slightly better response. They did some touring that year but that's pretty much it, they did their last gig in December 1982. They played over 35 songs and came off stage arguing over what they forgot to play, end of story, if Ive forgot anything lemme know...
1 comment:
That all sounds accurate. They were one of my favourite new wave bands in Melbourne the early 80s, along with The Models, Hunters & Collectors, Boys Next Door, also bigger rock acts like Australian Crawl, Men At Work (before their first album), and Sydney tourists INXS and Midnight Oil. SYIs worked as hard as anyone, turning up frequently in the inner city Melbourne pub scene, places like The Jump Club (Collingwood), Bombay Rock (Brunswick), Macys (South Yarra), Seaview Ballroom and Earl's Court (StKilda), and Sunday nights at Melbourne University Union Nights. Peter Farnan (guitar) went on to form Boom Crash Opera with much more commercial success. To get a sense of their more edgy side watch Parents Go Mental on YouTube. They were the antithesis of the 3-chord blues progression.
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