They’re nobody’s buzz bands anymore. But since 1993, MAGNET has discovered and documented more great music than memory will allow. The groups may have broken up or the albums may be out of print, but this time, history is written by the losers. Here are some of the finest albums that time forgot but we remembered in issue #75, plus all-new additions to our list of Lost Classics.
:: YOU AM I
Hourly, Daily // Warner Bros., 1997
Bigger than Oasis in its native Australia—three consecutive albums debuted at number one on the charts Down Under—You Am I was received in the States with little fanfare and spat out like vegemite. It wasn’t for a lack of effort on the part of the Sydney trio; touring the U.S. with Soundgarden and playing Lollapalooza’s side stage in 1996, lanky frontman Tim Rogers led his manic troupe with well-executed guitar windmills and bitingly funny stage patter. But it just wasn’t their time—or place. In the same way that Ray Davies miniaturized middle-class Britain, Rogers spoke Australian: Hourly, Daily was a scoundrel’s gallery of songs involving a milk-truck driver on Kinteil Road, the Circular Quay, Prince of Wales tea and a pack of darts. You Am I’s mode of delivery—mod rock and power pop in the vein of the Who, the Pretty Things, the Small Faces and the Knack—wasn’t well-understood, either. Maybe the ringing Rickenbackers and occasional skiffle rhythm sounded too traditional for the OK Computer/Cornershop era, but Hourly, Daily stands as the finest, most cohesive batch of pop-life vignettes from the old, normal Australia.
Catching Up: You Am I’s output has become increasingly uninspired since, including 2007’s lackluster Convicts and 2008’s Dilettantes.
“Soldiers”:
https://magnetmagazine.com/audio/Soldiers.mp3
