Longing for a time when The Associates, Au Pairs or the likes meant something? New South Wales travellers Big White take us on a journey through an ‘80s obsessed scene.
‘Right Before Everything Dies’ lets loose a little synthy frivolity, ‘How Did You Find Out’ leaves more questions than answers, although ‘She Belongs To No One’ is rather fab. Think The Go Betweens and The Cure as unlikely bedfellows. The tumbling enthusiasm displayed is hard to resist and clocking in at just on 35 minutes is just right.
The ten songs are all rather palatable, although everything would take a great leap forward if the songs were more than just a fading Xerox of an earlier time spent stumbling out of dodgy nightclubs. ‘Do You Really Wanna Dance’ is hardly convincing but Big White plough through a furrow that should not be commercially thankless. ‘Pleasure’ freewheels though disparate elements that are brought together under the Big White banner, as most band members are also keen pursuers of side projects.
The little “woah” at the end of ‘I Know What You Mean’ hints that they can craft songs that are built to last and lean on the right side of cool. Yet there is the nagging thought that too many songs hold the semblance of a band spreading itself thin.
6.5
