THE TRIFFIDS
Treeless Plain
(Hot)

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The Triffids have been going their own quiet and very resolute way, in blissful indifference to prevailing trends, for some five years. Despite an extraordinary flair for melody, numerous intriguing cassettes, and the excellent Spanish Blue/ Twisted Brain single, they have never received anything like the attention they deserve, but Treeless Plain may well change all that.
The 'wimpy' treatment which has too often bedevilled their innately strong material in the past, particularly live, has given way to a bold, sparse and deceptively simple sound. Production (by the Triffids themselves) is crystal-clear, with David McComb sounding almost cavernous on the Doors-ish Red Pony, with the plush but hypnotically effective strings adding further power. My Baby Thinks She's A Train is a smouldering but snappy blues, while Place In The Sun and the disturbing Hanging Shed are dynamic, insistent and instantly memorable.
McComb's lyrics are a strange, subtle blend of the romantic and the cynical ('Let's not talk about love! That's something you feel for a dog or a cat'), though drummer Alsy MacDonald's Nothing Can Take Your Place is a relatively straightforward, engaging love song, whose mood recalls Lou Reed's After Hours.
Treeless Plain, in addition to its more haunting, celebral qualities, is resoundingly tuneful and varied - a fact which in itself sets it apart from the bulk of fashionable Australian Rock.
MARK MOLOTOV RAM, January 5, 1984