Godstar

Australian multi-instrumentalist Nic Dalton launched the guitar-pop group Godstar once his Canberra band the Plunderers, known for its harder-edged punk approach, came to an end. The lineup shifted constantly from the outset, enabling Godstar to issue two EPs ahead of its first long-player, Sleeper. Additional EPs and singles followed, after which the second album, Coastal, emerged as a stylistically wider-ranging work shaped during Dalton’s global travels as touring bassist with the Lemonheads. He eventually stepped away from the Lemonheads to focus on Godstar, taking the album on the road across Australia before choosing to disband the project in 1996; a final collection, September, appeared the next year under the name the Godstar Reminder.

The Plunderers, a power-punk Canberra unit that also performed under aliases such as Hippy Dribble and Captain Denim, parted ways amicably in 1991. Dalton then assembled a pop-leaning ensemble, drawing in several musician friends, among them Tom Morgan and Alison Galloway of Smudge. Because the membership remained fluid, Dalton stayed the only steady participant. The band’s opening EP, The Brightest Star, arrived in 1992; its vinyl pressing contained Dalton’s composition “Kitchen,” later recorded by the Lemonheads for It’s A Shame About Ray. While preparing the debut album Sleeper, Dalton accepted an offer to join the Lemonheads as touring bassist. Sleeper was ultimately tracked with Lou Giordano and issued in 1993. Coastal took shape across multiple locations during his worldwide travels with that group, resulting in a broader sonic palette and an expanded cast of contributors that included members of the Lemonheads, Fuzzy, and the Hummingbirds. In late 1994 Dalton exited the Lemonheads to pursue other ventures, notably his Half A Cow bookstore and label. A touring incarnation of Godstar was formed at that time, featuring Alison Galloway on drums, Tom Morgan on guitar, Robyn St. Clare of the Hummingbirds on bass, and Dalton handling guitar and lead vocals. This quartet released the 7-inch Four Seventy EP on the American Bus Stop Records imprint in 1994, with each participant writing one track. Half A Cow Records put out Coastal in 1995. Dalton retired Godstar in late 1996 to devote more energy to additional endeavors, including the ongoing Half A Cow operation. September, compiled from 1993 live recordings plus EP cuts and other rarities, surfaced in 1997 credited to the Godstar Reminder. Dalton’s subsequent outfit, the Kombi Nation, delivered its first single in 1998.