Biography
Smudge emerged as an Australian slacker pop trio that first drew worldwide notice in the early 1990s once singer and songwriter Tom Morgan received credit for co-writing several tracks on the Lemonheads' pivotal 1992 release It's a Shame About Ray. Over the ensuing years the lineup broadened its creative input as bassist Adam Yee and drummer Alison Galloway began supplying original material and occasional lead vocals. During 1996 the group deliberately broadened its sonic palette by tracking the album You Me Carpark Now in Chicago under producer Casey Rice while enlisting extra studio musicians that included Tortoise's John McEntire. The following year the three-piece became a quartet after second guitarist Pete Kelly joined the fold.
The band originated in Sydney, Australia, during 1990 at the urging of friend Nic Dalton, who would soon become the Lemonheads' bassist; Dalton was assembling a various-artists compilation titled Slice for his fledgling Half a Cow Records label. Morgan on vocals and guitar, drummer Galloway—who later served as the unwitting namesake for the Lemonheads' It's a Shame About Ray track "Alison's Starting to Happen"—and bassist Paul "Duncs" Duncan laid down the song "Tea, Toast & Turmoil" for the project. Pleased with the chemistry, the musicians proceeded to cut their debut EP, Don't Want to Be Grant McLennan, issued by Half a Cow Records in 1991. The title track sparked mild controversy as a sly, infectious salute to the then-stalled solo career of ex-Go-Betweens guitarist and songwriter Grant McLennan.
Two further EPs quickly followed: Love, Lust & Lemonjuice in 1992, which contained the group's first near-hit "Divan," and Superhero in 1993, featuring covers of the Laverne & Shirley theme "Make All Our Dreams Come True" together with John Waite's "Missing You." Around the same period Dalton temporarily assumed bass duties for Robyn St. Clare of the Hummingbirds during that band's co-headlining Australian tour with the Lemonheads. Dalton and Lemonheads frontman Evan Dando developed a close rapport, and by tour's end Dalton had persuaded the Lemonheads to record two songs for his side project Sneeze alongside Smudge's Tom Morgan. The songwriting partnership between Morgan and Dando proved remarkably fruitful, yielding multiple co-authored tracks, among them the title song of the Lemonheads' breakthrough 1992 album It's a Shame About Ray; additional joint compositions later surfaced on the Lemonheads' 1993 follow-up Come on Feel the Lemonheads.
In 1993 the U.S. label Shake/Cargo released the Smudge compilation Tea, Toast & Turmoil, drawing from the band's first three EPs plus various compilation appearances and previously unreleased material. Later that year bassist Paul Duncan departed to finish his business degree and was succeeded by former Headache bassist Adam Yee. This configuration recorded Smudge's first proper full-length, the 1993 album Manilow, which was introduced by the near-hit single "Impractical Joke." The single appeared in three separate countries, each pressing featuring distinct B-sides drawn from an extensive cache of four-track home recordings made independently by the members. A U.K.-only EP on Domino Recordings surfaced in 1994 to accompany a European tour; its five tracks included the otherwise unavailable title song—later covered by the Lemonheads on their 1996 album Car Button Cloth—two selections from Manilow, and a vigorous reading of You Am I's "Berlin Chair."
Domestically, 1994 brought the eight-track Hot Smoke and Sassafras EP, a return to straightforward guitar pop reminiscent of the group's earliest work and spotlighting the popular track "Tenderfoot," which the Lemonheads also covered on Car Button Cloth. Early pressings were bundled with the Big City Poontang EP, an eight-song collection of B-sides from the "Impractical Joke" singles. In 1995 Smudge traveled to Chicago's Idful Studios to collaborate once more with producer Casey Rice on the expansive You Me Carpark Now, further enriched by additional orchestration and guest contributions such as John McEntire's pedal steel. The Slight Return EP preceded the album, presenting a slowed-down ballad reinterpretation of Manilow's "Ingrown" alongside a cover of Mike Nesmith's "Some of Shelly's Blues." Lead single "Mike Love Not War," its title borrowed from a Beach Boys bootleg, included among its B-sides a Ben Lee cover titled "Trying to Sneeze" and a full-band version of "Tenderfoot." During this period drummer Galloway was appointed host of the weekly new-music program Didge-Indie on MTV Australia.
The 1997 release Mo Poontang gathered an expanded selection of B-sides and unreleased covers in the spirit of Big City Poontang. The group simultaneously expanded to a quartet with the addition of second guitarist Pete Kelly, previously of Sydney outfit Disneyfist. Early in 1998 the refreshed four-piece constructed an eight-track studio inside a spacious house in the small coastal town of Gerroa, several hours from Sydney. Their third album, Real McCoy Wrong Sinatra, was captured in just five days and stands as the band's most unadorned, direct pop statement since the initial EPs.
The band originated in Sydney, Australia, during 1990 at the urging of friend Nic Dalton, who would soon become the Lemonheads' bassist; Dalton was assembling a various-artists compilation titled Slice for his fledgling Half a Cow Records label. Morgan on vocals and guitar, drummer Galloway—who later served as the unwitting namesake for the Lemonheads' It's a Shame About Ray track "Alison's Starting to Happen"—and bassist Paul "Duncs" Duncan laid down the song "Tea, Toast & Turmoil" for the project. Pleased with the chemistry, the musicians proceeded to cut their debut EP, Don't Want to Be Grant McLennan, issued by Half a Cow Records in 1991. The title track sparked mild controversy as a sly, infectious salute to the then-stalled solo career of ex-Go-Betweens guitarist and songwriter Grant McLennan.
Two further EPs quickly followed: Love, Lust & Lemonjuice in 1992, which contained the group's first near-hit "Divan," and Superhero in 1993, featuring covers of the Laverne & Shirley theme "Make All Our Dreams Come True" together with John Waite's "Missing You." Around the same period Dalton temporarily assumed bass duties for Robyn St. Clare of the Hummingbirds during that band's co-headlining Australian tour with the Lemonheads. Dalton and Lemonheads frontman Evan Dando developed a close rapport, and by tour's end Dalton had persuaded the Lemonheads to record two songs for his side project Sneeze alongside Smudge's Tom Morgan. The songwriting partnership between Morgan and Dando proved remarkably fruitful, yielding multiple co-authored tracks, among them the title song of the Lemonheads' breakthrough 1992 album It's a Shame About Ray; additional joint compositions later surfaced on the Lemonheads' 1993 follow-up Come on Feel the Lemonheads.
In 1993 the U.S. label Shake/Cargo released the Smudge compilation Tea, Toast & Turmoil, drawing from the band's first three EPs plus various compilation appearances and previously unreleased material. Later that year bassist Paul Duncan departed to finish his business degree and was succeeded by former Headache bassist Adam Yee. This configuration recorded Smudge's first proper full-length, the 1993 album Manilow, which was introduced by the near-hit single "Impractical Joke." The single appeared in three separate countries, each pressing featuring distinct B-sides drawn from an extensive cache of four-track home recordings made independently by the members. A U.K.-only EP on Domino Recordings surfaced in 1994 to accompany a European tour; its five tracks included the otherwise unavailable title song—later covered by the Lemonheads on their 1996 album Car Button Cloth—two selections from Manilow, and a vigorous reading of You Am I's "Berlin Chair."
Domestically, 1994 brought the eight-track Hot Smoke and Sassafras EP, a return to straightforward guitar pop reminiscent of the group's earliest work and spotlighting the popular track "Tenderfoot," which the Lemonheads also covered on Car Button Cloth. Early pressings were bundled with the Big City Poontang EP, an eight-song collection of B-sides from the "Impractical Joke" singles. In 1995 Smudge traveled to Chicago's Idful Studios to collaborate once more with producer Casey Rice on the expansive You Me Carpark Now, further enriched by additional orchestration and guest contributions such as John McEntire's pedal steel. The Slight Return EP preceded the album, presenting a slowed-down ballad reinterpretation of Manilow's "Ingrown" alongside a cover of Mike Nesmith's "Some of Shelly's Blues." Lead single "Mike Love Not War," its title borrowed from a Beach Boys bootleg, included among its B-sides a Ben Lee cover titled "Trying to Sneeze" and a full-band version of "Tenderfoot." During this period drummer Galloway was appointed host of the weekly new-music program Didge-Indie on MTV Australia.
The 1997 release Mo Poontang gathered an expanded selection of B-sides and unreleased covers in the spirit of Big City Poontang. The group simultaneously expanded to a quartet with the addition of second guitarist Pete Kelly, previously of Sydney outfit Disneyfist. Early in 1998 the refreshed four-piece constructed an eight-track studio inside a spacious house in the small coastal town of Gerroa, several hours from Sydney. Their third album, Real McCoy Wrong Sinatra, was captured in just five days and stands as the band's most unadorned, direct pop statement since the initial EPs.
Albums
Singles
