The Blackeyed Susans

Formed in Perth, Australia, during the opening months of 1989, the Blackeyed Susans delivered countrified alternative rock that secured an American domestic release in the mid-nineties once American Recordings placed the group under contract. The original configuration—vocalist/guitarist Rob Snarski, vocalist/guitarist David McComb (formerly of the Triffids), drummer Alsy McDonald (also ex-the Triffids), bassist Phil Kakulas, and organist Ross Bolleter—issued the EP Some Births Are Worse Than Murders in 1990 via Waterfront Records; the record ascended to the top of the Australian indie charts and drew favorable notices from British music weeklies. By 1991 a revised lineup consisting of Snarski and Kakulas alongside guitarist Graham Lee, drummer Jim White, and organist Warren Lee Ellis captured the EP ...Depends on What You Mean by Love. Following the 1992 compilation Welcome Stranger, which gathered the debut EP together with assorted B-sides, the band tracked All Souls Alive for a Frontier Records release in 1994. The 1996 album Mouth to Mouth introduced the further contributions of pianist Kiernan Box and guitarist Dan Luscombe, and the group’s domestic arrangement with the American label brought that record to U.S. audiences. Spin the Bottle, issued in 1997, yielded three singles that attracted strong praise—“Smokin’ Johnny Cash,” “Blue Skies, Blue Sea,” and the fiery title track—while the 2001 covers collection Dedicated to the Ones We Love interpreted material associated with the Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan, the Triffids, and additional artists. Shangri-La, warmly received upon its 2003 appearance, received a nomination for Best Adult Contemporary Album at the ARIA Awards that year, after which the band refrained from further studio work for an extended period. The four-disc retrospective box set Reveal Yourself surfaced in 2009, and in 2017 the Blackeyed Susans returned to the studio to complete Close Your Eyes and See, their seventh long-player.