Lucksmiths, The - A Good Kind of Nervous

Release date: 12/11/2020.

Limited edition black vinyl.

Known for their short and bittersweet indiepop songs, economical set-up and charismatic live shows, The Lucksmiths formed in 1993 and initially consisted of singer/snare-drummer Tali White, guitarist Marty Donald, and bassist Mark Monnone.

The band’s fourth album A Good Kind of Nervous introduced them to new audiences at home and abroad (including an invitation to open for Belle & Sebastian on the Scottish band’s first ever European tour) and is considered a high water mark for the early-Lucksmiths sound; ‘Under the Rotunda’, ‘Guess How Much I Love You’, ‘Caravanna’ and ‘Punchlines’ all went on to become perennial live favourites.

Steeped in the Melbourne milieu that The Lucksmiths often referenced in song, the album was recorded in a poorly-heated Victorian terrace in Carlton (which was soon to become a hair salon) and mixed in Mark Monnone’s Fitzroy North house, across the road from the Edinburgh Gardens – the same neighbourhood that inspired the bassist’s skyline silhouette print which adorns the album’s cover.

Originally released on CD by two iconic indie labels of the day – Candle Records (Australia) and Drive-In Records (US) – A Good Kind of Nervous served to launch the band from their Melbourne cradle into the waiting world and what was to become a long procession of international releases and touring until the band’s split in 2009. The 2020 release marks the first time the album is available on vinyl!

1. Caravanna
2. Under the Rotunda
3. Train Robbers' Wives
4. World Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century Murder
5. The Invention of Ordinary Everyday Thing
6. Punchlines
7. Guess How Much I Love You
8. Columns O' Steam
9. Up
10. Wyoming
11. Little Athletics