The Birthday Party - Hamlet (Pow Pow Pow)

I'm afraid I have to admit to not being much of a Nick Cave fan. I wasn't a Birthday Party fan either, until recently when I rediscovered their Junkyard LP. Now, this is one of them funny stories that will no doubt make me sound like a dick. I have a few of them, but this one's priceless. Basically, back when I was young, I listened to the LP maybe 3 or 4 times, on the wrong speed. I don't know how - it wasn't marked on the label, and must have been a 45rpm LP - that I insisted on playing at 33rpm (as you do with proper LPs). As a result, it sounded shit and I gave up on it. I don't think I even knew Nick Cave was in them at that time.

I picked up another LP in the last five years, I thought what the heck - by that point I'd heard so many people name-check them I thought there had to be something there. So I got Prayers On Fire on CD and liked it a lot. So recently, I had the chance to get Junkyard on CDs and gave it another shot. Holy heck - it blew me away. Such a grinding and intense album. Even Nick Cave sounds good on it. So, from way back when, here's the man and the band doing the track Hamlet (Pow Pow Pow) live. It's the second track in, following a few minutes of Fears Of Gun. When I saw Nick Cave live in the 90s, he was smoking a fag and sat at a piano. Compare and contrast with this slighlty more energetic performance!

Posted by Dio Bach at 2:09 PM