Geisha
Yesterday, Today
and Tomorrow
Australian music
in resurgence? Apparently so, according
to Joe
Matera, music
writer and the full-blooded rock guitarist who has put a
new sting in
Chris Doheny’s vehicle, Geisha.
Even amid a
variety of disparate Oz bands, old and new, Geisha are a
lovely and ill
fitting off-shoot.
Back in the
eighties, after emerging from an intriguing if somewhat
fractured glam
rock scene, they scored eight Australian top ten hits.
Even while
enjoying the brilliant glare of this success, they seemed
curiously aloof.
At first listen one would have been forgiven for a
flash-free
melodic rock outfit, with obvious roots stretching through
Foreigner and
Journey back to The Beatles and Kinks.
These
observations are
lazy, for Chris Doheny’s song writing remains both
literate and
intensely personal, leaning more towards mid Seventies
New York, than
California. The intelligence within – and this
connected with
Australian rock fans in an almost unique manner –
remaining quite
the antithesis of the effective simplicity of a
Journey or
Foreigner.
The erudite
sleeve notes, penned by Christie Eliezer of the American
magazine,
Pollstar, illuminated further, citing Doheny’s “…love of
story-telling,
film-making, Bauhaus style architecture and an interest
in Aleister
Crowley”. To find such references within a collection of
unnervingly
catchy rock songs – yes, the hooks simply flood every
corner of this 15
song collection, to dizzying effect in places –
seems positively
unique. It certainly collides with the general
interpretation of
‘Oz Rock’, as defined by AC/DC.
As stated,
‘today’s, version of Geisha has been hugely bolstered by
the galvanising
inclusion of guitarist (and rock journalist, Joe
Matera) . It’s a
partnership that might seem unlikely at first glance.
However, the
songs now carry a thrilling urgency, a powerful edge that
now seems to
effectively lift Doheny’s emotional depth. Built into
these songs is
Doheny’s flirtation with suicide following the collapse
of a
relationship, (Fools Way) and a variety of relationships, secret
and otherwise.
The simplicity of these lyrics adding a genuine sense
of intimacy.
Yesterday, Today
and Tomorrow sees songs old and new. Not a
compilation as
such, for the album features the contemporary line –
up. These nugget
songs are bolstered further by Geisha’s off-kilter
takes on the
overtly familiar. Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (
a traditionally
awkward song to cover, to say the least) is
machine-gunned by
Matera to a new level that mercifully owes nothing
to the
vaudevillian meddlings of the original. Like wise Come Together
features the new
shadows of a sinister overtone.
Despite the
band’s legacy, however, the two most effective outings
here are the
recent singles, Birthday and Mystery Writer. That, alone,
suggests a bright
future for a band steeped in history….more depth
than you might
reasonably expect. Musically they already transcend and
lame notions of
Oz Rock’. Whether this can transcend into a global
commercial
success, I don’t know. For the twisted nuances of such a
journey are
difficult to negotiate if you don’t submit to obvious
genre.
Nevertheless, the true greats will always find a way.
Mick Middles
