Let me preface this review by stating that Ozhop is not my favourite musical genre and I am completely bemused by the scene. I am more likely to be sipping a short black discussing the respective merits of “The Horse, The Rat And The Swan” and “Ta Det Lugnt” rather than wearing a massive t-shirt and straight brimmed baseball cap at a jaunty angle. At the risk of sounding like even more of a music snob , a lot of Ozhop really does not do anything for me. It is all a bit homogenised; from the nasally vocals with “oz as” accents to the massacred similes. Not that I am trying to start a turf war a la “Flight of the Conchords” with Ozhop crews; I am sure they are very talented, it is just that I don’t particularly enjoy it. The exception to this rule is The Herd…
Like a lot of Triple J listening brethren, I discovered The Herd through the seminal single Scallops in 2001. It was the first time that I had heard hip hop with such a heavy Australian focus. It is difficult to imagine Melle Mel espousing the virtues of a “$3.40 bag of fresh hip hop from your local fish n’ chip shop”. Anywho, I digress, judging by the reaction this song received when played in the encore, I was not the only one.
Some would have thought that the demise of John Howard would have affected the song writing output of The Herd, but rest assured there are no shortage of candidates willing to take up the mantle of right-wing zealot of choice. Tonight’s selection was Andrew Bolt. This (ahem) journalist got a couple of mentions throughout the evening and surprisingly, not in a complimentary sense. Obviously the world is not enlightened enough to appreciate his well reasoned, well thought out, non-zenophobic, non-racist etc etc position on life, the universe and everything. The highly politically charged evening was exemplified with the inclusion of tracks such as 2020, The King is Dead and Burn Down Parliament which metaphorically and perhaps literally rocked The Corner to its very foundations.
Under Pressure showed the band’s social conscience is in the right place and despite only being released a few weeks prior to the gig, The Sum Of It All already has all the hallmarks of being a classic. The Pump Up The Jam intro to Unpredictable also showed that they still know how to have a good time. And really, how can you go wrong when you have a piano accordion in your arsenal?
It wouldn’t be a Herd set without I Was Only 19. This Redgum cover whose tale of soldiers struggling to cope with the aftermath of active service, is unfortunately just as pertinent as when it is was first written. The Herd performed this track with the degree of solemnity that the subject matter deserves. As was 77% and the vain underlying hope that one day Australia will no longer be a society ruled by hysteria when faced with the subject of asylum seekers. Good luck guys…
Whereas the addition of a female vocalist can signal the death knell for a hip hop act, this most definitely is not the case with Jane Tyrell. In fact, the exact opposite is true. Jane adds something extra for pre The Sun Never Sets tracks and is integral to those tracks post. For further reading on female vocalists destroying hip hop, please refer to The Black Eyed Peas. Prior to becoming Fergilicious, they were actually rather good. As difficult as that is to believe kids, it is true.
Last song on the encore was a bit disappointing on a personal level, as it was a new song whose name escapes me and features a bit of call and response. My thoughts on call and response are best expressed by the great Sage Francis who stated so eloquently “when I say hip, you , you say shut the
f**k up, we ain’t sayin’ sh*t, and I respect you for that.” However this is an extremely minor gripe in a set that left everyone enraptured.
