Spiderbait
are one of the few survivors – alongside You Am
I – of the early alternative music boom that occurred
in Australia following in the wake of the explosion
of Ratcat, which was swiftly consumed by the likes
of Nirvana et al from overseas.
But the thing that really made
Spiderbait a hero to the burgeoning crowds of Australian
pubs and clubs
was their sheer energy – from their earliest days,
these three kids transported to Melbourne from Finley,
New South Wales, had this incredible power that couldn’t
be denied. Their early punk-influenced days were
a riot, and then Triple J latched onto “Old Man Sam”…and
the sky became the limit.
Greatest Hits travels in
reverse order – it
opens with new single/exclusive track “On My Way”,
a riot of a rock song with Kram on lead vocals, and
then for a further twenty-one tracks takes you back
from the happy days of yore with the likes of the
number one hit “Black Betty” to 1996’s “Buy Me a
Pony” (which topped Triple J’s Hottest 100 poll that
year), back to their ‘breakthrough’ record (read:
major label debut) The unfinished Spanish galleon
of Finley Lake through to early singles like “Footy” and “Circle
K” from their years on Melbourne independent bastion
AuGoGo.
So Spiderbait sure have come a long way since they
started out, and have traversed a variety of styles
and sounds, as this Greatest Hits compile
indicates. There’s everything from three-on-the-floor
rock action to gloriously shiny moments like “Glockenpop”.
Not only have they survived, but they’ve prospered – their
most recent effort Tonight Alright is their
most streamlined and concise recorded moment to date,
neatly coming close to capturing their live prowess
on disc. If “On My Way” is any indication, Spiderbait
are still travelling forward.