Release Date: May 3, 2005
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Record label: Yep Roc
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Though it's been two years since Bright Yellow Bright Orange, Oceans Apart is further proof that the Go-Betweens are still a going concern. It is their third recording since reuniting after a 12-year hiatus. The lineup is the same as the last time out: Songwriters and frontmen Robert Forster and Grant McLennan are joined once more by drummer Glenn Thompson, and bassist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist Adele Pickvance.
For the music fan of a certain age, flicking through gig guides has recently become a source of profound discombobulation. Every page delivers a series of cataclysmic jolts from the past: the House of Love, Pop Will Eat Itself, the Wonderstuff, the Wedding Present, Suede, Pixies, Dinosaur Jr, they're all back. It leaves you wondering which aged John Peel mainstays are next for the comeback trail.
The Go-Betweens’ appeal has always been their ability to fill a niche in the average underground music fan’s record collection. For 20 years now, they have been putting out distinctly underground or cult releases that consistently sound better than anything on commercial radio. There’s always a hearty amount of self-congratulation implied whenever someone talks about them; they’re the band that proves that while there’s more aesthetically satisfying music to be found at the edges of the mainstream, there’s better pop music there, too.