Died Pretty: Part I

Died Pretty “Out Of The Unknown” (mp3)

Died Pretty “Ambergris” (mp3)

Along with being regarded as one of “the” great Australian acts of the late 80s and early 90s, Died Pretty have also, upon first hearing the “Caressing Swine” single in the wake of the band’s fifth full-length album Trace, remained one of my favorite bands for the past thirteen or so years. The thing I love about them is that they were one of those rare groups who were never afraid of trying out and embracing all kinds of different musical styles while simultaneously keeping their own individual identity, a trait that always made them a force to be reckoned with. But let’s back track a bit, shall we?

Formed sometime in mid-to-late ’83 and revolving around vocalist Ron Peno and guitarist Brett Myers, Died Pretty jumped straight out of the starting block at a full-fledged sprint, releasing the wonderful "Out Of The Unknown" single followed by the impossibly cool "Mirror Blues", a psychedelic 12-minute epic spread out over both sides of a 7-inch release and a future Ditching Boy feature…one day…

However, the real critical acclaim arrived in the form of the Next To Nothing EP that, in light of the previous two singles, revealed the band as a sort of modern day Velvet Underground. This was a fact that was only reinforced with the subsequent release of the band’s outstanding first full-length album, Free Dirt, a collection of punk slash Rolling Stone inspired up-tempo tracks to more swagger styled ballads reminiscent of the Doors. It’s a wonderful debut album, born from both careful consideration and practice, which should be in anyone’s collection.

At this point, Died Pretty were receiving nothing but positive write-ups for their recorded efforts in all the fanzines and music publications and seemed poised for a big career. More to follow.