Aussie bands have been cranking out hits both at home and abroad almost since the dawn of rock. For every Elvis Presley there was a Johnny O’Keefe. For each Bad Company there was an Angels. For every Wilco there was a Powderfinger. Not every Aussie band that made it big back home managed to replicate their success in the rest of the world (and Aussies don’t drink Foster’s very often either), but here are 10 who did.
10. The Living End
Australia’s answer to The Stray Cats and The Clash all rolled up into one, The Living End make regular trips to the U.S. and Europe, and are one of the few bands who have been able to open up for AC/DC and not be pelted with beer cups by the eager audience. Chris Chaney is a bona-fide guitar hero, combining the power of pub rock with the sophistication and technique of rockabilly. The Living End’s next album, produced by Nick DiDia (Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, Rage Against the Machine) is due out this year.
9. Jet
Jet were partially responsible for the rock revolution of the early noughties. Breaking out of the legendary Espy, the cornerstone of Melbourne’s thriving live rock scene, Jet combined a little of the ’60s and a lot of the ’70s to create their classic rock-influenced sound, and they damn near took over the world in the process. They also packed a collection of fine Gibson and Epiphone instruments, including the Jack Casady Bass.
8. Rose Tattoo
The Tatts – led by Angry Anderson – were a huge influence on some of the biggest hard rock bands of the ’80s. Guns N’ Roses even covered “Nice Boys (Don’t Play Rock and Roll),” and Slash invited Anderson to perform the song with him in Melbourne for the worldwide-broadcast MTV Classic launch in 2010. Late, great Tatts guitarist Pete Wells was one of the finest blues-based slide players Australia ever produced, and the Tatts beat Motley Crue to the combination of punk and metal by a good half-decade (and didn’t need spandex and hairspray to do it).
7. Hoodoo Gurus
Hoodoo Gurus were always kind of like Australia’s version of Cheap Trick: enough brains for the cerebral crowd, enough edge for the rock crowd, enough groove to dance to and enough cool guitar work to riff along with. The band broke up in 1997 but reunited in 2003. In the interim, they renamed themselves The Persian Rugs, took on a new bass player and explored a more psychedelia-driven, London-meets-Detroit sound. Their latest album is 2010’s ripping Purity of Essence.
6. The Church
The Church have always had a melancholy edge to their sound, even in their earlier psychedelic days. Their combination of ’60s-style jangle and ’70s progressive moodiness coalesced in stunning form on “Under the Milky Way” in 1988, breaking the band internationally and scoring them a #2 hit on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart (it only went Top 30 back home).
5. The Easybeats
Led by vocalist Stevie Wright and backed up by the songwriting talents of Harry Vanda and George Young, The Easybeats were Australia’s answer to The Beatles. Like many great Australian bands of the era and reflecting the multiculturalism that occurred after World War II, the band was made entirely of immigrants from Europe, and they were signed to one of Australia’s first independent production companies, Albert Productions. Their biggest hit was “Friday on My Mind,” produced by Shel Talmy (The Who, The Kinks). The track was also notably covered by David Bowie on Pinups and by punk band London.
4. Silverchair
Silverchair seemed to go from fresh-faced grunge-lite youngsters to symphonic-rock iconoclasts so suddenly that nobody saw it happen. The leap from their catchy-but-derivative alterna-anthem “Tomorrow” to tracks like “Emotion Sickness,” “Straight Lines” and “The Greatest View” was drastic and entirely welcome. Somewhere along the line, bandleader Daniel Johns must have visited a crossroads and sold his soul for a cache of unusual new chords and scales and a surprisingly adept falsetto.
3. Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil stood out like a sore thumb in the glitzy world of ’80s rock: their singer was a six-foot-plus, bald dynamo, and their lyrical bent had more in common with the political edge of U2 and Billy Bragg than the party-hardy attitude of much of the music topping the charts at the time. The group disbanded in 2002 but have performed occasional reunion shows since then for charity, although it’s a little hard to block out some time in singer Peter Garrett’s heavy schedule, as he is currently Australia’s Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth.
2. INXS
Although INXS’s only “full-time” guitarist is Tim Farriss, both Andrew Farriss (keys) and Kirk Pengilly (sax) also hoist the six-string from time to time, and the band’s triple-guitar attack set a new benchmark for intricate axework in the ’80s, taking as much inspiration from new wave, ska and pop as from rock. Charismatic frontman Michael Hutchence met his end via misadventure in 1997 but the band continued on, first with singer Jon Stevens of Noiseworks then with Canadian JD Fortune, who they found via the TV show Rock Star: INXS. Fortune still tours with the band, although their latest album Original Sin features a variety of guest singers reinterpreting the band’s hits, including Rob Thomas, Ben Harper, Dan Sultan and Tricky.
1. AC/DC
C’mon, could anyone else have possibly topped this list? Aside from virtually claiming the Gibson SG as his own, Angus Young and Co. perfected the kind of hard-driving blues-rock that would be imitated by literally thousands of bands since. Even the tragic loss of vocalist Bon Scott couldn’t slow Acca Dacca down, and all Australian guitarists are required by law to learn the riff to “Back in Black” and the intro to “Thunderstruck” before they’re allowed to perform in public.
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