The Philisteins

History

The Philisteins formed in Hobart in 1985 as a garage punk band with a line-up of Scott Harrison on bass guitar; Aydn Hibberd on guitar, vocals and harmonica; Guy Lucas on guitar, vocals and organ; and Charlie Shackloth on drums. Originally they performed as The Cheesemongers until Shackloth was replaced on drums by Konrad Park in 1986. Their influences were 1960s R&B bands from the United Kingdom and American garage punk groups. The new name was supplied by a friend, Stewart Tabert, who recalled "I was listening to The Damned's The Black Album and [my mother] came in and said 'Will you shut up, you Philistine!' ... and I thought that's not a bad moniker for the band". Early in 1987 the group issued their debut album, Reverberations, as a cassette. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, their "raucous blend of punk/ R&B/psychedelia was soundly despised outside a small cult following". Lucas described Reverberations, "I don't like it at all...it sucks [...] Me and Stewart drank much of the proceeds before we left the state".

In June 1987 they relocated to Adelaide and signed with local label, Greasy Pop Records. By that time Mark Coombes had replaced Park on drums. Soon after Harrison was replaced on bass guitar by Ian Wettenhall and Coombes left with Nick Bruer joining on drums. From April to June 1988 they recorded an eight-track extended play, Bloody Convicts, with Doug Thomas producing, which was issued in December. The EP provided a cover version of US band The Lollipop Shoppe's "You Must Be a Witch". McFarlane described Bloody Convict's sound as "neatly between 1970s punk and 1960s psychedelia, with plenty of guitar riffs to the fore". By the time of its release Bruer had been replaced by Tabert on drums. It appeared in the US market on the Sympathy for the Record Industry label.

In May 1989 they recorded another EP with Thomas producing, Some Kind of Philisteins. A month later they returned to Hobart and by November they were based in Sydney. The six-track EP had appeared in that month, which McFarlane found to have a "more punkish edge". A four-track version, Some Kind, was issued by Sympathy for the Record Industry into the US market. Three of its tracks came from the Australian EP and a new track, "Trains to Disaster", had been recorded in Melbourne in June. After staying in Sydney for a year the group moved to Melbourne where they signed to the local Dog Meat label. In November 1990 they recorded their full-length album, Lifestyles of the Wretched and Forgettable, with Colin Freeman producing. It was released in November of the next year.

In 1992 The Philisteins disbanded, with Lucas, Tabert and Wettenhall forming a garage rock group, The Freeloaders. That same year Hibberd was a founding member of Powder Monkeys. In March 1998 Guy Adrian Robert Lucas died of a drug overdose. In December 2007 Off the Hip label issued a 2× CD compilation album by The Philisteins, A Savage Affection: 1986–1992. The first disc contains all tracks from Bloody Convicts, Some Kind and various cover versions; the second disc contains all tracks from Lifestyles of the Wretched and Forgettable and additional tracks from a 1989 demo/rehearsal tape. I-94 Bar music website's reviewer described their work as "stellar brand of psychedelic garage punk" and felt the first disc to be better with "songs [that] are rock solid and Guy Lucas' talent as a vocalist and distinctive guitar player is well evident".

Members

Albums

Extended plays