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The Cure For The Cure
Released 2007
The Cure For The Cure
What they are saying... about The Cure For The Cure
Extremely polished pop... exquisite, radio-friendly...
Jason MacNeil, All Music (USA), January 2008
“Australian band Splurge often have a lot in common with British band Pulp, especially with the highbrow, textured,and terribly pretty opener “When I Go to Sleep”. Here singer Greg Williams sounds more like Neil Finn then Jarvis Cocker... it's an extremely polished piece of pop. From there, Splurge opts for a meaty, thicker rock sound à la Travis or the Charlatans during “Crystalline”. When the singer slows things down with the exquisite, radio-friendly “She's Not the One’, artists like Richard Ashcroft and Echo & the Bunnymen instantly come to the fore.”
Sophisticated pop melody overdose!
PopMatters, 11 October 2007
“Melbourne’s Splurge doesn’t splurge so much on big guitar riffs or over-the-top vocals. What they do overdose on is sophisticated pop melodies that have the listener’s attention from the onset.
Whether it’s the gorgeous When I Go To Sleep with its Crowded House aura and lovable high harmonies or the moodier Crystalline that has a bit more bark or bite to it, Splurge seem to hit the mark more often than not. Things reach a greater level of quality with She’s Not The One that brings classic Echo & The Bunnymen to mind.
Lead singer Greg Williams and guitarist Neville Hill weave some magic again during the slow-building gem Beautiful which lives up to its title over the course of nearly five minutes. Mixing a cross between the best of ‘90s Brit-pop with a decent batch of ‘80s stalwarts, Splurge once again shine on Hey Children and the equally pretty Is That You with its meandering, trippy, retro segments.
There’s also a certain Lennon-feel on the closing title track which makes this album a winner.”
Out-radiates Radiohead!
Popism, 1 June 2007
“Even though I’ve never had a chance to hear any of their first two albums, I realize that they were described, by no less than MOJO magazine, as a song-packing Melbourne four-piece that rocks, plays it gentle and delivers the hooks, with the ghost of Lennon pervading some of the tracks. With their third outing, they sure do all of the above mentioned, and with an obvious commercial touch to it as well, which might gain them an even bigger international exposure.
The things is, that whoever comes to mind as an audiable reference point, Splurge seems to be doing it in kind of a more sophisticated-or-eclectic-or-brainy way, as heard from the opening When I Go To Sleep or Beautiful, which both out-radiate Radiohead's greatest Bends/Computer era ballads, or Crystalline which isn’t too unlike The Beatles-through-Verve, or as someone has already said, “Liam with a brain”.
My own favourites are the ones that make another pair of obvious Beatlisms, with Numb being put through an even more FABulous sound of their Scottish soulmates The Diggers, and the second one is the slightlydelic, almost hip-hop-by-way-of-Beck sounding Get Up And Watch TV. I’m not sure about the cure itself, but this might as well serve as a cure as good as any, for the upcoming long sunny afternoons.”
What a release! A Major Keeper!
Not Lame, 2 April 2007
“An immensely mature outing that is filled with 11 perfect songs, all extremely well written with a careful eye to not only detail, but the emotional current running underneath every note and lyric.
Much of this album reminds me of Radiohead “The Bends”, classic early Oasis and the rock side of the Brit-pop sound from the mid 90s and even some Tears For Fears.
This is an album from ‘note #1’ that impressed here at Not Lame and in the span of one solid day has received three complete play-through listens already. A Major Keeper!”
Melodies are excellent, highly recommended...
Powerpopaholic, Tuesday, May 29, 2007
“Splurge are a pop-folk-rock group from Australia with a laid back approach. They are a little hard to pin down as far as category actually. They have mid-tempo beats and steady rhythm guitars with melodic wailing vocals.
The opener When I Go To Sleep is a bit like Coldplay meets Aztec Camera. "She's Not The One" is another good song doing an Echo & The Bunnymen vibe with some synth and guitar. Sometimes the laid back guitar works well - the song Beautiful is better than any James Blunt trash. Greg Williams vocals do a serviceable job, but sometimes a bit too breathy for me.
Too Much Is Not Enough is one of the few great rockers here, and the entire album could have used more of this. Several songs toward the end of the album, drift along on a lazy psychedelic vibe and at over four minutes for each track, could put you to sleep.
The exception is Numb a nice Pulp-styled ballad with dramatic flair. Also the title track The Cure For The Cure is a good track too, if a bit overindulgent. Overall the melodies are excellent, and this is a highly recommended CD. Listen for yourself.”
A great sound, great band
Jam Recordings
“New band from AUSTRALIA on the ever reliable Popboomerang label! The band has a great sound in cahoots with Dodgy, Oasis, Travis, Radiohead, in short... they sound like the post wave 2nd British invasion which peaked during the mid 90s. A great sound, great band, and highly recommended to all British power pop fans!”
The Cabin and The Cure
Inside a log cabin and just outside Hall’s Gap, Splurge got stuck into the songs that make up The Cure For The Cure, the band’s third album which will be released in 2007 by PopBoomerang.
It wasn’t the first time the band had taken up residence there—two tracks from their debut were recorded live in the big wooden room and the open fire crackles behind the vocals their second release Heavy Weather.
But this time a makeshift studio was cobbled together and this band headed for the hills of The Grampians with a station wagon full of their recording gear, vintage amps, guitars and effects.
“We wanted to make a record that came from some other place,” says songwriter Greg Williams. “More than that—not just to sound to like it, but to be in it. You get up there, you get your bunk, you get your spot in the room, you get up every day and make music. You get dug in.”
Splurge don’t exactly come from nowhere—MOJO magazine heard the ghost of Lennon in the way “they rock, they play it gentle, they deliver the hooks” and in Greg’s “expressive and emotionally direct” voice, Jeff Jenkins of Inpress found echoes of Grant McLennon.
While “the tunes come thick and fast”, others noticed “a keen eye for delicious pop treats, but also an emotive honesty” , an “innate ability to meld melody and mood” and an “eclectic mix of styles that displays confidence and ability”—while referencing Dylan, The Church, Oasis (“Liam with a brain”) and Teenage Fanclub.
But for the band, it’s just not what it sounds like that matters. “All the songs pick up on the idea that nothing is ever finished—by the time you find the cure, you’ll need a cure for that too. One thing you can do is be in the moment... what it is to be in this place at this time... and that’s what we tried to catch up in The Cabin.”
Greg Williams: vocals, rhythm guitar, tambourine, laptop, harmonica
Neville Hill: guitar, analog effects
Owen Smythe: drums
James Black: piano, synthesisers, laptop, whistling, sitar
Backing vocals by James Macdonald 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 11
and Greg Arnold 10, 11.
Bass by Dallas Rayner 8, 10, 11; Greg Arnold 4, 5, 9;
James Black 1, 2, 3 and Neville Hill 2, 6.
Songs by Greg Williams, Control.
Produced by James Black. Mixed by Michael Letho.
Drums engineered by Richard Stolz at Sing Sing South. Edited by Adam Rhodes.
Instruments and vocals at The Cabin in Hall’s Gap.
Mastered by Martin Pullan at Edensound.
Artwork by Chris Bowden and Buck Naked Graphic Design.
Unauthorised public performance, broadcasting and copying of these recordings is prohibited.
All rights of the record producer and owner of the work reserved © ℗ Greg Williams 2007.
