Cooking for Brides no Spice Girls

April 30, 1997
Issue 

Cooking for Brides
Cooking for Brides
Available from Folkways, Sydney; Impact, Canberra; Basement Discs and Blue Moon Records, Melbourne; The Muses, Adelaide; 78 Records, Perth; or send $25 c/- 60 Ijong St, Braddon ACT 2612. (06) 249 8842 for bookings.

Review by Morgan O'Keefe

What sort of music would a bunch of Canberra young people play if they decided to start a band? Thrashy Pearl Jam covers? Cobainesque youth angst dirges? Heavy metal perhaps? Hip hop?

It may surprise some, but what brought together the six members of Cooking for Brides — all under 21 and two still at school — is a commitment to traditional Irish music and its Australian variations.

The band's debut self-titled CD is a wonderful achievement which succeeds in their stated aim: to make original music that reflects their "respect and acknowledgment of the rich Irish tradition" with an Australian perspective.

It contains traditional Irish jigs, waltzes and polkas, some Australian jigs, and a couple of compositions by band members ("Ijong Street" and "Hammies Jigs"). Kate Burke's vocals are exquisite, while Adrian Barker's fiddle, Ben Stephenson's bodran and Josh Milthorpe's bass drive the jigs. Bree Delian's playing of the button accordion deserves high praise.

One innovation is the use of the cello (played by Martin Barker) as a rhythm instrument. The band is joined by special guests, the Sydney Ceili Dancers, with the aim of getting back to the unity between traditional Irish song, tune and dance, which over the years in Australia have become separated.

The recording was made "live" in the studio to avoid loss of spontaneity and reliance on overdubs and editing. So the rollicking, crisp sound you hear is the real McCoy; Cooking for Brides is not some cross between the Furies and the Spice Girls.

The band travels around the festivals and folk pubs, so keep an eye out for them. Check out their CD.

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