The Great Aussie Scream
Paul Buckberry
Order at <http://www.buckberry.com>
REVIEW BY ALEX BAINBRIDGE
The Great Aussie Scream is like nothing that I have ever heard before and definitely gets full marks for creativity. The music defies categorisation — aggressively so — and confirms the old adage, "You've got to be a pigeon if you want a pigeon hole".
The Great Aussie Scream is a progressive attempt to come to terms with the federal Coalition government and the subsequent evolution of Australian politics. To say that Buckberry is not impressed with the general direction Prime Minister John Howard has taken us would be an understatement.
His songs are about the workers, Aborigines and other ordinary people in contemporary Australia. As well as a progressive critique of the status quo, Buckberry explores a number of deeper themes such as alienation and the meaninglessness of life in the capitalist machine. Typical is "Andy Sang" which includes the refrain that "this ain't how its gotta be".
"A Schizophrenic Waiting for a Bus" is another example. It goes: "I'm waiting for a bus/ a bus that never comes/ which doesn't matter because even if it did/ I'd never get on/ and that's just as well/ because the bus goes nowhere/ anyhow."
I found the music on the album quite jarring and can only assume this is part of Buckberry's comment on the fraught world we live in. Even the lyrics — sometimes bordering on esoteric — more resemble commentary on society rather than a weapon in the fight to change it. It takes a certain mental effort to imagine these songs performed live in a concert, for instance, let alone at a rally.
The CD is also an impressive testament to both the efforts of its creator and the increased opportunities for self-expression that have emerged with the advances in computer technology in recent years.
As the liner notes explain: "This entire CD package was put together by one person, Paul Buckberry, using one iMac computer: 'I wrote the tunes, played the guitars, arranged the samples, recorded, mixed and mastered everything with Cubase, put the booklet together in Photoshop and printed with an Epson Sylus 740 printer'."
Buckberry's web site — <http://www.buckberry.com> — is worth a look. It has quite a bit of information about the CD and other things (as well as music and videos too).
From Green Left Weekly, May 22, 2002.
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