The Blackeyed Susans

Overview

The Blackeyed Susans have traveled far across the rocky wilds of Australian independent music since their Perth formation in 1989. Their lineup has shuffled more than a blackjack dealer's favourite deck, and they have often fallen into periods of deep torpor, but the dark romance of their sound has never wavered in its strength.

Listen to the Susans and you're drawn into the land of the blues ballad, the cabaret croon and the cracked chords of dirty country. Originally scattered across a sporadic discography, these tales were gathered together in 2009 as a retrospective collection, Reveal Yourself 1989-2009. Upon the back of this release the reinvigorated Susans toured to Europe with the Triffids in 2010, only returning after their defeat by the erupting Eyjafjallajökull.

Now, in light of their rebirth, the Susans are touring a series of Christmas shows, with two sets to be unwrapped in Newtown's the Vanguard. Those able to grab a ticket are in for a fine treat. A regal whiskey would taste the way this band sounds — twenty years have seen members of the Triffids, Augie March, Dirty Three, Martha's Vineyard, the Cruel Sea and Chad's Tree infuse the Susans' back catalogue.