Choirboys
Big Bad And Acoustic
Liberation Blue Acoustic Series/Liberation

Mention the legendary pub-rock band Choirboys and most punters will immediately say Run To Paradise. Correct. But their canon of 'known' tracks extends to other almost anthemic songs, with six of the 16 on offer coming from their breakthrough 1988 album 'Big Bad Noise', the one with the wall of Laney amps behind the band.

Although now a three-piece, Choirboys show on 'Big Bad And Acoustic' - one of many releases in the Liberation Blue series successfully chronicling Australian heritage acts performing essentially a 'best of' in a sparse acoustic setting - that a well-written song will still sound great, whether acoustic or fully amped.

Nowhere is this more evident than on the fave of many, yours truly included, Run To Paradise which makes an early appearance at track three and rocks out.

Wisely head Choirboy Mark Gable says in the cover notes "How could we not." What is surprising is the way his voice has held up. Surprising given the number of smoke-filled beer barns and likely late night/early morning combinations he must have seen traversing the country.

The biographical James Dale still resonates with pathos, while beer-loving youths everywhere will no doubt celebrate Boys Will Be Boys, as they will with the denial anthem of Never Gonna Die.

Not sure about a couple of the covers, but I imagine that these could've been live staples, hence their inclusion. These include Hey St. Peter, which sort of works with its brush snare and is presented as homage to Vanda and Young, while there seems to be a lot more behind The Cars' My Best Friend's Girl, an "Inspirational song in an inspirational period." And the Tatt's (Choirboys toured, drank, recorded with them) Bad Boy For Love borders on surreal, the slide part played on acoustic, but still strangely works.

If you were part of the '80s beer-barn music scene, 'Big Bad And Acoustic' will evoke memories of sticky carpet, extreme volume, bouncers, not crowd controllers, and a time when VB really was a beer.

In a much more civilised way of course! Dead set winner.

Mark Liebelt