Celibate Rifles
Ten Thousand Days
Shock


Trust the Celibate Rifles to come up with something like this. After almost 28 years together - hence the title - the time had come for a retrospective. In fact, the idea had been thrown around and rejected several times previously. Problem was no-one could agree on what should be included. The closest they got without resorting to fisticuffs was 23 songs... which, frankly, seems perfectly appropriate in commercial terms - though when you consider the band's long and varied career, clearly insufficient. In typical Cellies fashion, the solution, proposed by Damien Lovelock, went from the sublime to the absurd: why not put out five albums, one for each band member?

Absurd, yes, because probably only committed fans are going to shell out for it, and they've likely got all the songs anyway - but also beautiful, because it stays true to the band's prevailing knockabout, uncompromising, and non-commercial stance (and sense of humour, for that matter). Tellingly, few of the band's songs that made it into the mainstream are here (well, for mainstream, read 'Triple J'). Rather, these really are each band member's favourite songs (surely the best sort of retrospective), and the breadth of choice was necessary to avoid the inevitable compromising that would have occurred with any shorter set. Indeed, it provides for fans wonderful insight into the different band member's tastes - who prefers the earlier stuff? Who favours the punkier songs? Who leans towards the more esoteric tracks?

Oh, and there's another twist, one that'll make fans smile and nod knowingly. Each band member had to nominate a track from the back catalogue that most annoyed or pissed them off. The resulting five songs were subsequently re-recorded to constitute the requisite bonus tracks that come with this sort of thing.

Few Australian bands would have the luxury of a venture like this. That in itself speaks volumes about the Celibate Rifles' longevity and attitude, and therefore why you should feel tempted to check it out.

Peter Strelan