Issue 442

Amber Calling

"Dude, it's heaps important," singer Mike Porcaro fervently affirms, when asked how crucial it is for his band, local outfit Amber Calling, to get their debut EP 'The Truth About Lies' out into the world.

"Especially because you've got bands like In Fiction and The Getaway Plan, who are doing heaps well here in Adelaide and in Australia, and you've got bands like us - if we get the recordings out there and get them out there nice and early it's always gonna help us, especially at our live show, to back it up with a good CD."

Nice and early, unfortunately, might be wishful thinking. "It's been like two years that we've been waiting to get this thing out," he admits. "I mean, the CD was recorded like a year and a half ago now. We recorded the CD and then I had some throat problems. I was a pretty heavy smoker. I went to the doctor, he told me I had to quit smoking and drinking. I did all that, and then it didn't really help much, so I had no choice but to leave the band. They got a fill-in singer while I was getting my shit together, pretty much, and then about five months later, I went to the doctor, got my check-up, and he said I was all clear.

Scarlett Johansson
Anywhere I Lay My Head
Rhino/ Warner Music



Celebrity albums are a tricky proposition. Often they're done for the wrong reasons, as cynical marketing cash in or as quick dollar maker. When they're done well with an artist who genuinely has
something to say, they can surprise even the most cynical and jaded of us (witness Robert Downey Jr's rather wonderful 'The Futurist' in 2004). Thankfully 'Anywhere I Lay My Head' lies firmly in the latter category.

This album is comprised almost entirely of Tom Waits songs, (there's one original, Song for Jo), a slightly worrying proposition at the outset. Usually Tom Waits covers tend to be jazzed up and with the edge removed, so imagine my surprise and delight when the instrumental opener Fawn kicks in with epic church organs and a massive horn section. Yet this is no exercise in Tom-Waits-by-numbers either - these songs have been given new and unique arrangements by a band full of indie cred, including two members of TV on the Radio and the guitarist of the Yeah, Yeah, Yeah's.

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