These Immortal Souls
Encyclopedia
These Immortal Souls was an Australia
n post-punk
band based in Europe and active through the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The band consisted of Rowland S. Howard
(guitar and vocals), Genevieve McGuckin
(keyboards), Epic Soundtracks
(drums) and Harry Howard (bass). The band formed in Berlin in 1987 when McGuckin joined the three ex-members of Crime And The City Solution
.
Their first single, "Marry Me (Lie! Lie!)", and debut LP, Get Lost (Don't Lie!), were released the same year on Mute Records
, followed by tours of Europe (Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, France, Scandinavia, UK) and a 35 date tour of America where their album was released by SST Records
. Howard, McGuckin and Lydia Lunch
also collaborated on the album Honeymoon In Red
in 1982. It was released on Lydia Lunch
's Widowspeak label in 1987 and featured ex-Birthday Party
members Tracy Pew
, Mick Harvey
and Nick Cave
and Thurston Moore
from Sonic Youth
.
These Immortal Souls released their first album Get Lost, (Don't Lie!) in 1987 and held successful "gigs" in Europe and America, only returning to Australia for a short tour in 1988. Only two music videos by These Immortal Souls were broadcast on the ABC music video show Rage. The songs were "Marry Me (Lie! Lie!)" from the first album and "King of Kalifornia", from the second album. Get Lost, (Don't Lie!) was at the time of its release said to be a latter-day Birthday Party, although apart from the thumping bass on the song "I Ate The Knife", the album was closer to dream pop with Genevieve McGuckin's swirling organ playing and Epic Soundtracks' and Harry Howard's frolicking rhythms sweetening the effect.
These Immortal Souls used the bare minimum of MTV-style music video to promote their work, preferring to concentrate on the process of their work, and largely relying on word-of-mouth endorsement as marketing.
In 1991 Rowland S. Howard teamed up once again with Lydia Lunch to record the Shotgun Wedding album. They toured with a live band that included Harry Howard and Chris Hughes. The band remained quiet until 1992, when the single "King Of Kalifornia" and album I'm Never Gonna Die Again were released.
Craig Williamson joined in as drummer and Spencer P. Jones
became the second guitarist. With this line-up they recorded "You Can't Unring a Bell" for a Tom Waits
tribute album called Step Right Up in 1994, somewhat incongruously alongside very earnest acts such as Pete Shelley
, Tim Buckley
, Violent Femmes
and 10,000 Maniacs
. Later Jones left the group.
After Rowland, Harry and Genevieve returned to Australia in 1995, where they occasionally performed. The band's final show was at the Greyhound Hotel, St. Kilda, Melbourne on 23 July 1998, with Lydia Lunch as support.
Kevin Godfrey a.k.a. Epic Soundtracks
, the outstanding drummer for These Immortal Souls was found dead in his London apartment on 5 November 1997, shortly after a relationship break-up, a successful tour and the release of the third of his accomplished solo albums. The cause of death was not determined despite an autopsy.
Rowland S. Howard died of liver cancer 30 December 2009.
.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
band based in Europe and active through the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The band consisted of Rowland S. Howard
Rowland S. Howard
Rowland Stuart Howard was an Australian rock musician, guitarist and songwriter, he played electric guitar in the post-punk group The Birthday Party. Howard died of liver cancer in December 2009, aged 50 years....
(guitar and vocals), Genevieve McGuckin
Genevieve McGuckin
Genevieve McGuckin is a musician and song-writer from Melbourne, Australia, she was a founder of These Immortal Souls and has collaborated with fellow founder Rowland S. Howard.-Biography:...
(keyboards), Epic Soundtracks
Epic Soundtracks
Epic Soundtracks was the stage name of the British musician Kevin Paul Godfrey . Born in Croydon, Surrey, he was brought up in Solihull, Midlands with his brother Adrian Nicholas, who was known as Nikki Sudden .In 1972 Kevin and Nicholas formed the nucleus of what was to become the post-punk rock...
(drums) and Harry Howard (bass). The band formed in Berlin in 1987 when McGuckin joined the three ex-members of Crime And The City Solution
Crime and the City Solution
Crime and the City Solution was a rock music band formed by Australian singer and songwriter Simon Bonney.They had four distinct line-ups: Sydney in 1977–78, Melbourne in 1979, and two groupings in Berlin from 1985–1990. The only common member in all four line-ups was Bonney.Other members included:...
.
Their first single, "Marry Me (Lie! Lie!)", and debut LP, Get Lost (Don't Lie!), were released the same year on Mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
, followed by tours of Europe (Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, France, Scandinavia, UK) and a 35 date tour of America where their album was released by SST Records
SST Records
SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was initially called Solid State Transmitters through which Ginn sold electronics equipment...
. Howard, McGuckin and Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene...
also collaborated on the album Honeymoon In Red
Honeymoon In Red
Honeymoon In Red is a concept album released in 1987 as a Lydia Lunch album. Honeymoon In Red is sometimes referred to as a band or alternately as a collaboration between Lydia Lunch and The Birthday Party.-Music:...
in 1982. It was released on Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene...
's Widowspeak label in 1987 and featured ex-Birthday Party
The Birthday Party (band)
The Birthday Party were an Australian rock band, active from 1973 to 1983.Despite being championed by John Peel, The Birthday Party found little commercial success during their career...
members Tracy Pew
Tracy Pew
Tracy Pew was an Australian musician, best known as the bass player for The Birthday Party.Born in Australia, Pew moved with his family to New Zealand in 1959, returning in May 1964...
, Mick Harvey
Mick Harvey
Michael John Harvey , is an Australian rock musician, composer, arranger and record producer. He is best known for his long-time collaboration with the singer and songwriter Nick Cave...
and Nick Cave
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
and Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
from Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
.
These Immortal Souls released their first album Get Lost, (Don't Lie!) in 1987 and held successful "gigs" in Europe and America, only returning to Australia for a short tour in 1988. Only two music videos by These Immortal Souls were broadcast on the ABC music video show Rage. The songs were "Marry Me (Lie! Lie!)" from the first album and "King of Kalifornia", from the second album. Get Lost, (Don't Lie!) was at the time of its release said to be a latter-day Birthday Party, although apart from the thumping bass on the song "I Ate The Knife", the album was closer to dream pop with Genevieve McGuckin's swirling organ playing and Epic Soundtracks' and Harry Howard's frolicking rhythms sweetening the effect.
These Immortal Souls used the bare minimum of MTV-style music video to promote their work, preferring to concentrate on the process of their work, and largely relying on word-of-mouth endorsement as marketing.
In 1991 Rowland S. Howard teamed up once again with Lydia Lunch to record the Shotgun Wedding album. They toured with a live band that included Harry Howard and Chris Hughes. The band remained quiet until 1992, when the single "King Of Kalifornia" and album I'm Never Gonna Die Again were released.
Craig Williamson joined in as drummer and Spencer P. Jones
Spencer P. Jones
Spencer P. Jones is a Melbourne based guitar player from Te Awamutu, New Zealand. He has been a member of The Emotional Retreads, Country Killed the Cow Penalty, Escape Committee, Cuban Heels, Beats Working, North 2 Alaskans, The Johnnys, The Beasts of Bourbon, Olympic Sideburns, Paul Kelly and The...
became the second guitarist. With this line-up they recorded "You Can't Unring a Bell" for a Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
tribute album called Step Right Up in 1994, somewhat incongruously alongside very earnest acts such as Pete Shelley
Pete Shelley
Pete Shelley is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the leader of Buzzcocks.-Biography:...
, Tim Buckley
Tim Buckley
Timothy Charles Buckley III was an American vocalist, and musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years; his first album was mostly folk oriented, but over time his music incorporated jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, avant-garde and an evolving "voice as instrument," sound...
, Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes were an American alternative rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, initially active between 1980 and 1987 and again from 1988 to 2009...
and 10,000 Maniacs
10,000 Maniacs
10,000 Maniacs is a United States-based alternative rock band, which formed in 1981 and continues to be active with various line-ups.-1981–1993:...
. Later Jones left the group.
After Rowland, Harry and Genevieve returned to Australia in 1995, where they occasionally performed. The band's final show was at the Greyhound Hotel, St. Kilda, Melbourne on 23 July 1998, with Lydia Lunch as support.
Kevin Godfrey a.k.a. Epic Soundtracks
Epic Soundtracks
Epic Soundtracks was the stage name of the British musician Kevin Paul Godfrey . Born in Croydon, Surrey, he was brought up in Solihull, Midlands with his brother Adrian Nicholas, who was known as Nikki Sudden .In 1972 Kevin and Nicholas formed the nucleus of what was to become the post-punk rock...
, the outstanding drummer for These Immortal Souls was found dead in his London apartment on 5 November 1997, shortly after a relationship break-up, a successful tour and the release of the third of his accomplished solo albums. The cause of death was not determined despite an autopsy.
Rowland S. Howard died of liver cancer 30 December 2009.
External links
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