CD Review: The Go-Betweens “Oceans Apart” (Yep Roc Records)

In the 80’s, when alternative rock was dominating mostly college radio and the occasional breakthrough station, Australia dominated the scene thanks to the singer/songwriter duo of Grant McLennan and Robert Forster with ther band The Go-Betweens and their jangly, rootsy guitar pop. Though the band split up at the end of the 80’s, they reformed in 2000 and have been re-making the music again with their third “reunion” album, “Oceans Apart.”

McLennan and Forster are a blueprint in terms of writing romantically ironic pop songs that contain many musical dimensions. The use of acoustic guitars, brass, keyboards and electric guitars combined with Forster’s dreamy vocals make mellow songs like “Finding You” and “Lavender” sit well alongside more rigid songs like “This Night’s For You” and “Statue” and folk-twinged bits like “Born of a Family.” Like their native (and slightly more popular) neighbors, The Church, McLennan and Forster embrace some of the same passionate styles but with a lighter, more wistful tone.

The Go-Betweens are a model of diverse creativity having a welcome rebirth among newer acts like Wilco, Belle and Sebastian and Hefner who embrace the same literate songwriting and classic composition.