Bigger Than Gallipoli War, History And Memory In Australia Book

During the 90's, I got pretty heavily into goth and industrial music; the darker and stranger, the better. In the course of my explorations, I discovered a label in the UK, World Serpent Distribution, that handled a number of artists who scratched that itch for me. The band names almost didn't matter since everyone seemed to play on everyone else's albums anyway.

Fast forward to the present day, and I'm reading an interview with a band in a music magazine, and they mentioned being influenced by Coil, one of my favorites among the WSD crowd, and they also mentioned a book about Coil and other bands: England's Hidden Reverse. Needless to say, getting my hands on a copy of this book quickly became a priority.

And so here we are.

The book exceeded my expectations. It's something of a history of a particular era and mindset in Great Britain, focusing on three bands in particular: Coil, Current 93, and Nurse With Wound. Other familiar names pop up as well: Death In June, Sol Invictus, Fire and Ice, Nature and Organisation, Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV … The book was quite a trip down memory lane for me, and I expect I’ll be re-listening to a number of CDs in the near future.

Back when I was first getting into this music, interviews with its creators were hard to come by. When I was still in the middle of reading this book, I enthused to a friend, “It's like I’ve finally been given a context for all this stuff!” Obscure lyrics are explained. Sources of peculiar sounds are identified. Influences are cited. Learning more about the folks who made some of my favorite music helps me appreciate it all the more.

As should be apparent, I'm a huge fan of many of the subjects of this book, and my objectivity is nonexistent. How interesting it would be to someone with no prior knowledge of its subject matter is an open question. However, if you’ve heard of any of the bands mentioned above, it is definitely recommended!