If you live outside Australia, there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of this indie band, formed in 1996 in Shepparton, Victoria here in Australia. For those here in Australia, you still may not know them but you might remember their one big hit, “One Crowded Hour”, which was released in 2006 and is notable for being the number one song on the Triple J Hottest 100 list. This is a publicly voted music poll that is done once a year on the nation’s youth radio station.

That song was the first I ever heard of Augie March and it actually was on that radio station, which is kind of interesting since I don’t listen to it all that often. That was a song I really liked and subsequently I bought the album, Moo, You Bloody Cow, which I also liked a lot. But delving into the band a bit more I discovered they had earlier albums that were unfamiliar to me.

Sunset Studies was their debut album and is pretty amazing, but it’s their second album, Strange Bird, that really resonates with me. It’s full of lush, complex music and beautifully dark lyrics which touch on a continuing theme of death. Apparently the keyboardist for the band had died in a car crash at the beginning of work on this album and it seems death was on the mind of songwriter Glenn Richards during the writing of the songs. I would direct anyone interested to https://augiemarch.com/strange-bird-lyrics as it’s some wonderful poetry just on its own.

There are so many beautiful songs on this album but I am going to start with “This Train Will Be Taking No Passengers”, which is the most rocking song in the collection. This is one of the first songs I ever heard the band play live and it filled the gardens where the band were playing with the drawn out “Traiiiiiin! that starts the song. The song calls out the government on its corruption along with a few references to some Australian personalities and events.

” Little Wonder” is a beautiful song but, like many of the songs on this album, the lyrics are not quite so beautiful. It speaks of drunkenness and dark alleys and violence. But it sounds lovely.

“There’s Something at the Bottom of the Black Pool” for me conjures the feeling of a bubbling, dark pool where all the ugliness is hidden. The music, is again lush and beautiful but at times there are a few unpleasant sounds that remind us it’s not all so beautiful.

In “Addle Brains” Glenn Richards waxes lyrical about the homeless and the inaction of government to help these people, one of many themes still relevant today.

“The Drowning Dream” is my favorite on this album. Musically it’s so very soothing and does make me feel like I’m in a dream. And I’m a bit of a sucker for dreamy songs so I really, really like it. Of course, there’s the juxtaposition of those dark lyrics.

“Sunstroke House” is the minimalist song on the album, musically speaking. The mixture of the simple strumming and the vocals is a perfect match.

Along with the theme of death, we see birds appear frequently on this album. Two songs include the titled strange bird and there is mention of ravens, crows and even chickens.

It’s a pretty amazing album and it’s one I listen to often. Strangely in times when I feel despair, it gives me comfort. Maybe it’s the beautiful music and maybe it’s more than that. But it has been one of those pieces of work to keep moving me along when it feels hard to do more than stand still.

I’ve had the pleasure of seeing this band three times. The first time they were the second support act for Crowded House and there were about half a dozen songs played. The second time was a few years later in a theater as the headliner and that was a strange experience because the crowd seemed a bit dead even though they were putting on a good show. The best was last December when we saw them in a club in Fremantle. It was a nice and relaxed show and we could sit back and let the music wash over us. There was a good vibe between the band and crowd and to top it off they did an amazing version of “One Crowded Hour”.

Anyway, I really love this album in case it’s not obvious. I highly recommend it since it’s unlikely that many reading this will be aware of its existence.