The Blackeyed Susans - Sheets Of Rain (All Souls Alive,1993)

What we have here is one of the best albums of the nineties, by an Australian "super group" featuring ex-members of The Triffids (David McComb & 'Evil' Graham Lee), two thirds of The Dirty Three (Jim White & Warren Ellis) + bassist/main songwriter Phil Kakulas (who also was a member of The Triffids early on in their career) and vocalist Rob Snarski.The Blackeyed Susans lineup has always been a bit shaky, but arguably this is the best one they ever had, mainly due to the amazing atmosphere that Graham Lee & Warren Ellis manage to create here; Lee with his lap and pedal steel guitars and Ellis with his violins, organs and other instruments. The music here could be described as spooky/creepy alt. country rock, not unlike The Triffids or even Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Song highlights include the insanely terrific & terrifying "A Curse on You" that gives me the chills everytime I hear it (again, thanks to Lee & Ellis), "Memories", a cover of the Leonard Cohen classic, where David McComb takes over the vocal duties, and probably the best track "Dirty Water" which again features some mad & excellent fiddling by Warren Ellis. Anyone who has ever heard and liked The Triffids, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Dirty Three etc. really needs to check out this band, and this is probably the best starting point.