The Forresters - Skindeep
(Tom Thumb)
Orange Humble Band singer/songwriter Anthony Bautovich assembled The Forresters from the cream of the crop of the Australian indie scene, including drummer Nick Kennedy (Knievel), bassist Steve Balbi (Universe), and guitarists Matt Galvin (Wake Ups) and Charlie Owen (New Christs). The catchy, power-pop opener (and leadoff single) "Are You Ready" is a bit of an anomaly among these predominantly up-tempo country rockers, but it's so damn infectious I'm not about to complain. Galvin's lap steel on "Outtamyhead" lends an alt.country air to the proceedings and, in fact, Bautovich's Orange Humble bandmate Daryl Mather has gone so far as to suggest that Skindeep is "Australia's first alt country classic," and, indeed, the tears-in-your-beer ballad "Tremblin" does find Bautovich coming across like a countrified David Gates of Bread fame.
The emotional "Missing You" sounds like Don Henley fronting The Wallflowers, but the album stumbles a bit in the middle with the relatively flat trio of "Wake Up," the overlong snoozer "Don't Leave Me Down" and the boring ballad "What You Want." I also wonder whether the booklet photos of model Jody Foerster too obviously suggest both the source of the band's name and the object of these impassioned pleas at reconciliation, perhaps rendering the songs a bit too personal for general consumption. Printing the lyrics to the title track alongside a photo of Foerster, bags packed and apparently leaving the relationship adds to the confusion (which, granted, may be just your humble reviewer reading beyond the "skindeep" references. Nevertheless, things are righted quickly with the rockin' Rockpile-ish "Rescue Me," and all things considered, we're ultimately left with a toe-tappin, head-noddin', uplifting experience from Down Under.
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