Born Sandy Devotional [Deluxe Edition]

• Artist: The Triffids
• Rating:
• Release Date: 1986
• Genre: Rock

Review

With Born Sandy Devotional, the Triffids fully realized the potential shown on their earlier releases, Treeless Plain and Raining Pleasure. By 1985 the band was based in London, but despite the fact that this album was recorded 9,000 miles from home, its roots lie deep in the Triffids' native western Australia. While the spectacular cover photograph featuring the township of Mandurah provides a sense of place, David McComb's songwriting evokes his home environment all the more vividly. Indeed, this is the most accomplished work from McComb's tragically short career, encapsulating his talent for creating a lyrical and musical resonance between the stark, isolated geography of western Australia and universally recognizable, desolate interior landscapes. Born Sandy Devotional certainly is dark, its lyrics replete with death, psychological turmoil, and despair, but it's never maudlin or banal. McComb's commanding delivery combines with expansive, string-adorned arrangements to elevate many of these songs to the level of high emotional drama; haunting keyboards, vibes, and "Evil" Graham Lee's pedal steel add atmospheric detail. The elusive quality of McComb's writing makes his stories all the more compelling and memorable as he offers listeners fragmented, unresolved scenes instead of comfortable, complete narratives. Such elements coalesce sublimely on "Stolen Property" and "The Seabirds," songs of loss and suicide, respectively, but the anthemic "Wide Open Road" and the intense, claustrophobic "Lonely Stretch" are the standouts. Another tale of life gone wrong, "Tarrilup Bridge" sets organist Jill Birt's childlike vocals amid an eerie ambience of vibes and strings. Nevertheless, the album closes on a cautiously optimistic note with Birt's duet with McComb, "Tender Is the Night." Born Sandy Devotional was a landmark release for the Triffids. More than that, it stands as a testament to McComb's status as one of Australia's most gifted (and overlooked) rock songwriters. [In 2006 the record was released in a package that justifies the title Born Sandy Devotional. Combining a beautiful booklet filled with McComb's handwritten lyrics and pages from his notebooks, insightful liner notes by Graham Lee and a batch of vital bonus tracks that include demos, live tracks and lost songs, the set is long overdue and near-perfect. A fitting tribute to an amazing band and album.] ~ Wilson Neate, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
The Seabirds	Dave McComb	The Triffids	(3:20)
Estuary Bed	Dave McComb	The Triffids	(4:49)
Chicken Killer	Dave McComb	The Triffids	(3:51)
Tarrilup Bridge	Dave McComb	The Triffids	(3:21)
Lonely Stretch	Dave McComb	The Triffids	(5:02)
Wide Open Road	Dave McComb	The Triffids	(4:08)
Life of Crime	Dave McComb	The Triffids	(4:24)
Personal Things	Dave McComb	The Triffids	(2:57)
Stolen Property	Dave McComb	The Triffids	(6:47)
Tender Is the Night (The Long Fidelity)	Dave McComb	The Triffids	(3:53)
The 107 [*]	David McComb	The Triffids	(3:28)
When a Man Turns Bad [*]	Dave McComb	The Triffids	(4:35)
Of the Plaza [*]	Dave McComb	The Triffids	(2:40)
White Shawl [*]	Dave McComb	The Triffids	(1:08)
Convent Walls [*]	Dave McComb	The Triffids	(4:04)
Time of Weakness [*]	Dave McComb	The Triffids	(3:12)
Born Sandy Devotional [*]	Dave McComb	The Triffids	(5:07)
Wish to See No More [*]	Dave McComb	The Triffids	(1:59)
Tender Is the Night (The Long Fidelity) [Alternate Version][*]	Dave McComb	The Triffids	(6:12)
Wide Open Road [Live][Multimedia Track]		The Triffids

Credits

Martyn Lambert (Layout Design), Francois Tetaz (Remastering), Gil Norton (Producer), David McComb (String Arrangements), Faye Brown (Vocals (Background)), Nick Mainsbridge (Engineer), Robert McComb (Vocals (Background)), Adam Peters (Cello), Lesley Wynne (Viola), Jill Birt (Keyboards), Evil Graham Lee (Lap Steel Guitar), Chris Abrahams (Vibraphone), Robert McComb (Guitar), Jill Birt (Vocals), Adam Peters (String Arrangements), Martyn Casey (Layout Design), Alsy MacDonald (Drums), Robert McComb (Violin), Chris Abrahams (Piano), Robert McComb (String Arrangements), David McComb (Guitar), David McComb (Keyboards), Alsy MacDonald (Vocals (Background)), Evil Graham Lee (Pedal Steel), Martyn Casey (Guitar (Bass)), Adam Peters (Keyboards), David McComb (Vocals)