ROOT! (album launch)

“A young man ain’t got nothin’ in the world these days.

Well… except for:

Being part of the cool demographic;
Getting up too late for peak hour traffic;
Joints for taking (not aching);
Memory not disintegrating;
Spell check if you’re illiterate;
You get to take up (not give up) the cigarettes;
You’re not REALLY a Prisoner Of Society;
You’ve got enough hair to style it stupidly;
You don’t know how much you don’t know;
You get more erections than Bruno Grollo;
The perfect excuse for being bad;
And you still haven’t turned into your Dad;

But apart from that:
A young man ain’t got nothin’ in the world these days.”

So go the views of Melbourne’s own middle-aged Angry Young Man – DC Root – singer/poet/songwriter/frontman of ROOT! – the band that has been Melbourne’s worst kept secret since they burst on the local rock scene 6 months ago.

First there were the rumours that this was the new project from TISM…

Next came ROOT!s adoption as cause celebre by Tony Martin on his brilliant (ill-fated) national radio show “Get This”…

And then the scattered appearances - each time to a full house - from this band who look and sound like a country band, but veer off into strange territory – psych rock, hip hop, spoken word – all with an unpredictable sense of theatre.

Now comes the album – “Root Supposed He Was Out Of The Question” – 10 tracks showcasing their live set and some of their unclassifiable spoken word excursions like the aforementioned “Young Man’s Blues Blues” and the darkly satirical “Ballad Of The Poowong Magpies”.

Already ROOT!s envious ode to a local rock legend – “I Wish I Was Tex Perkins” has been gaining notoriety. For fans curious to explore the rumours connecting this band with TISM, there are certainly similarities in the sacred-cow-baiting of “I Still Call Australia ‘Ho!’” and “Pauline Hansen Says There’s Christian Muslims Too” – but there is much more besides: For instance, the affectionate tale of “Shazza And Michelle” the strange combination of satire and poignancy in “Spring Me Out Of Caroline Springs, Caroline” and the completely earnest love song to “older” women in “School Mum”

And the band, featuring classically trained pianist Steve “Root”, jazz drummer Barnaby “Root” and the careening country-punk guitar of Henri “Root” – plus guest contributions from Ice Cream Hands’ Douglas Lee Robertson and Gerard Rowan of the Moonee Valley Drifters - sound much more loose, intimate and swinging than anything DC Root may (or may not have!) been involved with in his past.

ROOT! - plus “onstage guests” - will be launching “Root Supposed He Was Out Of The Question” live at the Esplanade Hotel Front Bar, free, 10.30pm Friday December 7th.

The album will be available for sale for the first time on the night, and afterwards from www.myspace.com/rootthemusic

Entry is free!

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