No: Once We Were Scum, Now We Are God (1989).

This is the finest album by the great Australian band No, featuring Ollie Olsen when he was still angry, before he discovered MDMA and made Third Eye. It’s a live album. I got the record when it came out in 1989 (a promo from Au Go Go) and played it every day for a few months. Invigorating and cheering music that will brighten your soul. Here’s my favourite track, “Glory.”

The album’s been pretty much unavailable for the last 25 years — I think there was a CD reissue at one point, but all copies I’ve found online are ripped from the LP — so here’s the YouTube playlist and a slightly fiddly download. I can’t find an online method to give Mr Olsen your money, but his current band, the Taipan Tiger Girls, have a Tumblr.

There was a comprehensive full-career Ollie Olsen interview in Forced Exposure #14, which isn’t online and of course my copy is long lost to the four winds. So if anyone has that, they should probably scan it and put it up.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.