"Keep It Real, Pyke!"

A fair few Saturdays ago (Feb 20th), Rhones and I went to see Josh Pyke play at the Astor Theatre. We worked out that it was the tenth time we'd seen him live, including two Basement Birds gigs and The White Album Concert he did with Tim Rogers, Phil Jamieson and Chris Cheney. We're both big fans of his music and we know that we're always going to get a good show when we see him.

I forget exactly when I started getting into Josh Pyke, but I think it was after hearing Middle Of The Hill on the JJJ Hottest 100 Volume 13 compilation and seeing the film clip for Lines On Palms. I thought they were both great tracks, and I was particularly taken by the LRB-esque harmonies on the latter. I was unable to hold on to any lyrics of the clip, but I was taken by the vibe and the harmony sound. It had such a melodic hook too.

I was unable to catch the name of the song though, and when Volume 14 of JJJ's Hottest 100 came out I hoped that the Pyke track on the album would be the one of the video I saw. It wasn't. It was Memories & Dust, which is another excellent song, and includes some of my favourite lyrics of his:

"Comfort comes to those with faith in mysterious ways/

But for me faith don't make up for what we lost"

Armed with the knowledge that I would like at least three tracks, I took the plunge and bought the Memories & Dust album. Mercifully, the opening song was Lines On Palms and the mystery was solved. It didn't take long before I fell in love with the whole record and absolutely thrashed it. I shared a few choice cuts with Rhones, most notably Sew My Name, and she became a Pyke devotee as well. 

I became pretty obsessed with Memories & Dust, and saw the album as one I would have liked to have made myself. Wonderful lyrics, predominately acoustic production, lush harmonies, catchy melodies; all choices that I would have made. I started to seriously analyse it, and when I joined AllMusic as a freelance album reviewer, I wrote up a critique. 

For some reason it took us a while to step into his second album. We even got a free .mp3 download of The Lighthouse Song, thanks to a promotion by The Sunday Times, but it lay on our PC dormant for some time. We did buy Chimney's Afire eventually and begun to dig it (nearly) as much as M&D. The Lighthouse Song has now become one of our big Pyke faves, possibly thanks to the last line of the chorus:

"I'll just hold you tight and we'll not let those fuckers in"

The first time we saw him play was at the old Fly By Night in Fremantle, on the Chimney's Afire tour. We were both hugely impressed by his live performance, and that of his three piece backing band, who all took harmonies and swapped instruments throughout the night. I have a feeling that they were all at the Astor on Feb 20th too.

We won a trip to the Gold Coast in 2009, and while we over there, I found a copy of Pyke's Feeding The Wolves EP. I can still remember that first listen as we put it into the stereo of our rented car, and the opening guitar of Beg Your Pardon filled our ears. The track Goldmines from that EP has now become one of my Top 5 songs of Pyke's.

Anyway, to cut through the story a little, we're big fans of his, and each subsequent release has not diminished our fondness for the man. We've got all his albums, found EPs on iTunes, got our hands on his Lone Wolf box set and have a few cherished items signed by Pyke as well. Yeah, we're big fans, did I say? We even have lyrics from Make You Happy on our bedroom wall:

"And if you keep me on your right/

Could I keep you on my left?"

We were delighted when we saw pillowcases bearing those words for sale at the last Pyke show. Needless to say, they now adorn our bedroom too. 

Going back to that Astor show in February, one of the best moments came from a well-timed heckle. Pyke was explaining that instead of going off stage at the end of the night and waiting for that encore-inducing applause, he was just going to play through. So, he sort of announced that the encore was starting. An audience member yelled out "Keep it real, Pyke!", to which he responded with the exuberant notion of getting a tattoo of that statement, to keep him grounded. If possible, the exchange endeared the audience to Pyke even more. 

Anyway, I'm going to finish off this entry with a list of some of my favourite Josh Pyke tracks. If you're keen to start digging, I suggest these songs to start you off:

RECORDINGS 2003-2005 (2005)
Kids Don't Sell Their Hopes So Fast
Silver

FEEDING THE WOLVES EP (2005)
Goldmines
Private Education
Middle Of The Hill

MEMORIES & DUST (2006)
Fed and Watered
Monkey With a Drum
Forever Song
Sew My Name

LINES ON PALMS EP (2006)
House at Pooh Corner (Kenny Loggins cover)

CHIMNEY'S AFIRE (2008)
The Lighthouse Song
Make You Happy
Our House Breathing

THE BLACK BALLOON (2008) (soundtrack)
When We Get There

BASEMENT BIRDS (2010) (w/Basement Birds)
Not The One
Waiting For You
Cinnamon And Smoke

ONLY SPARROWS (2011)
Clovis' Sons
Coffee Cups
Love Lies
Tapping On A Secret

THE BEGINNING AND THE END OF EVERYTHING (2013)
Warm In Winter
Order Has Abandoned Us

BUT FOR ALL THESE SHRINKING HEARTS (2015)
Be Your Boy
Doing What You're Told
Songlines
Hollering Hearts