Bluejuice – “Retrospectable”

Following a career spanning three celebrated albums, Sydney’s Bluejuice are signing off with style.

Prior to stirring up dancefloors around Australia one last time, they have delivered a feverish forty five minute party that incorporates many of their signature moments. Featuring fifteen succinct groove laden outbursts, Retrospectable is a veritable torrent of mischievious funk rock, more often than not delivered with tongue glued to cheek.

The ebullient vibrancy of Bluejuice‘s music deceptively masks some darker topic matter. Never before have broken legs (‘Broken Leg‘) and vitriol (‘Vitriol‘) been sung about so emphatically.

The comical ode to the world’s most beloved miser ‘George Constanza‘ is as catchy as it is awkward with a robotic vocal proclaiming “everything in my life has turned to total shit”, a sentiment certaintly at odds with the buoyant nature of the sounds around it.

With tinkling piano introductions, ‘On My Own‘ and moody closer ‘No Time For Tears‘ would both succeed as eighties sitcom themes. Contrastingly, the band hits frenzied peaks with the jarring rhythms of ‘The Reductionist‘ and the full throttle of ‘Cheap Trix‘, the latter featuring an intro suspiciously redolent of TISM‘s Defecate On My Face. With Bluejuice‘s acerbic witticisms being expressed over an accompanying fusion of dance and rock, perhaps a notable influence has been unveiled here.

Retrospectable is a refreshing collection of intelligent party tunes that neatly encapsulates what the band is all about. The album is fun and inciteful and would do more than enough to inspire new fans to explore earlier releases. With the final recording under the belt, its time for the nation’s danceloors to prepare for a beating as Bluejuice throw one last party.

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Gavin Stocker

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Outside of Across The Ocean Gavin Stocker writes, records and performs music under the moniker of P Truck.

He can also be found clinging to his youth on a skateboard or wandering aimlessly through the bush.