Random Crowded House Songs

August 10th, 2007

After the band broke up in the mid-nineties, a handful of Crowded House tracks surfaced on Recurring Dream (a greatest hits compilation) and Afterglow, a mishmash of unreleased recordings.

On Recurring Dream, Crowded House reformed to record three new, rather demo-like songs.

Everything Is Good For You

= 2 stars

The initial guitar lick sounds like Anyone Can Tell. Essentially sounds like a demo, the raw elements of the band, guitar, bass, and drums. The song itself isn’t up to snuff, though.

Instinct

= 3 stars

The chorus reminds me of Aimee Mann - a good thing. Unpolished, but kinda cool. I really notice how Nick Seymour picks unusual notes to highlight with his bass playing. Sounds like a drum loop is keeping time.

This video looks like a home movie.

Not The Girl You Think You Are

= 4 stars

A slow, gorgeous, Beatle-esque waltz track, not unlike a George Harrison / John Lennon demo. The best of these orphaned tracks.

Here’s the track list for the songs on Afterglow with some notes about each:

I Am In Love (seems to be from Temple of Low Men era)
Sacred Cow (Woodface era - my favorite track on this disc [four stars] - could have been on Woodface)
You Can Touch (Meh)
Help Is Coming (Together Alone era - similar to Kare Kare)
I Love You Dawn (Ergh, really cheesy)
Dr. Livingstone (dud)
My Telly’s Gone Bung (Paul Hester = meh)
Private Universe (demo version of a Together Alone tune)
Lester (demo of a really great song about Neil’s dog)
Anyone Can Tell (dates from the first album.)
Recurring Dream (dates from the first album - sounds like Big Country)
Left Hand (decent)
Time Immemorial (Woodface, country song)