Scientists

Sedition
All Tomorrow's Parties, 2006

"Hello, we're the Scientists," says Kim Salmon before his band launch into the set that would be recorded and released as Sedition. His speaking voice sounds kind of funny, far too polite for a rock star and perhaps even a little eccentric. It sounds totally at odds with the band's songs, which are so loud – so gut-wrenching and visceral – that before seeing him I had always imagined Salmon as some monstrous seven foot juggernaut who headbutted people for a living and had a voice like the bottom-end of a truck engine.

The Scientists formed in Perth as a naff pop-punk group in '78 and released one album before breaking up. A few years later, Salmon relocated to Sydney and formed a new version of the band with a much darker sound. The first single recorded by the new line-up was 'Swampland', now regarded as one of their classics, which had a slowed-down rockabilly rhythm and a nightmarish "rural gothic" atmosphere inspired by bands like The Stooges and The Cramps. "Nobody knows so they never think to visit," Salmon wailed. "In my heart, there's a place called Swampland/ Nine parts water, one part sand..." It set the tone for most of the band's songs through the decade – dark, guttural and very loud.

The second version of the Scientists broke up in the late '80s and Salmon went on to form The Surrealists and play in super-group The Beasts Of Bourbon with Tex Perkins. Two years ago they were asked to reform for a show in London by US band Mudhoney and the resulting gig was released as Sedition. The track-list covers the best of the band's later work, including 'We Had Love', 'Swampland' and several tracks from the Blood Red River EP. During the second-last and loudest song of the night, 'Backwards Man', guitarist Tony Thewlis goes to town on his instrument. As the din dies out, Kim's funny little voice pipes up again. "Six strings in one song!" he yells, laughing. He sounds just as impressed as the audience must have been.