Died Pretty C/D S/D

Search: Pre-Deity (which compiles them,) and Free Dirt, which is less (if still) good. I haven't heard the various cut-out bin staples that followed.

I will say I do like their radio-session version of Prince's "The Cross."

(If it ain't too much trouble, that is.)

i saw them live a heap of times in the 90s and i always remember wondering what his caper was with the wacky dancing, like he was emulating mick jagger or something, i found it quite distracting. wiry little dude. at least he was right into it i guess.

In the late 80s they were one of my favourite local bands, although they were always a very chancy proposition live: brilliant once out of every three gigs. Hardly know any of their post-Ambergris stuff.

One of the most annoying things about that Do The Pop compilation of Australian 70s-80s indie stuff, is that it's only got side 1 of 'Mirror Blues' on it... talk about frustrating.

oh my god what an unwanted mental image. anyway, for those outside australia they reformed and played doughboy hollow last week as part of the australian 'don't look back' series and they were in fine form indeed.

is there a second gig in march haitch? i re-read both beat and inpress and they refer to a march show... (i hope hope hope it's not a misprint!)

been loving some of the early stuff lately

'mirror blues'!

i haven't seen any mention of more gigs, but then i haven't got any street press for the past couple of weeks.

Died Pretty's magnificent 1986 debut LP: Free Dirt is one of the all-time classic Australian albums. It followed 3 excellent singles / EP’s and signalled the arrival of what would become one of our most-loved bands over their celebrated 18 year career.

Collected here, for the first time, are Died Pretty's first five releases: the 'Out Of The Unknown' and 'Mirror Blues' singles, the Next To Nothing EP, the Free Dirt album and the 'Stoneage Cinderella' single. PLUS an additional 10 bonus tracks – including previously unreleased demos, a live-to-air radio performance from 1986 and other live rarities.

This deluxe 2CD version is packaged in an 8 panel digi-pak, with a 28 page booklet containing many previously unpublished photos. It has been digitally remastered from the original master tapes.

Nice. I was a big fan of Free Dirt and the singles, oh, 20-odd years ago.

I saw them once in Atlanta, of all places. I vaguely recall their attempts at rock epic-ness and grandeur being defeated by the weird, kinda banquet-hall venue.

having missed the last revive, i was suprised to find the free dirt re-ish in a shop last night. might go back and acquire, i think. quick scan of the tracklist reveals 'everybody moves' as part of the live stuff, approx 3 years before release. if i'd written a song that good, i'm not sure i would've waited that long to put it out!

nice. i could go some of that

I listened to Free Dirt sooooo much when it came out, but I got it on CD recently and time has been very bad to it, to my ears.

Best thing about the reissue might be that it includes those early EPs. Favorite song on the whole thing is the 10-minute "Mirror Blues"; runners-up: "Next To Nothing" (with its post-Funhouse sax), "Desperate Hours," "Final Solution." I definitely wish they used more sax more often, though. And I wish they would have sped up more.

I listened to Free Dirt sooooo much when it came out, but I got it on CD recently and time has been very bad to it, to my ears.

I did, too, and I suspect that reacquaintanting myself with it would produce similar results.

I still listen to Free Dirt on a regular basis. Nothing wrong with it. I've got it on right now and it sounds like REM covering "I Wish I Was Your Mother" with a howling singer and a drummer.

A friend in college got Pre-Deity based on a Your Flesh review and we were impressed. They were always on my list but the stuff was as hard to find as Feedtime. 20 years later, I finally got the deluxe Free Dirt and I love it! It broods, it swells, it smokes. Some parts remind me of Felt if they had a tougher sound, like Gun Club. Now if I could find an affordable copy of the Doughboy Hollow reissue...

http://www.citadelmailorder.com/mailorder/discs/768/died_pretty_doughboy_hollow_new.html ?

(i really should get that meself)

could anyone please provide a tracklist of the reissue of free dirt?

Disk 1
1. Life To Go (Landsakes)
2. Just Skin
3. The 2000 Year Old Murder
4. Next To Nothing
5. Blue Sky Day
6. Round And Round
7. Wig-out
8. Laughing Boy
9. Through Another Door
10. Stoneage Cinderella (Bonus Track)
11. Yesterday's Letters (Bonus Track)
12. From A Buick 6 (Free Dirt Demo) (Bonus Track)
13. Laughing Boy (Free Dirt Demo) (Bonus Track)
14. Round And Round (Free Dirt Demo) (Bonus Track)
15. Wig-out (Free Dirt Demo) (Bonus Track)
Disk 2
1. Out Of The Unknown
2. World Without
3. Mirror Blues
4. Ambergris
5. Plaining Day
6. Desperate Hours
7. Final Twist
8. Stoneage Cinderella (Wers Boston Radio Live 1986) (Bonus Track)
9. Everybody Moves (Wers Boston Radio Live 1986) (Bonus Track)
10. Towers Of Strength (Wers Boston Radio Live 1986) (Bonus Track)
11. Just Skin (Wers Boston Radio Live 1986) (Bonus Track)
12. Wild Child (Live) (Bonus Track)
13. Final Solution (Live) (Bonus Track)

Thanks Jim!!

'ambergris' is amazing

the live version of 'everybody moves' is pretty shit!

I searched for Died Pretty because I was wondering if Free Dirt had gotten the deluxe reissue it deserves. It seems it has. I'm well pleased. Terrific LP, one of my '80s faves.

I picked up what I think is a compilation of some of the later stuff a few years ago (wait -- maybe it was Free Dirt, come to think of it)

Nope, this was actually Caressing Swine (...And Some History), released on Columbia (U.S. I assume? hard to tell by looking) in 1994; 10 tracks total, taken from Trace, Doughboy Hollow, Lost, Free Dirt, and Pre Diety. Favorites, last time I kept score: "Sweetheart," "From The Dark," "Crawls Away," "Out Of The Unknown."

This is great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQkx0uM_zps

This is not so great.

https://www.i94bar.com/news/appeal-opens-to-help-ron-peno-and-partner-in-their-cancer-fight

and ten days earlier:
https://www.i94bar.com/news/cancer-struggles-force-died-pretty-to-cancel-australian-tour

Shit news. I saw Died Pretty a few years ago with a friend who was undergoing treatment for brain cancer. The show started off pretty shaky but then they played Desperate Hours and it clicked. Ron and Brett played Everybody Moves with just guitar and it was fragile and it was absolutely impossible not to reflect on mortality and how the bands that soundtracked our youth are slowly checking out and so are we. I have been struck a few times recently by this sense of musicians - particularly local musicians - being partners in life’s journey. The guys you check in with every year or every couple of years, and slowly you realise they’re getting a little older and a little greyer, just like you.

My friend died from his illness, and when I found out I put on Everybody Moves and had a bit of a cry driving down Parramatta Road. Listening to Died Pretty is one of the ways I have to remember him. I gave some money to Ron’s campaign, thanks for posting it StanM.

thank you for sharing that, too

RIP Ron

Oh damn. :(

Speaking of "Everybody Moves", along with various Lost-era tracks, it was almost literally my first taste of these guitar-oriented bands that were the exclusive purview of the non-commercial radio stations I'd suddenly found circa 1988. I thought I was seeking (then rare) hip-hop coverage on 3RRR/3PBS, but heck, these moody (and ever so slightly 'ugly' to my juvenile ears) guitar bands were on to something too, it turned out. Very much a gateway type experience.

Oh damn, so sad to hear this.

:(

https://www.i94bar.com/news/vale-ron-peno-frontman-for-died-pretty-the-darling-downs-and-the-superstitions