In March, founding frontman James Reyne and guitarist Simon Binks filed an application to the Australian Federal Court challenging the acquisition of Australian Crawl trademarks by Bill McDonough, the band's drummer from 1978 to 1983.
asserted
Reyne → found → 1983
Three months later, a version of Australian Crawl announced its first Australian tour since splitting in 1986.
asserted
version → announce → 1986
Reyne and Binks would lead the charge, with former drummers David Reyne and John Watson also onboard.
asserted
drummers → lead → charge
In September, the ship took on water: Binks bailed, saying he couldn't fit these gargantuan outdoor shows into his schedule.
"
asserted
he → take → schedule
No hard feelings but life has merely moved on from the early eighties," the guitarist wrote in a statement.
asserted
guitarist → move → statement
None of this surprised anyone who'd followed the band's four decades apart, when frosty relationships, and at times outright animosity, were the norm.
asserted
relationships → surprise → times
A reunion was never going to be simple.
asserted
reunion → go → ?
Oh no, not you again
Reyne has never been his band's biggest champion, and often regards the songs he wrote as a teenager — even classics like Beautiful People and The Boys Light Up — with a kind of personal cultural cringe.
asserted
Boys → regard → cringe
"Even back then I thought some of the songs were pretty clunky," Reyne says.
"
asserted
Reyne → think → songs
I mean, I wrote it when I was 17 or 18 or something.
asserted
I → mean → it
It's a young guy trying to be smart.
asserted
It → try → ?
It's just not smart."
Four decades on, that tension lingers.
asserted
tension → linger → ?
He's grateful fans still cling to these songs; he just doesn't quite get why.
asserted
he → cling → songs
"As I've got older, I find it incredible and quite gratifying to be able to do what I do at my age on the level that I get to do it," he says.
asserted
he → get → it
"We pull big crowds and I go, 'Really?'"
asserted
I → pull → crowds
"There's a song called Reckless that's become quite well known.
asserted
that → be → ?
The crowd will sing every line, and they're louder than the band.
asserted
they → sing → band
"Recently, I've just gone, 'That's beautiful.
asserted
That → go → ?
I really like that'.
asserted
I → like → that
I get these genuine, emotional responses to it.
asserted
I → get → it
Whereas before I used to go, 'Oh, that's some silly old song I wrote when I was a kid'.
asserted
I → use → ?
"
Now 69, Reyne has decades of life and musical experience under his belt and feels more confident for it.
asserted
Reyne → have → it
"I knew nothing then," he says.
asserted
I → know → nothing
"I don't know anything now, but I know a lot more now."
asserted
I → know → lot
The Australian Crawl album James Reyne doesn't hate
It was all happening for Aussie Crawl in 1983.
asserted
It → hate → 1983
Bill McDonough left the band, and Angels drummer Buzz Bidstrup stepped in to ensure the band didn't lose any momentum.
asserted
band → leave → momentum
A new deal with Geffen Records in America dangled the prize that had eluded peers like Cold Chisel and Mental As Anything: genuine American success.
asserted
that → dangle → Anything
It never came.
asserted
It → come → ?
But the pressure forced rare discipline on the band and produced the one record Reyne still rates.
asserted
Reyne → force → record
"We made an EP called Semantics, Reckless being one of the songs on that," he says.
asserted
he → make → that
With The Boys Light Up, Sirocco and Sons of Beaches already hits in Australia, the band cherry-picked their finest moments for American ears.
asserted
band → hit → ears
"We re-recorded six songs that we'd already released in Australia and added the four songs of the EP to that as an album for America," Reyne says.
"We'd been playing so much by then, that was when we were most cohesive musically."
To Reyne, it's the strongest case for Australian Crawl as a world-class rock'n'roll band.
asserted
it → re → band
"That's about the only record of Australian Crawl's I could probably listen to now," he says.
uncertain
he → listen → Crawl
"I just think it's well done.
asserted
it → think → ?
"It's a band that was actually pulling together, because we had this deal and we were smart about it for once.
asserted
we → pull → it
We sat down and thought about it, rather than going, 'let's go and get drunk and do a vocal'.
asserted
's → sit → vocal
We knew a lot more about being in the studio.
asserted
We → know → studio
"This was probably the first time we really pulled together as a band and were quite mature about it."
asserted
we → pull → it
"The first record we ever made…
asserted
we → make → ?
I can't listen to it now, it's awful," Reyne says.
asserted
Reyne → listen → it
…and 24 more, not listed.
The Aporia