For all their detractors there’s no taking away the fact that Silverchair made an incredible contribution to the Australian music landscape before their just-announced indefinite hiatus as a band.
As grunge-influenced teenagers living in Newcastle they released their debut album Frogstomp – said to be recorded in nine days – that spurned a number of singles including the track that is probably considered their signature song “Tomorrow”.
Frogstomp also led to the band getting signed to US label Epic Records (who, at that time, had a stable of artists that included Michael Jackson, Faith No More and Pearl Jam), it went to number nine on the Billboard 200 chart – making Silverchair the first Australian band to do it since INXS’s X (1990), and sold millions of copies.
Put it this way: if you were a teenager in 1995 there’s a solid chance you put in some hours thrashing around your bedroom to “Israel’s Son”.
Listening back to “Tomorrow” now, the song has an almost cringey ‘highschool’ vibe and the lyrics are pretty classic (There’s no bathroom and there is no sink / The water out of the tap is very hard to drink), but at the time it really captured something that spoke to the generation of kids who wanted tunes served with a side of authentic suburban angst.
TOMORROW
After the massive success of Frogstomp the trio of Daniel Johns (guitar, vocals), Ben Gillies (drums) and Chris Joannou (bass) were facing great expectations for their follow up release. Freak Show, released in 1997, was a response to the band’s insane experiences traveling around the world – the circus of touring.
The album was a progression from the overtly Nirvana/Alice In Chains-influenced sound of their debut and marked the introduction of Daniel’s beloved string sections. The themes were the same old jazz: the torture of being young, alienation, all-purpose angst. Also includes some of the great rhymes in alt rock:
Need a change
Not to imitate
But to irritate
All the ones who hate
I may be late
Always seem to get the wrong date
Well I guess it’s fate
Again, a shitload of copies were sold, it went to number one on the ARIA charts and 12 in the US. They now had heaps of cash and subsequently could make some cooler videos. Like this one for “Freak” which probably landed somewhere between “Truly Madly Deeply” by Savage Garden and “Mmm Bop” by Hanson on Saturday morning Rage. Remember? What an era!
FREAK
In 2007 Daniel Johns told FasterLouder “To me, I honestly feel like our first record was Neon Ballroom. I’ve never felt any different. I don’t feel like our first two albums were Silverchair: that’s our teenage high school band.”
Third album Neon Ballroom featured more experimental song structures and marked the first time the band introduced electronic elements into their music. There was some examples of the more sensitive songwriting moments Johns was capable of, including a ballad about the emotional isolation of depression (“Miss You Love”) and “Ana’s Song (Open Fire)” which is famously about his experiences with anorexia. There were also the requisite fist-pumping LOLs in dreadful single “Anthem for the Year 2000”.
Neon Ballroom was definitely a more stylish, mature sound compared to their previous records.
MISS YOU LOVE
Whether or not the band’s original fans were stoked by it, Silverchair’s next move Diorama was a grandiose experimental pop record. Sweeping orchestral arrangements, power ballads, lyrics about tinned fish, Natalie Imbruglia vibes… It was an unpredictable and somewhat challenging record.
The grunge-loving contingent of Silverchair’s fans thought it was super lame, but others were impressed with the growth it displayed. There are some beautiful moments in the album including this lovely tune featuring a full orchestra, Daniel Johns’ voice at its best and this weird video with Guy Pearce.
ACROSS THE NIGHT
The fifth and – now we know – final Silverchair album Young Modern was change in direction again. Catchy hooks, soaring melodies, orchestration by freaking Van Dyke Parks (The Beach Boys, Ry Cooder) and guests from Luke Steele, Julian Hamilton and Paul Mac. It went to the top of the ARIA charts – just as every other Silverchair record had before, and went double platinum in less than a month.
While the album had its detractors it was praised by the majority of critics and everyone knows that “Straight Lines” is a totally feelgood jam.
STRAIGHT LINES
The band is bowing out indefinitely now and, love them or hate them, there’s no denying the amazing feats Silverchair accomplished over their 19-year career as a band. It’s kind of sad to think that we may never have another ‘chair record to look forward to and another incarnation of Daniel Johns’ zany persona to mock, but don’t write them off entirely because (you knew this was coming) you never know what ‘tomorrow’ may bring…
