SNOG : three remastered 1990s albums by enigmatic Australian electronic artist reissued by Metropolis Records
17th December 2024
Dear Valued Customer
Co-founded in 1989 by Australian musician David Thrussell and art school friends Tim McGrath and Julia Bourke, Snog has issued twenty albums and countless EPs/singles to date that have fused synth-pop, electro-industrial, techno, ambient,and experimental styles while also nodding to funk, country and other genres.
Three key albums in the group’s early discography have just been remastered and reissued by Metropolis Records, starting with ‘Dear Valued Customer’ [1994], their second full-length record and one that saw Pieter Bourke (later of Dead Can Dance and Lisa Gerrard’s solo group) join the core trio.
By the time of ‘Buy Me… I’ll Change Your Life’ [1997], Snog was primarily a solo vehicle for Thrussell, who collaborated with guest musicians on songs that included country western-style guitar numbers such as ‘Make The Little Flowers Grow’ (a cover of ‘We All Make The Flowers Grow’ by Lee Hazlewood).
Buy Me… I’ll Change Your Life
‘Third Mall From the Sun’ [1999] seamlessly blended the styles of its predecessors while incorporating new influences. It was also the first Snog release to feature cover imagery by Canadian artist Chris Woods, whose paintings lampoon the advertising tactics of major corporations such as McDonald’s, Gap and Nike, matching the strong anti-capitalist/consumerist/Big Brother sentiments in Thrussell’s songs.
Snog has continued to release albums regularly, the most recent being ‘Eight Offerings For The Undead’ [2022] via Metropolis Records.
Thrussell has always cited a number of disparate musical influences on his work, ranging from classic rock to folk and industrial music. Swans, Tom Waits, Cabaret Voltaire, Ennio Morricone, Kraftwerk, Pink Floyd, Leonard Cohen, Hawkwind, and Nick Cave all appear on his list of favorites, while film directors such as Roman Polanski, Stanley Kubrick, Oliver Stone, David Cronenberg, and John Carpenter have helped shape his visual outlook.
Third Mall From The Sun
