The Philisteins

The Philisteins formed in Hobart in 1985 as a garage punk band with a line-up of Scott Harrison on bass guitar; Aydn Hibberd on guitar, vocals and harmonica; Guy Lucas on guitar, vocals and organ; and Charlie Shackloth on drums.[1] Originally they performed as The Cheesemongers until Shackloth was replaced on drums by Konrad Park in 1986.[1] Their influences were 1960s R&B bands from the United Kingdom and American garage punk groups.[1] The new name was supplied by a friend, Stewart Tabert, who recalled "I was listening to The Damned's The Black Album and [my mother] came in and said 'Will you shut up, you Philistine!' ... and I thought that's not a bad moniker for the band".[2] Late in 1986 the group issued their debut album, Reverberations, as a cassette. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, their "raucous blend of punk/ R&B/psychedelia was soundly despised outside a small cult following".[1] Lucas described Reverberations, "I don't like it at all...it sucks [...] Me and Stewart drank much of the proceeds before we left the state". “ haha , Guy would say that” says Hibberd, “ actually Guy, Scott and I split the bread and it helped us get outta Tassie”.[2]

In February 1987 they relocated to Adelaide and signed with local label, Greasy Pop Records.[1] By that time Mark Coombes had replaced Park on drums.[1] Soon after Harrison was replaced on bass guitar by Ian Wettenhall and Coombes left with Nick Bruer joining on drums.[1] From April to June 1988 they recorded an eight-track extended play, Bloody Convicts, with Doug Thomas producing, which was issued in December.[1][3] The EP provided a cover version of US band The Lollipop Shoppe's "You Must Be a Witch".[4] McFarlane described Bloody Convict's sound as "neatly between 1970s punk and 1960s psychedelia, with plenty of guitar riffs to the fore".[1] By the time of its release Bruer had been replaced by Tabert on drums.[1][3] It appeared in the US market on the Sympathy for the Record Industry label.[2]

In May 1989 they recorded another EP with Thomas producing, Some Kind of Philisteins.[5][6] A month later they returned to Hobart and by November they were based in Sydney.[1] The six-track EP had appeared in that month, which McFarlane found to have a "more punkish edge".[1] A four-track version, Some Kind, was issued by Sympathy for the Record Industry into the US market.[7] Three of its tracks came from the Australian EP and a new track, "Train to Disaster", had been recorded in Melbourne in June.[7] After staying in Sydney for a year, playing more gigs touring outside NSW than in, the group moved to Melbourne where they signed to the local Dog Meat label.[1] In November 1990 they recorded their full-length album, Lifestyles of the Wretched and Forgettable, with Colin Freeman producing.[8] It was released in November of the next year.[1][2][8]

In 1992 The Philisteins played their last gig at The Doghouse hotel in a quickie farewell tour of Hobart, with Lucas, Tabert and Wettenhall joining Sean Greenaway to form a garage rock group, The Freeloaders.[1] That same year Hibberd was a founding member of Powder Monkeys.[9] In March 1998 Guy Adrian Robert Lucas died of a drug overdose.[1][10] In December 2007 Off the Hip label issued a 2× CD compilation album by The Philisteins, A Savage Affection: 1986–1992.[11] The first disc contains all tracks from Bloody Convicts, Some Kind and various cover versions; the second disc contains all tracks from Lifestyles of the Wretched and Forgettable and additional tracks from a 1989 demo/rehearsal tape.[12] I-94 Bar music website's reviewer described their work as "stellar brand of psychedelic garage punk" and felt the first disc to be better with "songs [that] are rock solid and Guy Lucas' talent as a vocalist and distinctive guitar player is well evident".[12]

• Aydn Hibberd – guitar, vocals, harmonica (1985–1992)
• Guy Lucas – guitar, vocals, organ (1985–1992) (died March 1998)
• Charlie Shackloth – drums (1985)
• Konrad Park – drums (1986)
• Mark Coombes – drums (1986)
• Nick Bruer – drums (1986–1987)
• Ian Wettenhall – bass guitar (1987–1992)
• Stewart Tabert – drums (1987–1992)