Song of the Day: All Fall Down by The Darling Downs

Oh god, how bloody long has it been since my last SOFD post? Please don’t tell me and I’ll try and not look! This isn’t a tourist ad for Queensland where the Darling Downs are but here’s it’s Wikipedia page linked, if you have no idea what I’m talking about? It’s also a suburb of Perth, W.A. that’s got a Wikipedia page too, linked here. Most likely could be more places called Darling Downs too? I don’t know if the band itself was named after one of those places or they just really like the words “Darling Downs” which does seem to match the music very well, you know? It’s yet another kind-of obscure Aussie band, have you heard them before now or not? It’s pretty great Sunday morning music, if you don’t mind me saying myself? Here’s the band’s facebook page link, if you like that kind-of thing?

I’ve embedded their Bandcamp album player thingo of the whole album at the very top of the post with today’s one song is from, it’s track number four because I can’t find them on YouTube. All Fall Down is on their debut album called How Can I Forget This Heart of Mine? of 2005 which did get released oversea at the time on Carrot Top Records, so you might possibly have heard it before? It’s a duo of a couple of indie rock Aussie legends who both have most likely pop-up on my blog before but forget where right now typing this? Both had bands in the Aussie punk subculture back in the late 70’s! Singer and lyricist for The Darling Downs is none other than Ron Peno of Died Pretty! Who’s early punk band was the Hellcats, then moving on to in early 80’s the Screaming Tribesmen before forming the great indie rock band Died Pretty in 1983. His origin is Sydney, New South Wales and his bio can be found on Wikipedia, linked here. Playing acoustic guitar and writing the music for The Darling Downs is Kim Salmon, he’s been an insane number of bands but known for some of the earliest punk bands in Perth, Western Australia but he was born in Bunbury which back then was then a coastal town a few hours south of the state’s capital. KS most well-known for punk rockers The Scientists of late 70’s/early 80’s but was in bands before and after them, in 1976 he formed Perth’s first punk band The Cheap Nasties etc. His full bio on Wikipedia linked here too, if wanna look/read more about him?

Anyway cutting to mid-2000’s after both Ron and Kim knowing each other for years and joked about being in some kind-of band together for years, they finally got together when Ron moved down to Melbourne which is where Kim been based since sometime in the 80’s. Keeping it simple Kim just played acoustic and Ron sung, they started jamming away on a weird Aussie take on Country & Western or Americana music, unlike anything they have really done in the past in any of their musical projects. Recording songs as they when along, realising they had an album of songs they decided to just keep it as a duo. Second album followed in 2007 entitled From One To Another added some banjo songs because they were really getting into the C&W vides and third and so far, their last album was released in 2013 entitled In The Days When The World Was Wide. So let’s add those couple now that I think, I’ve almost finished typing? Hope you dig them, if you check them out? One song or all three albums!