SHINDIGGERS

Growing out of the Melbourne retro scene, the Shindiggers popped up in 1983 and stood in stark contrast to the angst of bands in the Birthday Party school or the Gun Club-soaked blues rock of the Smackery, er Wreckery et al. This was music more at home with a slab than a fit with more in common with The Milkshakes than the MC5. Shindiggers churned out a couple of furiously up-beat EPs: 'Baby Let Go' (1984) and 'Go Wild' (1985) and two albums 'Beat Is Back' and 'Crash Your Party' before calling it a day. They re-surfaced in slightly reconfigured form in 1996 (Rod McMurrich replaced Spud Wilman on drums), bonding with a modestly sized but enthusiastic wave of frat rock/beat/surf outfits in Melbourne and Sydney ridden by bands like The Exotics and the Thurston Howlers. They released the album 'Surf, Sex, Shindiggers! in 1996 on the Corduroy label.

 
All the Shindiggers' recorded output is as tight as a fish's arsehole..... beat pop and unpretentious garage rock liberally sprinkled with choice covers (the Pretty Things' "Don't Bring Me Down", Roy Head's "Treat Her Right", Lord Screaming Sutch's "Black And Hairy") in mostly studio but occasionally live form. The latter-day live tracks show what a tight combo they were. Shindiggers played it straight and energetic but never set out to push any boundaries other than those set up by The Fun Police.Timing's everything and if they had they been a touch luckier, Shindiggers might have carved out the sort of audience enjoyed by The Living End.

Members

Pete Andrews (guitar), Steve Agar (bass), Spud Wildman (drums), Bill Leggett (vocals),
Rod McMurrich (drums)

References

http://i94bar-dev.info/reviews/shindiggers.html