Born Again Pagans
Born Again Pagans
Reviewed by Alex Bainbridge
"Things have changed a lot since the first album, Fighting Back" is the undeniably correct proclamation on the sleeve of the latest album from Sydney pub band Born Again Pagans. The Pagans are known for their ability to get across social justice messages through music, but this new album has a much greater range.
Born Again Pagans still has political content, including some (popular) previously unrecorded songs including the "funky rap about Tasmania's anti-sex laws". "Twenty-One Years" is the name of the song, because that's how long you can get locked up for if you engage in lesbian, gay, bi or straight sexual practices in that state.
Many east coast activists, rally or festival-goers are familiar with Pagans singer Peter Hicks. Pagans features original songs by Geoff Francis and Hicks, alongside several John Ross originals.
Francis and Hicks are capable of moving you to tears or tickling your funny bone with their music. I enjoy Francis' lyrics most of all when he strikes a sensitive chord, as is the case with "The Man with the Pink Triangle". This song tells the true story of a Jewish woman who survived her childhood experience of Auschwitz only because of the support of a prisoner with a pink triangle. When, as an adult, she learned that the pink triangle was the Nazis' symbol for gay men, she devoted much of her time to helping people with AIDS.
Some of the Ross songs are also very good. My favourite is "Councillor Chambers" about the corrupt and wealthy councillor caught making money out of a development. As well as exposing corruption, it effectively links the profit motive with destruction of the environment.
The album also includes a new, upbeat version of "One More Day Than Them" — the Francis-Hicks winning entry in the 1991 Labour Day songwriting contest. That song alone makes the album worth purchasing, despite my personal preference for the earlier version.
This album is more diverse than previous Pagans (or Hicks) efforts, including "a bit of blues and traditional folk [and] some rocked-up Irish tunes". There is also a noticeable increase in songs about (what the sleeve describes as) "lurve". These are quite nice for people who like that sort of thing. To my mind, however, they don't say much different from what you get in mainstream music.
Nevertheless, this album has a good sound to it. While the progressive movement needs more political songs of all sorts, there certainly is a space for a greater range of upbeat, pub-band-type songs. The Pagans are continuing to develop this sort of music and are an asset to the progressive movement.