Smudge - Tea, Toast and Turmoil (1993) REVIEW

The bassist, Paul 'Duncs' Duncan, is in fact my uncle (My mums brother).

 He played bass for Smudge from 1991 - 1993

He was also nice enough to give me a great yellow, marbled vinyl of this compilation, which I will attach images of below

The bass playing is great Paul ;)

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By Patrick Baker

Genre/s - Rock, Indie Guitar Pop

Other Albums/Compilations:

• Manilow (1994)
• You, Me, Carpark...Now! (1996)
• Mo' Poontang (1997)
• Real McCoy, Wrong Sinatra (1998)
• This Smudge is True (2010)

Similar Artist/s- Nic Dalton, Godstar, The Plunderers, The Lemonheads

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OVERALL RATING

8/10

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Sydney-based band, Smudge (original members Tom Morgan, Alison Galloway and Paul 'Duncs" Duncan) was started in 1991, only to produce the track 'Tea, Toast and Turmoil' for the Half A Cow 7" compilation. They would go on to record the 7" single, 'Don't Wanna Be Grant McLennan', which made John Peel's (English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist) record of the week on his BBC Radio 1 show. Smudge gained national recognition after their series of small releases would circulate around the underground scene, and their performance at the first ever 'Big Day Out' festival in 1992. They had a strong cult following at the time of their release of the compilation album, Tea, Toast and Turmoil in September, 1993, which was a quirky and easy-going listening experience. It was a collection of the odd singles, EP's, previous compilation tracks and various other obscure recordings, and is an essential part of the Smudge catalogue. It was released by the independent, Australian label, Half a Cow, which features many more underground Australian indie acts (Godstar, Dog Trumpet, Nic Dalton to name a few).

Paul Duncan (my uncle mentioned above) kindly gifted me his unopened Tea, Toast and Turmoil record for my 18th birthday in August last year. The vinyl itself was beautiful, with a yellow marbled design (I will attach images). When I gave it a spin on my turntable, I was transported to the indie sounds of the 90's, but with a unique, more casual quality to it. The lyrics at first listen seemed simple and jovial, but that's really what is so great about Tea, Toast and Turmoil, that it's unapologetic in being an uncomplicated album. I also think that it really is a true representation of what Smudge stood for; a couple of mates making some poppy, indie songs, with some slight grunge-esque sounds, with simple lyrics focusing on the everyday, which I love. Tea, Toast and Turmoil is a refreshing spin to the hard, melancholic sounds of rock in the 90's (blame Sub-Pop ), popularised by Nirvana's widely popular 1993 album, Nevermind. Even though Tea, Toast and Turmoil is a solid sounding compilation/album, it does lacks an element of refinement, but what can you expect from a band that played by it's own rules and only performed when they wanted. Smudge's attitude led popular Australian music journalist/pop-culture writer, Toby Creswell to dub Smudge as the, 'slackest band in Rock n Roll'.

Tea, Toast and Turmoil's opening track, 'Superhero', begins with a heavy, saturated electric guitar that graces the first 20 seconds of the song and then breaks out into a more upbeat, indie-style sounding guitar along with crashing cymbals and fast-paced drums. The front-man, Tom Morgan gives a solid vocal performance, which is consistent through most of the album. Despite Morgan's friendly voice, the lyrics can sometimes be hard to discern as the mixing in some tracks makes his voice smothered by the instrumentals, or slightly muffled.  This issue is mainly found in 'Straight Face Down', 'Outside', 'Make All Our Dreams Come True.', 'Don't Want To Be Grant Mclennan' a humorous little track about songwriting, 'Stranglehold' and 'Tea, Toast and Turmoil', but I assume that this is due to production budget limitations. Although the vocals suffered from some unfortunate mixing, there are some definite high-points in terms of vocals, for example, the primal, grunge-like scream around half-way on 'Plug it Up' is very satisfying to the ears and provides a stark contrast between the surprise, happy-go-lucky vocals of Alison Galloway, to all out mayhem reminiscent of the screams on Nirvana's In Utero track, 'Tourette's'. My favourite track on Tea, Toast and Turmoil is most definitely ninth on the track-list, 'Divan', which is named after the fold out beds. It is to me the standout song on the album, with a charming, classically Australian sounding instrumental, and great lyrics relating to the experience of crashing at a mates place after a night out. The majority of the tracks on Tea, Toast and Turmoil  have similar sounding chords which are either played slower or faster from track to track, which in one sense lacks variety, but if it ain't broke, why fix it? Tea, Toast and Turmoil also has some seriously good bass in a lot of tracks, for example 'Spoilt Brat', 'Straight Face Down', 'Outside' and 'Pulp' to name a few (I'm not saying this because he's my uncle, it's just good bass in my opinion). The album closes with 3 short tracks each named after foods, 'Foccacia' being a heavy, distorted mess of distorted, yelling vocals, 'Steak and Chips', a surprisingly catchy and fun track despite its' 18 second length and finally, 'Babaganouj', the shortest of all tracks (14 seconds) which closes off the album with a fun little ditty:

~ ♩ If I turn you down, will you call me a wuss? Babaga, Babaga, Babaganouj ♩ ~

Overall, Tea, Toast and Turmoil is a fun, simple and catchy compilation album, though a little rough round the edges. It is well compiled and the track-list flows exceptionally well, despite the similarities of the tracks chords. The lyrical themes of everyday life will most definitely resonate with a younger generation of new listeners, or with people who grew up in the 90’s and the days of The Big Day Out. If you are after a fun, casual and humour filled listening experience, Tea,Toast and Turmoil is 100% worth a listen. 

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Favourite Tracks

- Superhero (Only appears on Spotify, not on Vinyl)

- Pulp

- Plug It Up

- Divan

- Don't Wanna Be Grant Mclennan

- Babaganouj

Least Favourite Tracks

- Missing You

- Straight Face Down

- Make All Our Dreams Come True

- Foccacia

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Related Videos from Smudge

SMUDGE 'Divan' (1992)

SMUDGE 'Superhero' (1993)

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*Here are some images of the Vinyl*

ALBUM ART / FRONT OF SLEEVE

TRACK-LIST / BACK OF SLEEVE

SIDE A OF VINYL

SIDE B OF VINYL