Our love for Australian band The Lucksmiths takes us back to the very early days of Matinée Recordings when we were still based in Washington, D.C. in a stately rowhouse on Capitol Hill. Those days were magical times with indie bands coming through town every month or so and our three stories of accommodation made Matinée HQ the perfect resting spot for road-weary travelers.
I still remember the first time The Lucksmiths pulled up outside my house with Mike Babb of Drive-In Records on the day of their very first show in Washington in September 1998. We were about to launch our first co-release—the now legendary ‘Untidy Towns’ 7” single (matinée 004)—and we spent the little time we had before the show sitting around my dining room table folding records sleeves and adding inserts with all the details of our new release and the forthcoming gems on our respective labels. The lucky 500 of you who own that single can rest assured that at least one Lucksmith probably touched your record at some point that afternoon.
Little did I know at the time it would be the first of fifteen releases the band would have on Matinée leading up to their farewell single ‘Get-To-Bed Birds’ (matinée 077) in 2010. Over the years there were plenty of other record stuffing parties and opportunities for us to witness live performances in the United States, England, France, Spain, and Australia including shows in our new home state of California.
We are now absolutely thrilled to have a sixteenth Lucksmiths release for the Matinée discography and an answer (at last!) to all the people over the years that have asked which release to get first from the band. But first, a little more background is in order…
Having started out as high school friends in a bayside suburb of Melbourne, the Lucksmiths trio were officially set on foot in 1993 and made short work of winning the hearts and livers of student share-houses the city over. Sixteen years and countless albums, world tours and one extra member later, the band called it a day. By this time, their reputation as one of the most influential indiepop acts of the past decade was assured.
With many Lucksmiths albums now long out of print, fans old and new can play catch-up with the new double-CD collection ‘Cartography For Beginners’ (matcd068) which traces the band’s history from their legendary ‘First Tape’ through the final strains of their last posthumously-released single ‘Get-To-Bed Birds.’
Featuring live favourites ‘Under the Rotunda,’ ‘T-Shirt Weather’ and ‘Sunlight in a Jar’ (and with the entire tracklist chosen by the band members themselves, of course!), ‘Cartography For Beginners’ is the final word in Lucksmiths mix tapes — the perfect jangly travel companion, the ideal soundtrack to a first kiss (in the rain), and certainly the mantle ornament of choice for any inner city share-house.
Available in a handsome six panel matte finish eco-wallet with vintage photographs and liner notes by Australian labelmate and frequent touring companion Darren Hanlon, this perfect ‘beginner’s guide to The Lucksmiths’ is a co-release with our good friends at the Lost And Lonesome Recording Company in Australia so reduce your carbon footprint by ordering from them if you’re closer to Melbourne than Santa Barbara.
The official release date for the album is December 10th but we are taking preorders now and will start shipping copies a few days in advance. You can see the astonishing tracklisting on the catalog page. Many of you know most or all of these songs already but to have them all in one place is pretty cool and you have to admit, it’s the perfect gift for at least one music-loving friend in your life, no? Here is a sampling of the 35 hits your friend is about to discover: