Sound of Vinyl

A band out of time, Crime & the City Solution were perennial outsiders who could not rest in their native Australia, and instead found inspiration in the colder climes of London and Berlin. Their mesmeric, expressive music evolved through many incarnations and a great deal of adversity. The first incarnation of the band appeared in 1977/78, in the midst of Australia’s nascent punk scene and re- grouped in London in 1984. After the departure of the Rowland brothers and Epic Soundtracks, the line-up settled upon the making of Shine with singer Simon Bonney, Einstürzende Neubauten’s guitarist Alexander Hacke, DAF’s synth player Chrislo Haas, jazz bassist Thomas Stern, violinist Bronwyn Adams and Bad Seed’s Mick Harvey on drums.

Originally released in 1989, The Bride Ship was a creative turn for Crime. Using the sea as the ultimate metaphor for freedom, the album highlighted Bonney’s skill as a lyricist and sense of melody. The crashing guitars and drums propelled a sprawling narrative which concerned itself increasingly with the universal as opposed to the personal.