Voigt/465 - Slights Unspoken
(Mental Experience)

Here’s another gem from the Australian, post-punk underground during the late 70’s. Formed in Sydney in 1976, Voigt/465 were barely together 2 years before band members fled the group following the chaos of some of their live gigs. Despite their short tenure, they somehow combined punk, art-rock, pop, psych and experimental noodling into their songs and setlists. (For instance, the download card includes bonus live cover songs by Roxy Music, Can and Faust).
Voigt/465 managed to self-release one of the earlier Australian punk singles with State / A Secret West in 1978 which did catch the attention of the deep-digger himself, John Peel. “State” is a brisk, burner of psychedelic punk and pop while “A Secret West” highlights their artier side with plenty of warped synths and weirdo vocals. After Peel played “State” on his show, the band tried to parlay his interest into better local shows in the Sydney and Melbourne areas with hope that success in their homeland would bring them to the UK.
But of course, this didn’t happen. One of the key members, bassist Lindsay O’Meara, left the band in 1979 and they splintered from there. His bass playing was a crucial piece of the Voigt/465 puzzle. However, before they split, they decided to document their songs on a full-length album. Slights Unspokencame out with little fanfare in 1979 but to this day, it sounds fresh and unlike anything that has hit the market within this time period in post-punk.
If comparisons are your thing, think of this band as an Australian Dow Jones & The Industrials mixed with the experimentalism of the great UK DIY punk group, The Instant Automatons. Not to mention, aspects of Pere Ubu, Wire’s side project Dome, The Pop Group and The Primitive Calculators tossed in. Includes some nice notes by band member Phil Turnbull with period photos. (Dom)
Check out a track here.