The Lizard Train
| The Lizard Train | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | The Dumb Earth, The Hired Guns |
| Origin | Adelaide, South Australia, Australia |
| Genres | Rock |
| Years active | 1985–2010 |
| Labels | Greasy Pop, Shagpile/Shock, Pop Gun, Rubber, Hour of Need/Sony, Laughing Outlaw |
| Associated acts | Risque Humour, Nervengine |
| Past members | Shane Bloffwitch David Creese Phil Drew Chris Willard Mark Ford Adam Kyle Spellicy Glendon Blazely Kiernan Box Phil Kakulas Simon Whithear |
The Lizard Train were an Australian rock band from Adelaide which formed in early 1985. They released five albums, Slippery (September 1987), The Ride (1990), Get Yer Wah Wahs Out (1992), Couch (1993) and Everything Moves (1995). Australian rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, contrasted their early work as "a melange of screaming guitars did battle over a rumbling rhythm section. Yet, beneath the distorted riffs and lyrical angst, the band boasted a melodic and harmonic sensibility usually disregarded in such aggressive music" with later work "brimming with powerful, dark songs and inspired musicianship".
Chris Willard and David Creese went on to form the Dumb Earth in 1993 then relocated the new band to Melbourne which issued an album, Walk the Earth in June 1997. Music journalist, Andy Turner, described their sound as a "brain-melting amalgamation of avant-garde jazz and slide guitar". In 1996 a side-project, The Hired Guns, was formed to play late 1960s and early 1970s psychedelic country rock. Founders of all three groups were David Creese on drums, chimes and vocals; and Chris Willard on lead vocals, lead guitar, and bass guitar. The Dumb Earth's second album, Blessings in Disguise, appeared in 2001. The Hired Guns debut album, Between Here & the Night, was issued the following year. In November 2002 Willard left The Dumb Earth, by mid-2005 the group had disbanded and Creese pursued a solo career. Willard continued with The Hired Guns until it disbanded in late 2010.
The Lizard Train were formed in Adelaide in early 1985 with Shane Bloffwitch (ex-Risque Humour) on bass guitar and vocals; David Creese (Risque Humour) on drums, chimes and vocals; Phil Drew on guitar and vocals; and Chris Willard (Head On, Crawling Eye, Acid Drops, Revenge of the Gila Monsters) on lead guitar and lead vocals. Willard's former bandmate and then-girlfriend, Liz Dealey, formed her own band, Liz Dealey and the Twenty Second Sect. The Lizard Train's first gig was in May 1985 and their first recording was as backing musicians on Liz Dealey and the Twenty Second Sect's debut single, "The Wailing House", in 1986. In late 1989 Willard recalled the band's formation:
We've been around since early 85, and I was in a band before that called the Acid Drops with Liz Dealy [sic] and a couple of other people, and I split off in late 84, and I'm a friend of Phil, and we got together and started jamming with the idea of getting a band together. And I sort of knew Dave and Shane... they'd been in a band called Risque Humour, and we bumped into them through a mutual friend who became our sound engineer and they said let's have a jam, so we all got together and it all started from there, just jamming in Shane's lounge until we got a little more serious and hit the practice room.
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