Music / Augie March

And for one crowded hour

You were the only one in the room

And I sailed around all those bumps in the night

To your beacon in the gloom

I thought I had found my golden September

In the middle of the Purple June

But one crowded hour

Would lead to my wreck and ruin

Augie March is an Australian Indie Rock band formed in 1996 by Glenn Richards, Adam Donovan, David Williams and Edmondo Ammendola. They initially released an EP "Thanks for the Memes" in 1998 to surprisingly positive reviews, but poor sales. Spurred on by the positive buzz they got, the released a second EP Waltz, which whilst still doing poor commercially, was even more well received with the single "Asleep in Perfection" not only becoming a very frequently requested song on ABC;s "Rage" program, but also being nominated for the "Breakthrough Artist - Single" ARIA award. This lead them to make their first album "Sunset Studies", which continued the tradition of being acclaimed, but not faring very well commercially, as the album was too complex for the mainstream audience. During this time they acquired a fifth band member in Rob Dawson.

Sadly, during the making of their second album "Strange Bird", Rob was killed in a car crash and was replaced by Kiernan Box. Once again, Strange Bird received very positive reviews, but did not sell exceptionally well.

They finally achieved mainstream success in 2006 with their third album "Moo, You Bloody Choir" with their Breakthrough Hit "One Crowded hour" which famously made it to #1 on Triple J's hottest 100 for 2006. They extensively toured over the next few years before releasing their next album "Watch Me Disappear".

After this, they went on hiatus for a while (although Glenn Richards released a solo album "Glimjack" in 2010) and for a while the future of the band remained uncertain. Then in late 2014, they announced they were releasing a new album "Havens Dumb" which the subsequently released a few months later.

Augie March are most well known for their poetic lyrics which are frequently lauded for being both subtly beautiful and thought provoking without being too pretentious and full of Purple Prose. Though this sometimes veers into Word Salad Lyrics, they remain for the most part a wholesome experience.

Members

• Glenn Richards - (1996-present)
• Adam Donovan - (1996-present)
• David Willliams - (1996-present)
• Edmondo Ammendola - (1996-present)
• Rob Dawson - (2000-2001)
• Kiernan Box - (2001-present)

Studio Discography:

• 1998 - Thanks for the memes EP ^note (reissued in 2003 with additional track 300 Nights)
• 1999 - Waltz EP
• 2000 - Sunset Studies
• 2002 - Strange Bird
• 2006 - Moo, you Bloody Choir
• 2008 - Watch Me Disappear
• 2014 - Havens Dumb
• 2018 - Bootikins
• 2021 - Bloodsport & Porn

Moo, you Bloody Troper

• Album Title Drop: Sunset Studies and Watch Me Disappear have a title track, but "Strange Bird" gets title-dropped in "The Keepa"
  In old Brazil, there's a breach upon the Earth they call "The sigh"
  Where the gods all hang their washing out to dry
  Where strange birds fly
  And giants go to die
  Heard you went there for the quiet, but I wasn't asking why
• Audience-Alienating Premise: Who would want to listen to a song called "The Brothel Creeper"?
• Careful with That Axe: The sudden shouting in"Definitive History" is likely to throw a lot of people off if the nightmare fuel hasn't already done that.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: The character from "The Hole In Your Roof" is described as such
  When they made you love money
  And the poor profit Stock
  When they poisoned our watershed
  And fashioned out arrowheads
  From the deep forbidden rock
• Earn Your Happy Ending: The ending of The Devil In Me is implied to be this
• Epic Rocking: Augie March has no standard song pattern and songs can range from 22 seconds to 12 minutes. For particular note are:
  • "Owen's Lament", which goes for eight minutes
  • "The Hole In Your Roof" which goes for seven minutes (the single edit cuts it down to four and a half)
  • "Future Seal" goes for eight minutes and is indeed very epic!
    • The live version goes for twelve minutes!
  • The B-Side "Nagambie River Song" goes for eight minutes, but isn't exactly very epic.
  • "Definitive History" just barely clocks in at six minutes.
  • "Never Been Sad" goes for about seven minutes
  • "The Crime" goes for about six minutes
  • "Clockwork" goes for just under 7 minutes. It's acoustic version is much shorter at around four minutes.
  • "Tulip" goes for over six minutes.
  • "Brundisium" also goes for over six minutes
    • They also have plenty of songs over 4-5 minutes, but we'd be listing over half their discography if we included them here too.
• Everyone Went to School Together: Literally, the band members all met whilst studying music in Victoria (albeit at different institutions).
• Genre Roulette: Although they're typically pegged in the ever-ambiguous "Indie Rock" genre, they've done all sorts of stuff ranging from soft piano ballads to psychedelic rock!
• Lighter and Softer: Although dark in a few areas, Watch Me Disappear is a lot less dark than other Augie March albums.
• Longest Song Goes Last: This is the case with half of their releases (up to Bootikins):
  • Thanks for the Memes ends with "Future Seal" (8:12)
  • Waltz ends with "The Moth Ball" (5:46)
  • Sunset Studies ends with "Owen's Lament" (8:46)
  • Bootikins ends with "Bitter Clingerzz" (5:13)
• Mind Screw: Impenetrable lyrics aside, the music video for "Little Wonder" is quite strange, featuring a misanthropic man living on a caravan by the sea who appears to be making something, which is revealed in the climax as a fish suit that he puts on and attempts to get to the sea with, but he falls down and suffers a concussion and is taken away by an ambulance.
  • Made slightly less screwy since it was based on the real life incident where a man died by dressing up in a fish suit and trying to hop to a lake before collapsing and suffocating. Still a bizarre choice to base a music video on, given Little Wonder is quite a serious song.
• Mood Dissonance: The music video for the incredibly dark "Definitive History" is set to rather peaceful shots of Melbourne.
• Take That!: "Future Seal" appears to be a take that against yuppies (if the notes in the Little Wonder single are to be believed^note "And may it serve as an eternal soundtrack in yuppie hell...")
  Now all you college boys and girls pretending to be solid boys and girls
  Pretending everything is solid in the world
  No it isn't (no it isn't) and you will find out soon
  That every song that you were dashing to was never your tune
• Word Salad Lyrics: Augie March aren't exactly renowned for having clear-cut lyrics even on the best of days, but some of their songs are nearly impenetrable. Special mention goes to the bridge in "Thin Captain Crackers" which has to be heard to be believed
  Oh tailor my bones, wouldn't need new clothes
  But the lower half oaths what the upper half loves
  I could get around as an intellectual I suppose
  Wearing the highs and the lows
  I'd sooner sing these doleful tones
  By the Barcoo dogs and the Larger phone
  My hand don't write with the feather in the hole
  Hangs like a Wren with its neck wrung
  As did the bells in my quasi-commode
  I had to shift my head to see where my pillow goes and
  Some mornings I wake up on the side of the road
  Bringing it up from the gutter
  After putting it down from the crowd