Song of the Day: The Triffids “Hell of a Summer”

There are certain bands (and individual artists) who when you hear them you are immediately transported to where they are from. Dr. John and New Orleans and New Order and Manchester are two examples which come to mind. West Australia’s The Triffids are another. Formed in Perth in 1979, The Triffids never achieved much success outside of Australia, the UK and Scandinavia but have been very influential and are well loved. They broke up in 1989 after making five albums.

I first discovered the band when I took a chance on their 1986 anthology Love in Bright Landscapes. Right away I was floored by the ambiance of their sound and was transported to a hot summer’s day on the edge of the Outback in Western Australia. Their name came from John Wyndham‘s post-apocalyptic novel The Day of the Triffids. Every song on Love in Bright Landscapes grabbed me but “Hell of a Summer” from 1983’s Treeless Plain album might be my favorite. You can almost feel the sweat dripping from this song. Check out the rest of their catalog if you can, you won’t regret it.