the painkillers - Drunk On A Train

THE AGE, Melbourne
Drunk on a Train The Painkillers (Blazing Strumpet/Reverberation)
4 stars out of 4.
"James Baker played drums for many of Australia’s great rock bands – the Victims, the Scientists, the Hoodoo Gurus and the Beasts of Bourbon – but left before they took off. And now he has applied his powerful primitive drumming style to new duo The Painkillers, teaming up with acoustic guitarist Joe Bludge. Drunk on a Train contains a suite of 11 lo-fi organic songs that fuse the early acoustic Bob Dylan with the detached cool and New York drawl of ‘80s solo era Lou Reed. The catchy title track and Wild & Western Land are reminiscent of the punk folk styling of soon-to-be-touring Hammell on Trial and punk poet Jim Carroll; while Facility Friend and the whimisical Honey Bees recalls slacker rocker J Mascis’ mellower offerings and Porcupine is reminiscent of the Lemonheads at their most reflective. It’s the cracked vocal, lived-in lyrics, loose playing and 3am on the couch-and-beerscharm that make it so appealing." - Patrick Donovan
Drunk On A Train, the painkillers.