Hear Me Out: The Birthday Party are the most underrated post-punk band of all time
When most people are asked to describe Nick Cave, words like vampiric, brooding, deep-voiced, and dark might come to mind. These words have always appropriately suited the singer, but in the 1970s and early ‘80s, Cave channelled this essence into a world that was even more abrasive, intense, and violent.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds have famously toyed with themes of brutality, sexuality, death and longing, but when the lead singer was in the early years of his career, Cave fronted The Birthday Party, a band that set these themes to a concoction of influences, including jazz, blues, punk, glam rock, and outlaw country. As a result, The Birthday Party became one of the most influential post-punk outfits of all time, accidentally helping the formation of gothic rock to come to fruition in the process.
Initially called The Boys Next Door, the group started as a hobby for several Australian high-school students: Nick Cave, Phil Calvert, Mick Harvey and Tracey Pew. The members were all greatly inspired by the punk movement that was beginning to emerge, as well as the shocking glam rockers tearing up British stages. The Boys Next Door were ambitious, wanting to be like the Australian punk bands that were finding traction at the time, most notably The Saints, of which Pew would later join.
Soon enough, The Boys Next Door were The Birthday Party, with Roland S. Howard joining on guitar. Cave’s then-girlfriend, Anita Lane, also worked significantly with the band, contributing lyrics to various songs, such as ‘A Dead Song’ and ‘Kiss Me Black’. The band had the perfect ingredients to become a chaotic, raucous, yet musically innovative act. They weren’t afraid to act recklessly on stage, continuing the legacy laid out by artists like Jim Morrison and Iggy Pop; each member brought something unique with their instruments, such as dark basslines or frenetic saxophones; and then there was Cave: a spectacle in human form.
Skinny with shocking black hair, Cave’s appearance was unmistakable. There had been no one like him before, and you could always tell if someone was trying to copy his Birthday Party image. He shrieked and screamed, with iconic performances coming on songs like ‘Release the Bats’, where he contorts his voice with a haunting and enjoyable theatricality. “Sex bat horror vampire sex/ Cool machine horror bat/ Bite!/ Cool machine/ Bite!/ Sex vampire/ Bite!” he sings in a frenzy. It was songs like this that particularly helped The Birthday Party become accidental gothic rock pioneers, standing alongside acts like Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure and Joy Division as originators of a dark and haunting sound.
However, out of all these bands, The Birthday Party were arguably the ‘scariest’. It truly felt like a vampire demon was singing these songs, appearing on stage (and in the audience) in a confrontational manner while a brooding band stood behind him, heads down. Every move was unpredictable, and if you were lucky, you might come into contact with the pale, ghostly figure as he ran rampant through the crowd.
After releasing The Birthday Party in 1980, which was credited to both The Boys Next Door and The Birthday Party (as they were ditching the old name in favour of the other), they made two more records – Prayers on Fire and Junkyard. By 1982, things were going downhill—and fast. There was so much drug abuse, arguing, and arrests happening between the band members that calling it quits was the only viable option. Their last gig occurred in 1983, and the members subsequently went off to different musical projects, most notably Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
Yet, The Birthday Party remain a hugely influential band from the post-punk era, standing out among a mass of unoriginal acts who were trying to hop on the bandwagon. Truthfully, there were only so many innovative post-punk bands in the late 1970s and early ’80s, and The Birthday Party was one of the finest. Their blending of genres was so creative and wide-reaching, and their dedication to a horrific and menacing aesthetic – which was not put-on in the slightest, they really lived the darkness and dirtiness they championed – truly allowed them to stand apart from the rest.
It seems as though The Bad Seeds have overshadowed the Birthday Party, but without Cave’s former band, he would not be enjoying the same level of success today. He also brought his vast literary knowledge to his first group, allowing his ability to tell rich and melancholic stories, often influenced by gothic writers like William Faulkner or Symbolist poets like Charles Baudelaire, to seep into his lyrics.
They might have only existed for a few years, but the band died at the right time, leaving behind a flawless discography that now flies largely under the radar, if streaming figures are anything to go by. Albums like Junkyard or Prayers on Fire are rarely heralded to the same levels as other post-punk classics like Unknown Pleasures or Juju. Still, it’s about time they’re recognised for their originality and impact over post-punk and gothic rock.
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