Dom Mariani – Rewind And Play (Liberation)

Dom Mariani is somewhat of a hidden Australian pop-rock treasure. Through bands such as The Stems, The Someloves and DM3 he created a body of work that should have him regarded as a peer of acclaimed international artists of a similar ilk like Ken Stringfellow, Evan Dando, Pat Dinizio, Matthew Sweet and Mitch Easter – masterful creators of melodic power-pop tunes and memorable, often under-stated sparkling indie gems.

On this album he takes a selection of songs from all three of those bands, a couple of solo recordings and even one cover (Here Comes The Night as previously performed ina more epic manner by Van Morrison) and re-makes them in a semi-acoustic mode. “Semi-acoustic” shouldn’t be taken to mean a folky album of strummed guitars though– the core arrangements are supplemented by some lovely keyboard work and plenty of tasty electric guitar lines.

But the emphasis is on the songs and while Mariani isn’t a vocalist of “Farnhamesque” proportions his gentle melodic reading of these songs in this context is ideal and appealing. Dare I say it, he actually seems to take some vocal cues from the late Alex Chilton – making his delivery all about an honest and pure reading of the songs more than appearing desperate to impress.

There are some absolute gems here – Just Like Nancy (Girl In Boots), Melt and Sunshine’s Glove are three that jump out at me immediately and of course At First Sight (which closes this album) is, and always will be, one of Australia’s great contemporary guitar pop songs.

There’s probably nothing about this album that is suddenly going to change everything and alert a worldwide audience to the quality of Mariani’s songwriting but that doesn’t prevent this being a completely worthwhile and delightful exercise. Great songs performed with great taste and pure intent – you can’t ask more than that.