The Cannanes – A Love Affair with Nature

An exquisitely crafted, and thematically grim, set of jangly guitar pop songs powered by tiny, magnetic electronic and acoustic rhythms, the Cannanes’ 1989 album A Love Affair with Nature is as sticky as it is urgent. The Australian band, which released singles in the US for indie labels including K Records, Ajax, and Dark Beloved Cloud, wrote a lot about the bad side of love, the end of parties, and friendships gone sideways. On “I Woke Up,” singer Frances Gibson recalls the drunken night before, listening to “something I was not meant to hear,” a tryst, and an ill-advised phone call. “Cardboard” vibes like an uptempo Young Marble Giants song, with Gibson confessing, “there’s not much that excites me” and recalling an evening spent “standing without conversation.” “Take me to the hotel, Johanna,” sings Stephen O’Neil on a song of the same name, “and let’s trash the place/I want to drink till my money runs out/till I’ve passed out on the ground.” Wonderfully under-practiced — the Cannanes had a hard time carrying a steady beat for too long — A Love Affair With Nature feels taped together, but with intention, ingenuity, and smarts. – Randall