Gold Coast Bulletin
by Paul Weston
LOVE THIS CITY
The Whitlams
4 out of 4 stars = Excellent!
The latest offering from Tim Freedman and The Whitlams is already being touted as the soundtrack of the summer.
After a few listens, the 15-track Love This City lives up to the hype, the combination of Freedman’s clever lyrics and pop/soul melodies having an hypnotic effect.
There are three standout tracks, starting with You Gotta Love This City which apart from opening with some soulful back-up vocals from Marcia Hines is possibly the best song written about Sydney and how it prostitutes its beauty to earn a dollar.
The track should become pre-Games special, but the real political drama here is provided by 400 Miles From Darwin, a deep, brooding piece about Australia’s shameful failure to stop the carnage in East Timor which carries the line ‘We would have all been Schindler there’.
The best is the working-class anthem Blow Up The Pokies, with Freedman as always leading on piano and backed by soaring string arrangements.
Even old Gough would love it.