FREAKSTOMP

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Silverchair singer and guitarist Daniel Johns recalls the band’s debut album with fondness. “It’s just three Australian kids thrashing it out in the studio and that’s exactly how it sounds." Their second album, recorded while Frogstomp was still doing great business in Australia and the USA, maintains the high energy, anger and grunge assault of the debut. Freak Show smashed up the cliche of the "difficult second album" and assembled the shards into a hugely successful record that produced three top ten singles. No follow-up jitters there, then.

Part of the explanation for the solid, confident sound is the fact that four of the songs were already in Silverchair’s repertoire. "Slave", "Freak", "No Association", and "Nobody Came" were all performed well before their appearance on Freak Show.

"Freak" was the lead single from the album, soaring to the top of the Australian charts. The other singles were "Abuse me" (which reached #9), "Cemetery" (#5), and "The Door" (#25). The song titles point towards the angst buried in the mix. It has been well documented that the band felt the pressures of teenage stardom heavily, and that main songwriter Daniel Johns was already struggling with the ravenous demands of the rock machine. Still, Rolling Stone approved, noting that "Silverchair have loads of potential. The band may still be using other peoples' riffs to guide its post-pubescent fury, but it's the enthusiasm that makes this Freak Show more than a novelty."

Other observers sensed a development in the songwriting, despite a continuing reliance on grunge tropes. The Allmusic Guide, for instance, noted how Silverchair were "beginning to fuse the elements together in a more interesting way and are writing stronger hooks." It’s worth noting that  Allmusic awarded a healthy four stars to the album while Rolling Stone offered half a star less.

Talking to FasterLouder.com in 2013, Daniel Johns was somewhat dismissive of Frogstomp and Freak Show, Silverchair’s first two records, claiming that for him the band’s real "first album" was Neon Ballroom. Freak Show, he said, was "some kind of dark, high school band skeleton" in the closet. Fans, of course, paid no attention whatsoever to critics or even band members, and happily propelled Freak Show to the pinnacle of the album charts, banking 3 x Platinum sales in Australia (ARIA).

The Music On Vinyl re-issue from late 2022 is a quality product. Textured sleeve, marbled green vinyl and a large poster make this a package to delight those who missed the limited release vinyl first time around and aren’t keen to fork out $500 for an original. Not to mention the other Freak Show formats. Back in 1996 there was a CD, an enhanced CD, a cassette, and even a minidisc version. Not that there are any rumours of those other formats being re-released. Thankfully the numbered Music On Vinyl re-issue is very much easier to obtain. My copy is MOV 003159. What will yours be?

© Bruce Jenkins—May 2023

Grab your copy below for $59.99 until midnight Friday 2 June 2023, or while stocks last.