The Sea Word

Brisbane's The Good Ship have a new record to spruik, and though O' Exquisite Corpse may be less obviously geared towards their love of a seafaring life than 2010 debut Avast! Wretched Sea, there's still plenty of captivating high seas drama.

“I think this record and our overall journey is sort of taking us away from that original rollicking sea shanty kind of thing that was the genesis of the band, but there's still a lot there,” explains vocalist and guitarist John Meyer. “We find that whole world inspiring as songwriters, and it's not just the seas as such – it's the mentality or attitude of the old sea shanty writing which is irreverent and often a bit filthy. You've got a lot of old men I guess, and young men, all together with not a lot of female company so you tend to debase yourself lyrically – sing dirty songs to pass the time. So even if we're writing a pop song or a rock song, then often that attitude will come through the songwriting.”

Describing their style as “porno, folk, country, cabaret music”, The Good Ship are certainly not ones to take themselves too seriously, though don't call them irreverent. “There's not a lot of bands that have humour in their songs, so I think people are surprised and go, 'Oh that band's really irreverent or edgy' or something like that. But just because we use words like 'arse' and 'cunt' and 'slut' and we use them in different contexts, that's not something that you very often hear – except in hip hop. It's a completely different context and attitude. We don't see us as irreverent just because that's the way we talk to each other and our friends… why not put those words and those attitudes into the music as well? It's just another part of life,” he concedes. 

Recording with Neil Coombe, whose credits include DZ Deathrays, The Go Betweens and John Steel Singers, Meyer sees O' Exquisite Corpse as a different beast to its predecessor.

“It's a lot more complex; the first album was really light sounding which was intentional, but the first album we did pretty quickly not long after the band formed and we kind of wanted to get that energy of that first bashing-it-out kind of vibe in the early stages of the band.

“This one was much more unwieldy. I think there's about five or six different studios and lots of file management, lots of editing and stuff. What we were really going for was a much bigger sound – lots of vocal harmonies, lots of strings and guest appearances and stuff, so there's some pedal steel and fiddle, and lots of percussion.”

Considering the everyday logistical challenges of managing such a big cast of performers, The Good Ship accept it as their lot, and move on to the real challenges. “It is difficult rockin' up to the airport, eight people and all of our gear. There are many looks of fear on the staff faces as they try and check us in!” Meyer laughs. “But, we're lucky in this band – even though there's eight of us, everybody works together so it's not a struggle in that sense. I think probably the biggest challenge with a band like us is the arrangements – just trying to make sure that everything's got a place, not everyone playing at once. And then if you start bringing in guest players, you really have to make some choices about sounds and what's the hero instrument to the song and all that sort of stuff. It's a really cool challenge.”