Australian pop rock band Crowded House’s self-titled debut features one of the best New Wave songs of all-time “Don’t Dream It’s Over”, which has been featured in a wide variety of 80’s media. The song is a wonderful little treatise on nostalgic longing that can be applied to a variety of life events– for me it’s always represented a relationship that’s on the rocks and the narrator’s desperate attempts to salvage the good times and make them last. In my younger years this always applied to girlfriends, but as I’ve gotten older and fallen out of touch with old friends it’s taken on new meaning. When you sit down and think about it life is such a precious commodity– we consume ourselves with the day to day and oftentimes lose sight of what’s truly important in our relationships. Every time I hear this song I make a note to send a text to an old friend and let them know I’ve been thinking about them and ask how they’re doing.
The rest of Crowded House is filled with similarly uplifting songs in the alternative rock and New Wave vein, with jazzy chord progressions and shimmering reverb that ties everything together. Although this album was released in 1986 you can hear the beginnings of alternative rock that would become predominant in the mid-90’s all throughout the record. In particular “Something So Strong” and “Mean To Me” possess that hook-laden goodness and major key triumphance that has an innate ability to get my fist pumping. I’ve been getting into running a lot lately here to kick off 2024 and bumping this on my morning jog was a delight.
Standout Songs: “Don’t Dream It’s Over”, “Something So Strong”, “Hole In The River”, “Mean To Me”
Matthew. 