Wide Open Road - The Best of The Triffids

iTunes Review

Australia’s Triffids shared a fan base with fellow Aussies the Go-Betweens back in the 1980s, coloring their particular brand of smart, sweet, and cinematic pop music with the expansive feel of the lonesome outback. Unfortunately, they also shared the Go Betweens’ lack of mega-success (hard to fathom, as the Triffids’ music had a commercial sheen not unlike the Waterboys, or the Church), breaking up after 1989’s The Black Swan. Domino Records has been reissuing the band’s records, and Wide Open Road is a well-curated collection focusing on the best of the Triffids, admirably serving newcomers and fans alike. From the grand organ and strings of “Red Pony,” to the ‘80s dance beat of “Beautiful Waste” and the quiet intimacy of “Raining Pleasure,” the many moods of the Triffids are well represented here. Other critical tracks — like “Bury Me Deep In Love,” “A Trick of the Light” — celebrate the group’s late founder and songwriter David McComb, and the beautiful, radio-friendly song for which the collection is named conjures the question, “Why not the Triffids?”