MENTAL AS ANYTHING "BERZERK WARRIORS" . . . . I GUESS I'VE COME OVER ALL VIKINGY AND SCANDINAVIAN . . . . A GROOVY CLASSIC FROM AUSSIE ODDBALLS, THE MENTALS . . . . AN ODE TO THE RELATIONSHIP TUMULT WITHIN SWEDISH SUPERGROUP "ABBA" . . . . FUNNY, QUIRKY AND PERFECTLY DUMB !!!!

I had the pleasure of doing about a dozen supports with these loonies back in the early eighties, they were a complete hoot and a breath of fresh air among an over abundance of seriously downcast punks and goths . . . . songs about hangovers, classic Aussie cars, love robots, cats and dogs, hangovers, solo drinking, Santa Claus and hangovers to name but a few . . . .



My second band, The Bossanova Kids, played at the wedding of their drummer, [or was it their tour manager ?] and we were jamming with a couple of the guys with a full dance floor, swingin along nicely . . . . all of a sudden, the dancefloor parts to reveal an elderly lady lying prostrate on said floor, she turned out to be everybody's favourite matriarch, poor old dear had suffered a heart attack . . . . we obviously stopped playing, women are bawling, kids are screaming, ambulance arrives, first aid is administered and she's loaded into the back of the meat wagon and taken off to the vets, sorry, I mean hospital of course . . . .

Completely fucking killed the mood at the reception I can tell you, a bit bloody selfish and awfully inconvenient if you ask me, anyway, the old bird pulled through, the happy couple swayed off into the sunrise and eventually the mighty Mentals disolved into musical mediocrity. Nonetheless, they put out some great stuff, most notably the first four albums, and, as far as definitively Aussie acts go, they don't come any better . . . .