If you’re not yet familiar with Justin Heazlewood’s witty performance persona ‘The Bedroom Philosopher’, then what I feel for you is rather best described as pity. The latest from this genius comedian is Songs From the 86 Tram, an album which follows a Melbourne tram’s journey from Bundoora to Docklands, and on the way manages to take the piss out of every demographic in Australian society that deserves it. You can expect songs by the bogan (“We are Tramily”), your nan recalling her past [“In My Day (Nan)”], and that pretentious hipster on the train who only seems to be able to ramble about obscure bands [“Northcote (So Hungover)”].
I was originally a bit skeptical about listening to music of this genre, but the facetious lyrics combined with the brilliance of musical composition makes Songs from the 86 Tram a success in every way. Composed of thirteen tracks (plus an “Interlewd”) of ongoing clever stabs at everyone and everything in Australia – from Seek.com to the Sudanese refugee and Irish migrant (complete with accents!) – you will definitely find yourself familiarizing with his outlook on our society.
A bit of a warning: listening to this on your iPod in a public place, as I originally did, may result in extreme embarrassment once you cannot hold the laughs back any longer – and I’m not one to generally laugh aloud. Used as a soundtrack to his stand up routines, you can imagine it would be a bad idea to have this playing on the quiet morning bus to uni whilst surrounded by stern businessmen.
All humour aside, the tracks on the album span a variety of different genres accommodating his wide rage audience, and have been intricately prepared so as to embrace the particular character stereotype the song is about. This is definitely something to check out, in the least to open yourself up to the genre of musical comedy. Of course, my words can only say so much, after all according to The Bedroom Philosopher, “words can get fucked”.
Review Score: 9/10
