- Kim Salmon is a man who doesn’t sit still for too long. As soon as you’ve soaked up one of his projects, and there are many, from The Scientists to The Darling Downs to his work alongside The Surrealists, there’s always another project on its way. He joins other restless Australian peers such as Dave Graney and Ed Kuepper, in one long relentless artistic drive. It’s easy to forget just how big an influence he’s had on music, not just here in Australia, but elsewhere in the world. Ask the members of Mudhoney for instance.

In Kim and Leanne, Salmon is joined by drummer Leanne Cowie, who used to drum with him in The Scientists. The other collaborator in the mix, Michael Stranges, has helped out in the writing and production of the tunes. This duo/third collaborator combination has resulted in an excellent album titled True West, full of the sort of instantly agreeable garage band hooks Salmon turned out in The Scientists.

The real strengths of this album lie in the clever lyrics and the great interplay between the guitars and drums. Lyrics tumble forth seemingly straight from the subconscious and resound long after the song is over. Lines like “CBT may rid you of anxiety” in The Science Test, “We’re so naïve / We’re like Adam and Eve” from So Naïve, “Is there a limit to this carry on? / We’ve really got to get it checked” in Carry On Baggage all jump out brilliantly, and that’s just a small sample. So often cleverness can be mistaken for lacking real heart, as opposed to an earnest reading of a situation or feeling. Salmon’s approach to it is always refreshing, and never lacks heart. It’s also his skill in matching the lyric to the guitar texture, or riff in the case of this album, that also comes to the fore here.

Most importantly too, Salmon after all this time in the music industry, hasn’t lost his creative urge for fun times. Science Test is a one chord workout, In a Nick / Just a Tick packs as many tricks as it can into a minute and a half, even a drum solo, and Hard To Get is almost a ‘rap’. Fun times, honest!

The one takeout from True West is that like the aforementioned peers, Salmon is still doing it and doing it well. It’s so easy to forget our Australian musical legacy when there is a constant influx of new talent. There’s room for everyone, and in fact, most importantly, there should always be a special place reserved for the quality of Kim and Leanne.

- Ian Powne.