"Holy Water" was the third single taken from Australian rock group The Triffids' Calenture album, and was released in August 1988. It was produced by Craig Leon (The Ramones, Blondie, The Bangles) and was written by lead guitarist and lead singer David McComb. This was one of only two tracks (the other was "Bury Me Deep in Love") that resulted from Leon's production of the band's fourth album.[1][2] The production costs of Leon's efforts were more than the total costs of the band's break-through album, Born Sandy Devotional.[2] The record sleeve however credits the production to Gil Norton who produced the remainder of the album with the band.[3] The single was released as 7", 12" and CD single versions by Island Records but failed to chart in either Australia or the United Kingdom.
Background
"Holy Water" is the third single from Australian folk rock group The Triffids' fourth studio album, Calenture.[1] It was released in August 1988.[4] The track was written by lead guitarist and lead singer David McComb.[5] It was produced by Craig Leon (The Ramones, Blondie, The Bangles) and is one of only two tracks (the other was "Bury Me Deep in Love") that resulted from Leon's work for Calenture.[1][2] Leon had wanted to record all the tracks without the rhythm section of Martyn P. Casey on bass guitar and Alsy MacDonald on drums.[1] According to guitarist and violinist, Robert McComb (David's brother), "Craig Leon didn't understand what we were on about... it becomes arbitrary who plays what, as long as it gets played".[1] While David recalled, "There was a lot of that shit going on last year (1987) ... It's good to have a certain amount of disrespect for these so-called experts".[1]
"Holy Water", set to a shuffling drum machine, hinted at The Triffids’ interest in electronica.[6] The track was remixed by Michael Frondelli.[7] Wilson Neate of Perfect Sound Forever described the track as "euphoric" and cited it as an example of The Triffid's "unbridled pop sensibility [which] emerges – a development that sounds like an organic progression".[8]Mess+Noise's Lauren Zoric felt it was "blissful" and indicative of the album's "devastating ... loveliness".[9]
The Triffids – producer ("Raining Pleasure", "Red Pony")
Art work
Peter Ashworth – photography
Lawrence Watson – colour photography
Island Art – sleeve art
References
^ abcdefMathur, Paul; Phillips, Stephen (10 February 1988). "High Plains Drifters". Rock Australia Magazine (RAM). p. 15. Archived from the original on 28 October 2006. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
^ abcWalker, Clinton (1996). Stranded: the secret history of Australian independent music, 1977-1991. Pan MacMillan. p. 201. ISBN0-7329-0883-3.