Eternal Nightcap Remastered 2022

Baked and extracted from original ½” tapes.

This 25th Anniversary edition is a high-quality ecograde vinyl pressing on 180g black vinyl with high grade gatefold packaging. The nickel master and "mother" were produced in Germany at Pallas GmbH, the world's premium quality pressing plant, and once the Ukraine War affected supply lines, the "mother" was shipped to Holiday Records in New Zealand where the albums were pressed. 

To call The Whitlams an Australian institution in 2022 would be something of understatement. One of the country's most adored outfits of modern times, their bittersweet balladry and quirky storytelling has made them one of Australia’s most successful touring and recording acts. Yet nothing stands taller in their storied catalogue than the classic and beloved Eternal Nightcap. Celebrating 25 years this month, this masterpiece has never been far from our ears. It captured the hearts and imagination of a generation by describing a whole decade of its life - the mad, emotional, love-hungry contagion of the late teens and 20s. The album single-handedly brought the piano back onto the youth airwaves in 1997 and propelled the band to Best Group at the 1998 ARIA Awards. From love (‘Melbourne’) to mad parties (‘You Sound Like Louis Burdett’) to tragic friendships (‘The Charlie’ trilogy), the album kicked off with the offbeat triple j Hottest 100 #1 ‘No Aphrodisiac’ and never looked back. The record's reputation as a cultural touchstone has only firmed with time and The Whitlams’ bittersweet balladry and quirky storytelling has made them one of Australia’s most successful touring and recording acts.

FILE UNDER 

Formidable and all-time classic Australian albums, stalwarts who emerged in the 1990's, the quirky, introspective and humorous piano men, the trailblazers, the indie icons.

IF YOU LIKE

Ben Folds Five, Blur, Machine Gun Fellatio, Bob Dylan, Augie March, Paul Kelly, You Am I, Cake ... but really ... do The Whitlams actually sound like anyone else?!

The biggest song from Eternal Nightcap, 'No Aphrodisiac' hit #1 in triple j's Hottest 100 of 1997 and had lyrical contributions from Chit Chat and Pinky Beecroft from Machine Gun Fellatio.

LISTENING NOTES:

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• Tim Freedman bumped into Stevie Plunder outside a Sydney Big Day Out event in 1992. They missed Nirvana, but they did discuss forming a group. They released two albums prior to Eternal Nightcap and their most well-known tune up to the point was 'I Make Hamburgers'.

• Tim Freedman chose musicians to fit each song on Eternal Nightcap, rather than have the same band throughout. He says, "The band became a revolving door because I had no money to pay anyone."

• The album was recorded on a shoe-string budget of $18,000.

• Recording sessions for the album happened during one of the most difficult periods of Freedman's life following the death of co-frontman 

  Stevie Plunder.

• The album was released totally independently - no video, no label, no commercial radio play. "It just started selling itself."

• In a truly remarkable feat, the album's moody opener 'No Aphrodisiac' landed at #1 on triple j's Hottest 100 for 1997, ahead of by Blur ('Song 2'), Radiohead ('Paranoid Android'), Silverchair ('Freak'), The Verve ('Bittersweet Symphony'), Chumbawamba, Pauline Pantsdown and, well, everyone else. 'You Sound Like Louis Burdett landed at #53.

• They also won big at the 1998 ARIAs, taking out awards for Song Of The Year ('No Aphrodisiac'), Best Independent Release and Best Group. The latter was presented to the band by their namesake himself, Gough Whitlam who, as the band dropped to their knees, announced, “It’s my family!”

• The famous pink Greyhound coach featured in Priscilla: Queen Of The Desert was The Whitlams actual tour bus!

• Pre-Whitlams Freedman used to play keyboard on tour with legendary Sydney bands The Sunnyboys and The Hummingbirds.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAID:

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#24 - 200 Best Australian Albums of All Time.

- Rolling Stone.

"... helped The Whitlams find more than just a cult audience, Eternal Nightcap was full of gentle, well-crafted, piano-driven pop songs.
- AllMusic.

“... absolutely spectacular.."

- AlbumOfTheYear.

"Half the songs here could be suited for radio play in an impressively eclectic pop-rock mold"

- That Music Mag.

"... a starkly unique album in its era,."

- X-Press Magazine.