The Birthday Party - Release the Bats | Reaction! (Nick Cave's Old Band!)

I didn't know that Nick Cave was once in a goth punk rock band. This was unlike anything I've heard from him before, and I loved it! The yowling, the energy, it was crazy.
Thanks for watching!
linktr.ee/insignificantnick

[@rlaw2244]

Watch the 'Nick The Stripper' video by The Birthday Party 🤣 I forgot how shocking it is and showed it to someone at work the other day...

[@gr3053]

Originally The Birthday Party went by the name The Boys Next Door. You should check out their song Shivers.

[@lornai7171]

Rowland S Howard was one of the best guitarists ever. Stayed at my flat once. A sweetheart. Much missed.

[@lucylovic]

Bite

[@triffidkiller1234]

Nick Cave uncaged! This was my introduction to The Birthday Party, it featured a lot on the John Peel show played just before midnight with thousands of teenagers hiding under the duvet with their fingers on the record button of tape machines. 'Junkyard' was the album with a great cover by Ralph Steadman. Nick was heavily influenced by 'The Pop Group', check out 'Justice', 'We are Time', and 'We are all Prostitutes'.

[@Drummingvulture]

My introduction to The Birthday Party was from a cassette that some guy my buddy knew (this is around 1982) made for him. It had so many excellent bands and artists on it (The Fall, Robyn Hitchcock, Play Dead, Pere Ubu, etc). The standout track for us was "Big-Jesus-Trash-Can" by The Birthday Party. My buddy (also my guitarist since 1978) was a huge buyer of all of the punk and new wave he could get his hands on, and went out and bought as much of the Birthday Party catalog he could find. "Release The Bats" is one of their best tracks, but almost everything they did was top shelf.

[@Zubareffstream111]

Their début single, 'Friend Catcher' is amazing.

[@andrewmacarthur7462]

Fantastic. For me, one of the best bands ever. I have to say Nick, your choices just keep getting better and better. I hope one day you play Canada's finest, Nomeansno. Would love to hear your thoughts on them. Though I hope you don't hate them 🤨

[@InsignificantNick]

Lol I'll have to check them out!

[@sjfvet519us]

You should also listen to "Pop Crimes" or "White Wedding" (cover) by The Birthday Party's guitarist Rowland S. Howard.

[@stefanogortaldi3156]

At last!! A reaction on one of the most original post punk bands (plenty of reactions on Nick Cave but the best from him was with this band...). Release the Bats is a good one but their best track in my view is "King Ink": the bass dominates the track with a scary riff (that distorted piano too is terrifying) - then those vocals from Nick "Oh Yeah Oh Yeah, I wanna a wonderful life..." so outlandishly creepy and spot on at the same time. There's another great post punk band with hasn't been covered with some reactions - Chrome (from San Francisco - not some other band with the same name)...I'd try "Half Machine Lip Moves" (a masterpiece).

[@OnceWasRStrathfield]

There was a lot of interesting stuff coming from Melbourne during this period. Look up Birthday party ''nick the stripper'' (music video is something to see) and Boys Next Door ''shivers'..

[@James-wj8eq]

In your own time, you should checkout Roland S Howard's bands, Young Charlatans, Crime and the City Solution, These Immortal Souls...or his own two solo efforts in last years of his life, Teenage Snuff Film or Pop Crimes...great music to discover!

[@Robbo766]

When I first saw The Birthday Party, they were The Boys Next Door and they were on a TV show called Countdown in 1978 and they were miming to their single ''These Boots Are Made For Walking''. I thought they were a failed boyband trying hard to be punks and I had no respect for them. Then I saw them live as The Birthday Party in 1980 and 1981 and they were frightening. I know people enjoy exaggerating, but it's no stretch of the truth to say that I was scared of this band and I was ready to hit Nick Cave if he tried doing to me what he did to some of the people in that audience. Tracey Pew looked like BDSM monster and Rowland S. Howard looked like his recovering victim. Mick Harvey looked like he was contemplating his existence, and Phil Calvert looked like a surfer doing hard time for pot possession. They were a horrible band and I bought all their albums and loved them. I wasn't sad when they folded. I was sad that Nick Cave and Mick Harvey continued as The Bad Seeds. I'm pleased that they're successful, but when I see adult Nick Cave fans being unaware of the Birthday Party I am reminded of how my uncle felt when my friend told him he was a fan of Paul McCartney but had never heard of The Beatles.

[@mattjohn4731]

Glad you liked that! The BP is so noisy compared to the Bad Seeds. I had expected you might be somewhat dismissive, like many listeners are. I enjoy the Birthday Party in small doses 🙂

[@fiftysix9331]

When Nick Cave still had balls and wasn't being invited to the Royal Palace.

[@mhayes3663]

"MUTINY IN HEAVEN" ep the crossing point

[@britishtechnosea9591]

I saw The Birthday Party in 1981 and they were the most frightening band I ever saw up to that point. It was like a drunken Australian revelry. It was nothing contrived like Bauhaus or rehearsed like Echo And The Bunnymen. It was completely primitive and dangerous, and people got hurt. After The Birthday Party a lo of Australians began infiltrating the British undergorund scene. Hunters And Collectors, The Triffids, The Moodists, Go-Betweens, Laughing Clowns, The Scientists, Died Pretty, etc. I ignore most reaction channels because I see the usual British and American names, but being in England around the time all this was happening, I know for a fact that the Australian contingent were angrier and hungrier and often more pissed off than their British counterparts. I met The Birthday Party and found them to be friendly, intelligent, irreverant with a dry sense of humour. I met Bauhaus and found them to be dull, boring and pompus. In fact, Bauhaus were too boring to even try to be pompus. I still listen to the Australian stuff but rarely listen to the British stuff.

[@InsignificantNick]

They sounded like a wild band, holy crap!

[@britishtechnosea9591]

@@InsignificantNick They were, and they weren't the only good band from the anitpodes. I got to see The Chills (from New Zealand), Hunters And Collectors, These Immortal Souls, Died Pretty, The Saints, and many others. If there's one criticism I have of your channel (and I spread this criticism to other reaction channels), it is the rigid focus on British and American alt.music, and not the alt.music from other regions. I'm from England, I was around in the 70's and 80's and life at that time didn't just revolve around British and American groups. Some of the best records I have and bands I saw live were from Australia, New Zealand, Iceland and the Netherlands. You're not getting the full scope of what it was like at the time by just listening to British and American stuff. The beauty of that time is that music was coming from everywhere.

[@candicessssasssy2160]

@@britishtechnosea9591 he's just another boring reaction channel that gravitates to the tried and tested.

[@surf2escape892]

@@britishtechnosea9591 He's a rigid anglophile.. I'm glad this guy isn't checking up on Australian content because I couldn't care less what a Canadian or anybody else thinks of our music. I wish he'd stop reacting to Nick Cave to be frank.

[@brunosm.l2267]

This shows that Nick Cave was a tough dude since the beginning, he just got more elegant. (I was gonna say fancy but that was pretty fancy too, very post-punk but more violent)

[@geraldshearer1455]

i was 12 and seen them at the tin can club

[@Lilione111]

Can you please react to Bau Haus - Hollow HIlls.

[@karenclark8374]

You should listen to The Sugar Cubes- Birthday.

[@InsignificantNick]

I have! kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXfLnWxpes9qhsk

[@nomisnestral6956]

Join our club.

[@leefr76]

Reaction request to Live with me by Humble Pie. Incredible track, at least check it out on KZbin.

[@Lilione111]

I liked Birthday Party better than Bad Seeds.

[@jonathancole833]

I've always wondered what a Sex Bat is.

[@outernothingness1177]

You know'em when you meet'em.

[@thoru4367]

BAITE

[@desi1641]

you dont know nick cave until you see the ''nick the stripper'' video and ''shivers'' video.. its not quite goth.. more like f*@&cked up australian underground stuff

[@Robbo766]

Australia was great at making f'ck'd up underground sh!t in the 70's and 80's. I got drunk just to ease the tension of seeing groups like Lubricated Goat, I Spit In Your Gravy, Beasts Of Bourbon, Venom P. Stinger and The Celibate Rifles live. Amazing bands.. I think some of them are dead now

[@desi1641]

@@Robbo766 wish I could say the same