Australian writer Xavier Herbert, 1901-1984, published a book in 1938 called "Capricornia," a novel of "protest" and "compassion" written for the country's indigenous Aboriginal people. The book is considered a classic in its homeland.
So it's no surprise Herbert's work touched a nerve with Aussie rockers Midnight Oil, known for making music with a political and social bent. The band even gave its latest CD the same name, "Capricornia."
"The fact that we include some politics in what we do, I don't think makes us political," lead singer Peter Garrett said during a telephone interview, while he was stuck on a bus headed for Kansas City. "It makes us human.
"A lot of music is superficial and light. We want our music to be more real."
Over the past eight months, the band has been "in and out" of the United States, playing for larger fan bases along the East and West coasts. But it's been close to six years since they've been through the country's heartland.
If the "vagaries" of the American transportation system don't hold them back, the Oils will revisit Utah July 17 to unleash one of its patented energetic shows at 7:30 p.m. at Utah Valley State College's David O. McKay Center in Orem. It's a free concert put on by the radio station FM 107.5 "The End." By listening to KENZ people can find out how to get tickets.
If radio listeners haven't heard much from "Capricornia," it might be because the CD is struggling in the United States, Garrett said. "We're probably not getting played as much as we like," he said.
But the band is already drawing huge crowds, with at least 25,000 showing up at a recent concert during the Taste of Chicago festival.
As Midnight Oil makes its way through this country's "dead center," there are places where its popularity still holds after 14 studio albums. "Salt Lake is one of those towns that continues to respond quite strongly to what we're doing," Garret said. "We have an oasis there."
What the band is still doing is playing songs with lyrics not that easily accessible to Americans, but nonetheless resonant with meaning. In the new song "Say Your Prayers," listener's get to chew on such lines as, "I got a cure for a compassion fatigue, spend a week with the Timorese, running scared from the military. . . . "
Yep, still raising the social conscience of its audience.
Garrett said that these are apathetic — even "pathetic" — times, when any type of music with meaning tends to stand out. He called a lot of popular music "polished," "buffed up" and "run through the marketer's gate." "It's sort of oral popcorn," he said.
The meat of "Capricornia" — the cover features a cow's head — is that it's raw. Some of the songs were laid down in just a few takes. " 'Cap' is organic," Garrett said. "It'll stand up as a very good CD over time."
If history is any indication, their live performance will be equally raw.
"The noise that we make is the noise that we love," said Garrett, "and we want to spread that around. That's what keeps the band alive and going."
E-MAIL: sspeckman@desnews.com