Live Reviews
“The Saints 73 - 78 were remarkable on their last of three nights at the Princess Theatre. Vocalist Mark Arm totally gave himself over to the service of the songs. Ed Kuepper was on fire on guitar. Ivor Hay remains a powerhouse on the kit. The rest of the band included Mick Harvey, Peter Oxley and a three piece horn section. What will remain burned in my memory banks is a home stretch that included ‘(I’m) Stranded’, ‘Messin’ With The Kid’ and ‘Know Your Product’ … all sublime. But it was that incendiary take on ‘Nights In Venice’ that elevated the room. This wasn’t a tribute to the Saints … it was something else. It was eight guys on stage reaching for magic, devoted to the moment and delivering one of the greatest final furlongs I’ve seen in four decades of watching live music. ” - Sean Sennett
— Time Off (Brisbane) November 2024
"From the get, Kuepper’s frenetic speed and punk spirit were clear. Launching into This Perfect Day, the delight and energy projecting from this seminal Australian guitarist returning to his earliest material felt not only long overdue but much-needed. The Saints’ first three records were not only the beginning of this mainstay of Australian punk and rock history, but a la Wire’s first three releases, a rapid entry and succession that forged the international punk scene. By focusing entirely on these three albums and performing tracks not previously heard live before this tour, the depth and experimentation in The Saints’ early days couldn’t be denied.” - Xpress
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“So…..this was no tribute band…..no hackneyed cabaret act. This was a band on fire. From the first few bars of opening song, This Perfect Day, through to the last drops of the chaotic frenzy that is Nights In Venice, The Saints pummelled our senses with 20 songs of jaw-dropping intensity” - Backseat Mafia
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"Right off the bat the decision to recruit Harvey was obvious, his acoustic work blending perfectly with Kuepper's electrifying electric guitar work, just like the double-tracked studio recordings. Oxley was totally locked in with Hay, providing a rock solid rhythm section that never yielded. And Arm? He understood the assignment. Sing with conviction, with heart, and pay service to the songs and Bailey’s delivery; he didn’t even address the crowd between songs. As he mentioned in an ABC Australia interview, “It’s not about me. This isn’t about me at all. I just get to participate in it.” - The Big Takeover
in praise
“Rock music in the ’70s was changed by three bands—the Sex Pistols, the Ramones and the Saints” – Sir Bob Geldof.
“(I’m) Stranded is the most important Australian album ever made" - Nick Cave
“Of all the places for one of the best bands to come from, it’s Brisbane, Australia. And they were doing it way before anybody else. They were playing live in like, ‘73. They were just an amazing band. Sort of like the Australian version of the Ramones but they didn’t look the part. I remember at the time thinking, those guys need to go to the barber. But that’s how shallow a lot of people were about bands at the time and they didn’t get the recognition they deserved. And I feel it was because of the way they looked. Never was a more punky record made but for some reason, well, for the reasons I’ve just said, they were criminally overlooked. I’d love to have seen them live but never did.” - Jim Reid / The Jesus and Mary Chain
“Without The Saints, we probably wouldn’t have started. They just made it all seem doable. It was like, ‘Well, they’re from Brisbane!’ So we started our first band, and at our first gig we covered (I’m) Stranded! We even took a photo of the abandoned house in Petrie Terrace with (I’m) Stranded painted on the wall. But it never crossed our minds to stand in front of this. It would be sacrilege, you know? And we were trying to work out a way that we could get it off the wall intact, because we recognised it was a historical document.“ - Mark Callaghan of The Riptides / Gang Gajang
“The Saints first three albums rank among the best records ever made. They have been a part of my life since stumbling upon them in the early 80s. Their influence looms large in Mudhoney world. I am stoked, stunned, and humbled that I get to join in on this Rock ‘n’ Roll Reality Camp with Ed, Ivor, Peter and Mick!”– Mark Arm / Mudhoney
“The Saints came to England in mid-‘77, played a lot of gigs all over the country, and, late in the year, recorded their second album, Eternally Yours, at Roundhouse and Wessex studios. Less barbaric than the first album, Eternally Yours has, per groove, even more moments of sublime glory. If the Saints had been half as self-important as the Clash, they would have made it. If they had only been English... but then, on second thoughts, if they’d been English they would never have made music like this at all.” - Barney Hoskyns 1981
box set reviews
"It’s a swirling, ugly form of beauty. The Saints had that dirty, mid-‘60s garage snarl all chewed up and spit back through busted amps. But instead of being all retro and cute about it like some Nuggets wannabes, they sounded like they were living it. No nostalgia. Just urgency and resentment. That’s why “(I'm) Stranded” wasn’t just garage or punk, but its own goddamned monster.” - Tim Stegall
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"This eclecticism makes (I’m) Stranded one of the most striking, unique debuts in punk history. It suggests an alternate history where punk rockers could actually play their instruments and write coherent songs, with Ed Kuepper’s fret-melting scrap metal guitar solos delivered with all the glue-huffing nihilism Year Zero had to offer.” - Spectrum Culture
interviews
“From the time we decided to record the single and pay for it ourselves to the time we landed in London and played at the Roundhouse is probably eight months or something like that, it was pretty crazy,” Hay marvels. “Something was happening every couple of weeks to move things forward, once we pressed up that first single and sent it out to everybody, and then hearing on the ABC that The Saints have been nominated as Single Of The Year by Sounds Magazine in London, we honestly thought, ‘Something’s wrong here!’ - Ivor Hay / The Music
“At the time that we were doing it, I think at all times when we were doing the first single independently, I thought: ‘That’s it.’ There was nothing to look for. We- had documented the band, and I thought: ‘Well, if in five years’ time someone comes across this and likes it, that’s fantastic. We’d be set in history.’ To turn that five years into fifty is a bit scary, but it’s fantastic” - Ed Kuepper / The Saints