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In 1989, after a decade of deserving to be famous, Grant McLennanand Robert Forster broke up the Australian-British Go-Betweens,probably the greatest songwriting band of the '80s. But the two saweach other often as they pursued their solo muses, collaborating ontours and even a filmscript, and now they've rejoined for a superbseventh album,The Friends of Rachel Worth (Jetset).True, despite input from Sleater-Kinney (notably drummer Janet Weiss),the musical mesh isn't total,so that Forster's talky songs seem more striking even thoughthey're less melodic. But this is a rare kind of rock. It's whatTin Pan Alley devotees like to call civilized, only withoutpretensions of superiority or sophistication--quiet, thoughtful,humorous, slightly weird. The Go-Betweens are guys to have a drinkwith, not to get plastered with. Make mine single malt with a sideof seltzer.

McLennan and Forster's chief competitors for the postpunksongwriting crown are Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding of XTC, whoalso took a long sabbatical in the '90s before returning with theorchestralApple Venus Volume One and now the guitar-drivenWasp Star (Apple Venus Volume Two) (TVT).The time off refreshed their skills while leaving open thequestion of whether they're victims of arrested development or justlike to write about it. Catchiest in show:Standing In for Joe,about cuckolding your best friend, andWounded Horse, about gettingcuckolded. Neither is really fun, they reveal.

Of course, many would claim that Ian Dury, dead of cancerearly this year, could outwrite any of these geezers. The bawdy,word-drunkIan Dury & the Blockheads Live!: All the Best,Mate . . . (Music Club) could make a believer out of you.

Playboy, Sept. 2000

Aug. 2000

Oct. 2000

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