Take it from me, there aren’t many taxi drivers in Sydney like Perry Keyes.
For a start, he knows how to get from A to B, and he probably won’t ask you to show him the way. He’ll engage you in a conversation, rather than bludgeon you with half of one and, at least as far as we know, he hasn’t been in any fights with federal politicians.
Impressive as all that is, what really sets Perry apart, is that he happens to be one of Australia’s greatest undiscovered singer/songwriters. Scratch that: he is one of Australia’s greatest singer/songwriters, discovered or otherwise. With his long overdue debut album “Meter” (and it’s a double!), Perry won’t be undiscovered for long and, one suspects, he may not be driving taxis for much longer either.
Perry has been writing songs since he was a kid and has played in a variety of bands. Most notably, in the late eighties, he fronted “Perry Keyes and the Stolen Holdens” a band which, in our experience, everybody had heard of, but no one actually saw. Mark that down as just another of the many mistakes you made growing up.
Perry has done that '" grown up, I mean. He’s lived, he’s experienced, and he’s drawn on it all in a way that will make all those who care to investigate his album far richer. Hopefully it’ll make him far richer too, in a literal sense, but that’s another story.
So anyway, Perry is great, but why? Well, think about all the great songwriters and they all have the ability to evoke a sense of time and place, an ability to find beauty and truth in the ordinary lives of people, at those times, and in those places.
Think Bruce Springsteen’s New Jersey, Paul Kelly’s Melbourne and Richard Buckner’s first marriage. Perry Keyes’s turf is inner city Sydney '" Redfern, Alexandria and Waterloo '" though he heads further west on occasion. It’s a suburban scramble where no one has any money, least of all Perry, and where the hopes of working people are beset by drugs, cheats and that hardy perennial, plain old bad luck.
Perry’s songs are, not to put too fine a point on it, beautiful '" poignant narratives set to hauntingly beautiful melodies, tunes that lodge firmly in the brain, carrying stories that do far more serious damage to the heart. In a world where the powers that be (whoever they are) have decided that the art we are exposed to should be shorter, glossier and far, far stupider, Perry Keyes writes songs that are frequently long, raw and emotional, smart and compelling. In a throw away culture, Perry’s songs are keepers.
“NYE”, the story of a kid eager to grow up and sure to be disappointed when he gets there, is immediately affecting, and its characters all too recognisable. “Some Aches”, which takes a little longer to grip, but then won’t ever let go, nods (ahem) to the Velvet Underground’s “Heroin” before painting an altogether less positive picture of the drug’s wreckage. Really, do songs get better than this?
“Service City”, “Sandra’s On The Way” and “Fairfield Girl” are among the many, many other gems. No other Australian songwriter is writing about Matraville, the Barbeque King, the abandonment of working class suburbs or the way a kid loves a footy player '" few other Australian songwriters are writing about anything with such honesty, heart or insight.
Once upon a time, we’d have wished fame on Perry Keyes, but that’s a pretty devalued currency these days. Now, we just hope that Perry gets to be heard, cause those who hear his songs will love and treasure them, and you’d prefer that any day, wouldn’t you?
REVIEWS
"So you're new in town and don't understand the beat on the street, right? What's the best place to go to find out whatcha need? Simple. Catch a cab. The guy'll know where you wanna go without asking any more questions and the chances are he'll know everything from where the junkies are scoring to where you can get keys cut at midnight or find a place to crash when all the hotels are full.
And there's a good chance that if you're new in Sydney, Australia, you may well have ridden in the taxi of one PERRY KEYES. By day, cabbie for hire with a mine of information stored in his sharp mind, but by night a talented singer/ songwriter with a knack for turning the minutiae of everyday life into some of the most poignant and memorable songs you'll have heard in many a blue moon.
There are 18 such seething, vivid beauties spread liberally across the 2 CDS making up Keyes' debut album "Meter" and the quality of the playing, the emotional content of the songs and dynamite producer Michael Carpenter's skills behind the desk all conspire to ensure it'll end up arguably the most affecting album to run you down all year.
Keyes' turf is the tough, raw inner city areas of Sydney - Redfern, Alexandria and Waterloo amongst others - and his writing is always vivid, descriptive and economic, whether he's dealing predominantly in characterisations (for example, "Sandra's On The Way" and its' rounded portrait of a relationship going down the tubes) or allowing us a lengthy, voyeuristic peek inside his own life and psyche (too many songs to easily pick one out, though the closing "Matraville Trees" is devastatingly good). Whatever the deal, though, these songs live and breathe and take the often vicious blows meted out by their environment, and by the time the generous 80 minutes comes to a halt you simply want to immerse yourself some more.
CD1 alone leaves you in no doubt that Perry Keyes is as adept at drawing upon his landscape as Bruce Springsteen is with his native New Jersey and Lou Reed and Jesse Malin are where New York's mean streets are concerned. Songs like the opening 1-2 of the no-nonsense power popper "Sweaty Sneakers" and "2nd Time I Saw You"s Stones-y groove instantly prove Keyes and his band "Give My Love To Rose" are damn good where gritty anthems are concerned, while Springsteen's spirit also hovers benignly over songs like the battered, witty love song "Vicious Left Hook" (dig Edmond Kairouz's Billy Zoom intro licks) and the brilliant "Wide Streets", which is the source of the album's 'fried chicken' cover concept.
But Keyes and co can do much more than rock, as tunes like "Service City" and the heart-rending "Some Aches" demonstrate. Musically, "Service City" is slow, plaintive and borderline folksy with drifting accordion supplied by the talented Kairouz, but Keyes' lyrics pull no punches whatsoever, and indeed the image of "this city's cut off at the legs/ Stoned boys beg, washing windscreens in the driving rain" only too perfectly captures the sheer hopelessness of many peoples' reality. "Some Aches", meanwhile, is a starker than stark portrait of doomed youth and drug dependency ("She met a boy named David, they'd shoot up in the park/ He'd meet her by the locked gates, they'd slip through the broken fence") framed by hauntingly lonely piano and that beyond-poignant chorus of "some aches never leave, but yours are all gone now...all gone now" which smashes into your heart like a demolition ball.
Actually, one of "Meter"s recurring themes is that of the expectation of youth going sour, and it returns to it with two more of CD1's best moments: "Growin' Up In The Dark Is Wrong" and the closing "NYE". Stark contrasts stylistically, "Growin' Up..." is a full-pelt rocker which still captures the abject awkwardness of lurching towards the adult world to a T, while "NYE" visits New Year's Eve celebrations through the eyes of a kid keen to grow up ("All the punks are lightin' fires, drinking long necks in the park/ Some girl's swimming in the fountain, singin' Buzzcocks in the dark") though he's sure to be disappointed when he gets there. It's disillusioned, yet warm all at once and coaxed along brilliantly by Perry's imploring voice.
So far, so magnificent, but the outstanding news is that CD2 is actually every bit as potent once again. It hurtles off the blocks with one of the album's best pop moments thanks to the corking "Bonfires Of June", which has a chorus that whacks you in the heart and gut and a melody motif that would sound the biz on the radio. It's a great start, but the quality control is easily maintained by the pretty, aching guitar and keyboards of "Just Like A Steam Train" which shivers to perfection while Perry bemoans his latest infatuation with one of his best beaten'n'numbed-out vocals.
The band continue to prove their versatility with songs like "Have Some Fun" and "Where's My Darlin' Tonight?". Both of these dip their toes convincingly into Americana of sorts, with the first providing an aching, ballad-style backdrop for Keyes' story of losers, liars and conmen, while "Where's My Darlin...." takes it at a country-ish canter with our hero falling for some classic she-devil charms ("I was never one of the world's smartest guys and I often fell for other people's lies/ But I never saw them shinin' in your eyes") while Kairouz embroiders with some spidery, James Burton-style guitar.
At a push, though, "Meter" saves its' finest hat-trick for the last stretch and the killer trio of "Fairfield Girl", "When Things Wear Out" and "Matraville Trees". The first once again finds country shadowing Perry as a potent tale of soured romance, deception and violence is spun out to devastating effect. It's not half as dark as "When Things Wear Out", though, where a dummy-selling acoustic intro gives way to the kind of brooding, ominous rocker concerning domestic disharmony and murder that John Doe has done so well in the past.
So it's fitting that we should leave "Meter" in the cemetery and "Matraville Trees": Perry alone with his memories, feelings of love and loss and the inevitable sound of traffic still playing in his ears. Drummer Bek-Jean Stewart adds the throaty Emmylou Harris/ Patty Scialfa answering voice, and it's only right the last word should be allowed to this gorgeous, but terminally sorrowful song. It's one of the most emotional things this jaded hack has ever heard and if you don't well up yourself....well, then you must be made of solid granite.
Yet somehow you know Perry Keyes will get back up again, walk back to that old taxi, click on the "Meter" and rejoin the line of cars back to the tough, tender and addictive city. And do what he has to do to survive. If you're the lost soul who should happen to flag him down with your suitcase and a head full of hope, make sure to listen attentively to his advice and tip him copiously." - 10 / 10 Whisperin And Hollerin Website
"In a year when even those we had very nearly given up on have hit us with their best album in years (Paul Weller, Neil Young, Ryan Adams - twice- and even Sir Paul and the Stones) it’s not been possible to check out all the new male singer/songwriters which have emerged in the last 12 months. To be honest we’ve had our fill now of the James Blunts and Daniel Powters so to make any impression any male singer songwriter trying to break through this year has to have that special something which would stop us in our tracks from the very first sound on their album.
So far in 2005 the only singer songwriter who had this effect was Sam Shinazzi (curiously another Laughing Outlaw signing) but now we can add Sydney taxi driver Perry Keyes to that short list.
That Keyes' debut is a double CD raised a few doubts. Ha, thinks he is that good that we are going to spend double the amount of time on another unknown singer songwriter? The fact is that even if Keyes didn’t have that confidence he should have. One of the amazing things about this collection is that the first CD is so strong I didn’t even listen to the second one until weeks after receiving the album. There were two reasons for this. The nine songs on the first CD are just so good it’s hard not to keep hitting the repeat button on the CD player and the second reason is that I got the feeling I was going to be let down when listening to the second set of nine songs. No one could possibly keep this standard up over 18 songs, could they? Well, I was wrong, because this unknown singer songwriter driving cabs through the streets of Sydney has done just that.
The album starts with ‘Sweaty Sneakers’ and right from the off Keyes lifts the spirit on even the dullest of days. Think Elvis Costello’s ‘Get Happy’ album with the happy quota increased by 100%. The same could be said of the following song, ‘2nd Time I Saw You’, mixing power pop with the sounds of 60's R’n’B.
At this stage it would be easy to dismiss Keyes as just another talented singer songwriter with Costello influences and to expect the following songs to take a similar road. But the third song, ‘Beer And Cigarettes’ changes all that. Forget any comparisons, ( and apart from that Costello one on the opening tracks, no other comparisons could be made really, Keyes really does have a unique sound) with this song Keyes shows he can turn his hand to any musical style with ease. Not for the last time allowing the listener to step inside his own world and highlighting Keyes' outstanding talent of writing both catchy melodies (one listen to the chorus of ‘Beer And Cigarettes’ and you’re hooked for life) and outstanding lyrics. Keyes is one of those rare songwriters who can place you in his songs. You are almost standing next to that girl “in the red leather maxi” by the Chicken Express.
In the genuinely heartbreaking ‘Some Aches’, a piano based ballad detailing the story of a drug addicted young couple, Keyes takes us to that broken fence where the pair would slip through to “shoot up in the park”. I knew that skinny girl who was always sick, “she’s got a nipple ring and a Celtic tattoo, she wears second hand clothes and black lipstick”, and after listening to the song, you’ll know her too. But where most sensitive singer songwriters would be content to leave the song as a gently strummed acoustic ballad embellished with that lonesome piano Keyes knows that it’s not like that in real life so after his voice nearly breaks up on the last verse it’s time for the electric guitars and effects to come in to remind us that although the tune is a pretty one the subject matter isn’t. The fact that these sounds last nearly as long as the main song pushes home the reality of it all. Mention should also be made of drummer Bek-Jean Stewart’s vocals on the chorus of this song. Her ghostly vocals particularly towards the end of the song really add atmosphere.
I’ve never been to Sydney and probably never will but Keyes has transported me there time and again in these songs. There’s a theme running through some of these songs, like the glory of youth that isn’t going to last. Like the promise of things to come that are never going to materialise. ‘NYE’, the song that closes the first CD, brilliantly illustrates that feeling in its tale of a New Year's Eve party. Again Keyes dresses his lyrics up in tunes that are so catchy it takes a few plays before those lyrics sink in. “All the junkie kids are tired, Every single taxi’s hired”... “growing up can make you sad”. Again Keyes brings home the reality; those parties are seldom as good as we expect them to be.
‘Bonfires Of June’ opens the second CD and again we are left wondering if Keyes can possibly keep this standard up over the following eight songs. Showing Keyes rockier side again it’s the song we wanted blaring out of our car radios this summer; impossible not to sing along with it. The following ‘Just Like A Steam Train’ is Keyes showing his infatuation with his latest love, “thinkin’ ‘bout what you said, you might say it again” coupled with another sweet Keyes melody.
And so it goes on, with each song as strong as the one before, the stark ‘Have Some Fun’ with its opening lines of “Did he king hit you?, Did he leave you at the gate” paving the way for this tale of love given to the wrong person but still coming back for more. ‘Fairfield Girl’ again deals with violence, and again its pretty melody is at odds with Keyes lyrics, “couldn’t stop me hittin’ the bottle, couldn’t stop me knockin’ her down”.
The final song, ‘Matraville Trees’ finds Keyes “standing by the church” reflecting on his past, lost loves and his fading youth. With more outstanding vocals from Bek-Jean Stewart it recalls the best work of Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris.
Usually the fact that Michael Carpenter had a hand in recording these songs would be a major factor as to why the album was so good. Although these songs have no doubt benefited form his magic hands and also the sterling playing of Edmond Kairouz on guitars and accordion and Phil Blatch providing the bass, one does feel that Keyes writes such strong lyrics and melodies that the songs would stand up no matter who he chose to work with.
One can only hope that Keyes gets enough attention from these excellent songs that he can give up his day job of flicking on that ‘Meter’ but it’s a double edged sword. He has crafted these songs from the people he meets and places he drives to every day. In some ways it would be taking away his source of inspiration if he no longer drove that cab. Maybe he has enough songs already stored away to make that follow up album; there’s going to be a queue forming very shortly. An absolutely stunning debut and in a year of outstanding albums this is album of the year, no question." - Pennyblack Music Website (UK)
“Sydney Scene Veteran in Entertaining “Solo” Outing. Appositely and amusingly, Perry’s band is called “Give My Love to Rose”, and though the boy clearly knows how to write an acoustic song, his band appears to be full of Pixies and Iggy freaks, which makes for a nice vibe and a place where many of us will instantly feel at home. Bearing in mind that too much of the NSW rock scene is dominated by average and not-too-creative pub rock (cue howls of derision and anger from the other side of the globe), it’s some feat that Laughing Outlaw keep on bringing us artists of this quality, depth and emotional intelligence. The Hired Guns, Gina Villalobos and Karl Broadie are also on the roster, and “Meter” makes for another reason why you should keep an eye for most things on this label. If there’s a criticism, though, “Meter” is no “White Album” or “Zen Arcade” and there’d be an advantage to a slightly shorter version. Opener “Sweaty Sneakers” (sounds like a proper ‘strine start to proceedings, doesn’t it?) is catchy enough, drawing you in pretty instantly, hooks and plaintiveness competing for your attention; it’s hard to tell if you’re in Minneapolis in the mid-Eighties or Boston in the early-Nineties, but both those scenes seem to be an unspoken influence here
“Beer and Cigarettes” has had a thousand similarly-titled predecessors yet conjures an atmosphere reminiscent of early Miami Steve Van Zandt or Minneapolis’ own and contemporary Ashtray Hearts- dishevelled, well-meaning, faithful and just a bit unreliable and drunk. “Some Aches” takes the mood down a few notches, and feels a great deal darker- maybe we’re more in Scud Mountain Boys territory here, as Perry’s voice and acoustic leave the main impression; memories of generations past, a childhood that didn’t quite work out, some damage that will never be repaired. You could be forgiven for thinking 10,000 Maniacs with Elvis Costello singing. Keyes’ comment in his online bio (http://www.perrykeyes.com/bio.htm) is usefully illustrative: “...maybe the most important thing they (songs) can do is help you to hear the voices of people that don't generally have much of a voice out there...” He’s no Townes Van Zandt, buy Perry Keyes has written and recorded a collection of songs that give an angle on life that has a strong textural projection into his subjects’ lives- and to quote the man who wrote “Give My Love to Rose” - “...in a shotgun shack or penitentiary, all God’s children ain’t free...” - Mark Phillips
"FARE DEAL: One of the nicer offerings to drop through the Mule Freedom letterbox of late is Meter, the debut on the always excellent Laughing Outlaw label from Sydney taxi-driver Perry Keyes. An impassioned songwriter, Keyes is very much in the Springsteen camp, although thankfully free of the self-righteous patina that inevitably colours most of the Boss's work.
Keyes is a damn fine lyricist, making the CD booklet a thrill to read, with or without musical accompaniment. You know the score: starcrossed lovers neck a few beers, bet on dogs and horses, buy and sell drugs, get tattoos and belt each others lights out, all with the stirring backing of a swelling Hammond organ. Lovely. Blue collar rock at it's best." - Mule Freedom Website
"The only other cabbie I know of with a 'hidden' talent, was Fred Housego who won Mastermind back in the days when it was chaired by Magnus Magnusson. That list has just doubled with the inclusion of Sydney taxi driver and, far more importantly, talented singer/songwriter Perry Keyes. After listening to his excellent debut album, Meter, quite why he is still employing Australia's version of The Knowledge is a mystery. I suspect that once Meter comes to the attention of public and critics alike, if you ring for Perry Keyes and he says, 'I'm just turning into your street' don't believe him, his cabbying days are surely numbered.
Meter is a songwriter's album, that's not to say that Keyes the singer doesn't do the songs justice, he does. In fact the strength of Beer and Cigarettes, for example, is that it's being expressed by the man who wrote it and experienced it. However the writing is so expressive and honest that it's that which dominates.
There's a wonderfully fragmented feel to Meter. Nowhere on the album is there the sense that these songs were particularly written to go together for commercial reasons. The suspicion is that it's a double album so that Perry Keyes can bring the listener up to date with his life and work in one go. Within that 'framework' (or more correctly lack of) there is a kind of chronology. The first four songs of side one are full of the angst and urgency of youth. The appeal of 2nd Time I Saw You is derived from its slightly self-conscious awkwardness, it captures perfectly the universal fumblings of young love.
Having completed the pubescent catharsis with the towering Some Aches, a more rounded and surer Perry Keyes emerges like a butterfly from a chrysalis. The next 'section' sees a musician that would fit right into the cynical and acerbic world of 80s new wave Britain, a fact epitomised by the definitely Costello-esque (Elvis not Lou) Vicious Left Hook.
But the journey is only half done and disc 2 exposes an ever-maturing Perry Keyes, here is a musician aware of what it is he wants to say and how he wants to say it.
On Fairfield Girl, Perry Keyes casts his eyes West, or in his case East and as the album unfolds he moves from introspection to Americana. For Perry Keyes, Meter is all about beginnings, it shows an insightful, intelligent and intuitive writer and a musician who refuses to submerge his own songs in a sea of over production. He has left Meter pretty much as nature intended, at times it is positively minimalist and the better for it.
His cabbying days may be drawing to a close but Perry Keyes's musical future is bright." - NetRhythms Website (UK)
"Coming from the other side of the world are the great sounds of Perry Keyes and his band “Give my love to Rose”. Perry a daytime taxi driver in Sydney has been in bands since his early teens, with the “Stolen Holdens” (1989) being the most impressive of them all. Recently (2003) Perry has picked up playing live again and this time most of his shows where low-key acoustic and Perry often ended up playing his own compositions.
The Stolen Holdens, never toured or recorded any album, and thus far they stayed a band that everybody knew of, but only the locals of Sidney had an opportunity to see. Now, years later he’s back, with his own band and a double album full of self penned tunes.
At first listen I could only get one name in my head. Bruce Springsteen, that was the comparison to Perry Keyes. Later on it became clear that although the music had some elements that could be described as “Bruce Springsteen like”, in general Perry and his band are quite unique.
Absolute hot pick of this album is the tune “Second time I saw you”, which is a good rocking tune with a kicking rhythm and easy to sing along text, that stays in your head for the rest of the day. NYE (New Years Eve) is another great tune that will creeps under your skin (and where the Bruce Springsteen in him is coming out big time). Equally interesting is the opener “Sweaty sneakers”, “Beer and cigarettes” or “Bonfires of June” but then again I also like “Sandra’s on the way” or “When Things wear Out”. As far as I can say, Perry Keyes is definitely a very good singer songwriter that wasn’t discovered until now. And with the release of this great album, I hope things might change for the man. But since fame is a pretty devalued currency, I hope that Perry Keyes gets heard.
Laughing Outlaw Records, will release Meter on October 31 of this year, so wait a couple of days before you rush out to pick up this album." - 4/5 BillyBop Website (Belgium)
TAXI driving singer/songwriter Perry Keyes is one of Sydney's best-kept secrets, but double CD Meter should change all that. Keyes could well be compared with another PK, Paul Kelly, in his ability to tell stories and capture something uniquely Australian in his words. Keyes covers inner-Sydney with gritty charm and raw honesty and Meter marks his long-overdue arrival. - JEFF CRAWFORD
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