Ned Collette

Ned Collette doesn’t need a band, and he’s spent a while proving it. A slight tap on a guitar string followed by a flick of the neck provides ample rhythm when looped. As for a bass guitar? Superfluous. In order to authentically render some of the pieces on his outstanding 2006 solo debut Jokes and Trials though, some pedal steel wouldn’t go astray; maybe a double bassist and cellist as well.

It’s odd then, that when Collette opts for an ensemble he chooses the two extra instrumentalists he doesn’t need: a drummer and a bass guitarist. Sure, it might be a novelty – a distraction from the Collette we all know and some may have tired of – but it’s not enough to provide any added depth to his songs. It impinges rather than enlightens, and isn’t really that much fun, either. Collette’s remarkably intimate, mournful, and astute songs morph into a type of benign, mid-tempo balladry. There is a sense that something beautiful and omnipotent is being haphazardly reigned in.

Not that the band engaged with much of Jokes and Trials anyway, somewhat mercifully. Collette’s one-man methodology is not integral to his effectiveness – he’s a gifted songwriter, and he’s responsible for the best local release of 2006. Performing under the guise of a three-piece rock group doesn’t work for Collette however, and really, doesn’t he have another band wherein he can quench this urge?

by Shaun Prescott