Ed Kuepper & The Kowalski Collective
Jean Lee & the Yellow Dog
13 Track, LP (2007, Hot Records)
Related: Ed Kuepper.
Living up to his own reputation has never been a serious difficultly for Ed Kuepper, perhaps because in the years following The Saints’ demise he has never taken his reputation too seriously. Like Stephen Cummings, Robert Forster and a handful of other continuously productive graduates of the late 70s to early 80s Australian punk and new wave scenes, Kuepper’s output over the last few decades has most striking for its forward thinking and fiercely anti-nostalgic character. That’s all the more commendable for him being the person routinely attributed with inventing the sound, if not the aesthetic, of punk.
On Jean Lee & the Yellow Dog, Kuepper turns his attention to the last woman hanged in Australia, mapping her descent into crime, drugs and abuse that lead to her eventual execution. Originally intended to be performed as a rock opera, Jean Lee is a collaborative effort between Kuepper and his wife, artist-cum-poet Judi Dransfield-Kuepper, and is executed with the help of Peter Oxley (Sunnyboys), Warren Ellis (Dirty Three), Jeffrey Wegener (Laughing Clowns) and fellow Saint Chris Bailey. And while Jean Lee’s story has been well documented by Australian artists, Kuepper’s offering presents it with such sensitivity and insight that it may well become the final word on this important moment in Australian history. Kuepper’s dexterous use of noise and texture come to the fore on Jean Lee, making it aurally captivating and one of the finest releases of his already impressive catalogue.
by Pat McGrath
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