AFTER THE FLOOD
(MBSG)
8/10
Where was Peter Dutton when we needed him? At some point in the murky past Mikelangelo and the Black Sean Gentlemen slipped into Oz (at night, by boat, no doubt), and have been assiduously undermining our morals ever since. Now they are trying to ingratiate themselves by writing some sort of concept album about migrant labour and the Snowy Mountains Scheme. But they’re not fooling anyone. We know they still yearn to debauch our daughters, drink our booze and cheat us at cards. That they nearly get away with it is thanks to those most insidious of qualities: charm and talent.
Although After the Flood features the rise and rise of Rufino, Little Ivan, The Great Muldavio and Rufino as lead vocalists, Mikelangelo’s booming voice still rages across half the album, including the lurching 6/8 groove of Wages Song. Not that these layabouts would know much about real work. They’re too busy crafting cunning rhymes (try “mazurka” with “sex worker”), playing their fiddles, accordions and clarinets exquisitely and making our sides ache. Deal with them, Dutton.