Divinyls

Sound DNA

• Rock
• Hard Rock

• crunchy
• defiant
• storytelling

About

Just as some people took offense when Muddy Waters sang “I Just Want to Make Love to You” back in 1954, Australia's Divinyls sparked controversy when sultry frontwoman Chrissie Amphlett sang the pop duo's risqué 1991 hit “I Touch Myself.” Today, of course, this sentiment seems relatively tame by current standards. Yet what remains interesting about Divinyls' eponymous breakthrough album is how their fusion of classic rock and new wave still holds up in the 21st century. In the opening “Make Out Alright,” Amphlett’s songwriting partner and lead guitarist, Mark McEntee, plays a Beatlesque “Taxman” riff alongside a raunchy-sounding Hammond organ. Over this, Amphlett croons like The Bangles' Susanna Hoffs fronting a '70s version of The Rolling Stones. A well-arranged string section gives “Love School” an eerie trill that blends with McEntee’s British Invasion–style guitar tones as if this album were produced by Sir George Martin himself. And with Amphlett singing more salaciously than Blondie’s Debbie Harry, it’s almost hard to understand why this and other songs didn't gain the popularity of “I Touch Myself.”

via Apple Music

Tracklist

Credits