Serious Young
Insects (SYI) were a three-piece band that emerged out of Melbourne’s post-punk scene in 1980. The sound of the band was an amalgam of their
UK influences (Wire, The Cure, The Jam, XTC, Magazine, Joy
Division) shot through with a 1960's British-explosion pop aesthetic (Beatles,
Zombies etc.) Their brief two-and-a-half-year career falls into two phases; the first, centred around
inner city venues like the Crystal Ballroom; the second involved a record deal
and relentless six-gigs-a-week interstate touring.
In 1980 at the Ballroom, they
opened for their heroes, The Cure, Magazine and XTC amongst many other acts. Although
high energy the Insect’s aesthetic eschewed anything ‘rockist;’ they had no
‘moves,’ no lead singer as such. Like much post-punk music, they attempted to
create a new musical vocabulary using none of the conventions of the 1970s.
In 1981 the band signed a record deal with an indie label (Native Tongue) through
Epic/CBS (now Sony) and recorded 'Trouble Understanding' with Men at Work's producer,
Peter McIan at Richmond Recorders. At the end of 1981 the band returned
to Richmond Recorders with Tony Cohen and then with legendary
Australian engineer/producer John French to record an album, 'Housebreaking' (1982), which although being slicker than expected, had none of
the perk or fury of the band’s live performances.
In a move
that both made them and finished them they became a touring band and moved out
into the 'burbs' of the capital cities of Australia playing six nights a
week. The band was created outside of
the rock ‘industry’ but eventually they were absorbed and ground down by it. The band released three singles: ‘Trouble Understanding Words’ (1981), ‘Be Patient’
(1982) and ‘Faraway Places’ (1982), as well as an album, ‘Housebreaking’ (1982).
Lisa Perry of The Canberra Times praised the album "several times I had to check the cover to see if there were not also some session musos or others contributing to the sounds I was hearing. For a three-piece combo, these lads sure make a good sound"
In 1985 Peter Farnan went on to form Boom Crash Opera.
Serious Young Insects line-up included: Peter Farnan - Vocals/Guitar,
Michael Vallance - Bass, Mark White - Vocals/Drums.
