Re-Discovering Children Collide’s ‘The Long Now’

On Saturday May 6, we’ll be hosting the first-ever Liberty Hall House Party, complete with a stellar cast of Australia’s best bands; Pist Idiots, Children Collide, Crocodylus, ARSE, and Jet City Sports Club. As soon as I, the humble social media guy, got sent the lineup for this show, I went rummaging through my CD collection and pulled out one of my favourite albums of the 2000s, Children Collide’s debut full-length ‘The Long Now’.

After crunching the numbers (I’m a maths guy), I also realised that this album turns 15 this year. With that in mind, I decided to go back and pay homage to the band and album that soundtracked my entry into high school. Let’s call it a retrospective.

Here’s the scene: it’s 2008, you’ve just finished school and you’re going to Warringah Mall with your friends. You pick up a copy of The Drum Media from the rack outside General Pants Co. You read about this new band, Children Collide. You walk up to Mall Music, you buy the CD. You watch Johnny being interviewed by Danny Clayton on Channel V. You ask your older cousin to take you to Homebake to see them live. This is living.

‘The Long Now’ is a 45 minute eruption of hypnotic basslines and searing guitars. Opener ‘Across The Earth’ immediately showcases the band’s fantastic bass and guitar work, letting the former drive the melody through the verses before shifting suddenly into driving guitar riffs through the chorus.

‘Social Currency’ again is driven by heavy grooves; the highly danceable bass lines pull you in while Johnny’s huge guitar sound slaps you across the back of the head, while Farewell Rocketship begins softly with acoustic guitar and vocals, before building into an anthem with its catchy as fuck vocal melodies.

Elsewhere, ‘Skeleton Dance’ provides a slice of the wiry indie-dance-rock dominating the time, while ‘Cannibal’ and ‘Brave Robot’ give a sense for Johnny’s sense of humour and idiosyncratic lyricism.

Children Collide are upfront about the fact that they left music right on the cusp of making it big, but the fingerprints of their first two albums can be seen all over Aussie rock music.

I strongly urge you to go back and give this record a another listen. Fantastic stuff.

Children Collide will be performing at Liberty Hall House Party on Saturday, May 6.

Get tickets here.