The Rootin Tootin Luton Tapes (1978/2007)
Buckle up, this one’s a two-disc monster and it might be the best thing Split Enz ever did! Recorded in 1978 right after Dizrythmia and not released until 2007, the RTL Tapes are a window into the sessions that fed Frenzy and a pile of later B-sides. Here’s the catch, and the reason I spend half this review mildly annoyed: a lot of these demos are better than what actually made Frenzy. Disc one is all new, unheard material. Disc two is mostly early takes of Frenzy songs. And once you’ve heard disc one, the Frenzy tracklist starts to look like a string of questionable decisions.
Disc one is the event. It opens with Miss Haps, all pulsing tom-toms and sharp piano stabs, with a mishap pun that lands like one of those Miss Steak gags and charms anyway. Home Comforts keeps the tom-tom drive going and turns into the most straight-up rock ‘n’ roll thing I’ve heard these guys do. Animal Lover is spirited and a little eerie. Carried Away is controlled chaos done exactly right, Elton John-style speed-rock piano over pounding drums and steady riffs, dynamic and catchy and kind of golden.
Then Semi Detached walks in and steals the show. It starts as a dramatic power ballad and climbs into a soaring rock guitar solo that flat-out floored me. I had no idea the band had something like this sitting in a vault. Holy Smoke rides an infectious shuffle with Beatles-style harmonies and playful harmonica, and Evelyn pulls the same Beatles-harmony trick later to the same irresistible effect. Message Boy goes pop-punk, which isn’t my lane, but the band pulls it off. Hypnotised is the one I almost wrote off, great verses bolted to a chorus I thought was a misfire, until a few more spins flipped me completely. If you think you don’t like it, you’re wrong. Give it another go.
The ballads are where it gets serious. Late in Rome is just voice and piano, Elton John in the best way, one of the most beautiful things the band ever put down. Straight Talk works harmonicas into a 3/4 sway that’s become a personal favorite, dynamic in every direction. Hollow Victory starts gentle and acoustic before building into a real pop-rock anthem on the strength of its chord changes. The only stumble is Best Friend, which gets goofy and chaotic right after a near-flawless run, and even though it grows on you, you can skip it. Creature Comforts and Remember When close things out mid-tempo and easy, good palate cleansers.
I’ll just say it: disc one is the best Split Enz material I’ve heard to this point. On its own it rockets to the top of the rankings and it’s not even close
Disc two can’t match that, and it knows it. This is mostly early versions of Frenzy songs, which makes for a fascinating before-and-after even when the disc-one magic goes missing. Hermit McDermitt turns up here too, still too Dr. Seuss for its own good, still skippable. The demos of Betty, I See Red, Mind Over Matter, She Got Body, Famous People, Marooned, and Frenzy are all perfectly fine, and it’s fun to hear them mid-evolution. The early Abu Dhabi is mostly instrumental, which only proves how much the finished lyrics did for it.
The disc-two treasures are the songs that never made Frenzy at all. Next Exit is a knockout, rock piano and a great solo and instrumental break, and it got tossed out as a B-side, which still bugs me. And then the reunion: Phil Judd, the wild card who left after the first two records, drops back in for two absolute scorchers. So This Is Love has a George Harrison-style melancholic riff and gorgeous band harmonies, the most emotionally direct thing on either disc. I’m So Up is Split Enz doing a 38 Special-style rocker, which should not work and completely does. Three cheers for Judd on both. Livin’ It Up closes it as ninety seconds of punk nonsense, too short to help, too short to hurt.
Roughly 75% of this collection is five-star material, and the other 25% is the more workmanlike Frenzy demos and a couple of oddballs. That 75% is so good I’m tempted to crown the whole set the best in the catalog right now. I’ll save the official verdict for the full artist ranking, but consider this your heads-up.
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Highlight Songs:
Semi Detached
Holy Smoke
Carried Away
Late In Rome
Straight Talk
I’m So Up
So This Is Love
Next Exit
Evelyn
Own it, Stream it, Forget about it?
It’s not streaming anywhere, so it’s buy it or miss it, and missing it would be a crime. I’m talking I-will-report-you-and-everyone-you-love-to-the-authorities territory. Track it down. This record is so damn Rootin’.
Overall Rating:
4.5 Stars
