Jack Ladder’s Height Was Also A Low
At a towering “six foot and a million” it’s easy to be intimidated by the presence of Australian singer-songwriter Tim Rogers (no, not that one) aka Jack Ladder.
After two objectively successful records in the form of 2005’s Not Worth Waiting For and its successor: Love Is Gone – in 2008, it seemed that the troubadour had the Australian crowd at his feet.
There was only one problem: Jack Ladder had grown immensely weary of the blusey and folky Americana twang that he had made his name under, thanks to being introduced to the music of Suicide as well as the project founded by David Berman & Stephen Malkmus known as Silver Jews, soon after the release of his second album.
While living a semi-nomadic life overseas, the ideas of what would become Jack Ladder’s third album was slowly etched together during often disastrous times in New York and Berlin, before finally reconvening with his backing band The Dreamlanders (now comprised of Kirin J Callinan, Lawrence Pike and Donny Benet) in the rural region of Yass in New South Wales to begin recording sessions at an old mansion known as Blackburn Estate. What began as aloof guitar and drum machine demos slowly expanded into atmospheric and post-punk infused nocturnally gothic serenades.
While the album was hailed in underground circles, the record was also the band’s undoing, causing a brief fallout off the members which meant the album was never really toured.
Ten years later, ahead of the Sydney show to celebrate the reissue of Jack Ladder’s seminal album, the musician took some time out to have a chat on The Band Next Door on 2SER about the initial reception of the record, hints at a follow up in the Hurtsville cinematic universe and how his bandmates feel revisiting the record after all this time.
