AUSTRALIAN ROCK--BOILING OVER FROM DOWN UNDER

Much has been made lately about the renaissance in American rock, spearheaded in the mainstream by the gym-toughened Bruce What’s-His-Name and shored in the underground by a Del This or a Les That.

But while “American rock” with its unpretentious emphasis on guitar, bass and drums celebrates the back-to-populism basics, another continent is providing much of the same musical no-frills excitement: Australia.

Australia. When it comes to music, most Americans still think of Olivia Newton-John getting physical, Air Supply getting mushy or Men at Work getting kooky. But plunge into the Australian underground and you’ll discover a scene as energetic and hard-edged as its American counterpart.

Europeans are already starting to recognize what’s happening Down Under. In a cover story in England’s New Musical Express on the Perth-based group the Triffids, writer Mat Snow asked, “Why are all the best bands coming from Australia?”

In France, a play list in Nineteen magazine shows eight of the Top 20 songs to be by Australian bands. In RAM (Rock Australia Magazine), an article called “The French Connection” documented that “les rockers Australiens” are indeed a force to be reckoned with in Europe.

The music we’re talking about is not the dance music of INXS or the feisty politico-rock of Midnight Oil. It’s more like the bratty mutant offspring of American trash culture and British beat music.

Ever since the mid-’60s, when the Easybeats stormed out of Sydney with the fresh, blue-collar anthem “Friday on My Mind,” teen-age garage-rock has been a veritable cottage industry in Australia.

In fact, there are reports that Australia is the only country in the world where all the Iggy Pop and the Stooges albums have remained in print, a possible reason why the country produced such talented--if unheralded--proto-punk bands as the Saints and Radio Birdman, both of which predated the Sex Pistols and the Ramones.

But enough history. Today, more Americans are getting in tune with the underground Australian scene, thanks to college radio, the opening up of import channels and the write-ups in the European press.

Big Time Records, a Sydney independent that distributes the Slash catalogue back home, has set up shop here to release alternative Australian and American acts. Hot Records, another Sydney indy, recently sponsored a Hot Night at a club in London which might be imitated here.

A&M; snapped up the Hoodoo Gurus, a favorite of U.S. college radio last year, though its new “Mars Needs Guitars!” album is being released through Big Time. Apparently, this second album wasn’t commercial enough for the major labels, even though commercial and college radio jumped all over it almost immediately.

To help Americans find their way through the pile of Aussie alternatives, here’s a guide to the most noteworthy Australian releases, some of which are still available only in import editions:

BEASTS OF BOURBON’S “The Axeman’s Jazz” (Big Time). A veritable supergroup of psychodelic Aussie bands (at various times featuring members of the Hoodoo Gurus, the Church, the Johnnys and the Scientists), the Beasts make hot and moist bayou music that takes traditional country and blues to their most harrowing conclusions. Songs like “Ten Wheels for Jesus,” “The Day Marty Robbins Died,” “Love and Death” and John Fogerty’s “Grave Yard Train” use well-worn Americanisms to paint a bleak picture without resorting to the blood-lust theatrics of the similarly minded Nick Cave.

THE CELIBATE RIFLES’ “Quintessentially Yours”--(Dutch East India; import). Any group that has the sense of humor to make its name the exact opposite of the Sex Pistols has something going for it. The quintet’s mixture of mid-’60s punk and psychedelia is often intriguing here on its third album. On songs like “Let’s Get Married” and “This Week,” the band feigns a sense of urgency that overrides the flat vocal style of Damien Lovelock; on others, like “God Squad,” the weaknesses and self-indulgences are more apparent. Like the band’s other LPs, this is a mixed affair whose value depends in great measure on your tolerance for thrash. The group’s best song, “Wild Desire,” is on the second album, “Celibate Rifles.”

HOODOO GURUS’ “Mars Needs Guitars!” (Big Time). Unlike many ‘60s-influenced bands that merely regurgitate the Paisley Decade, Sydney’s Gurus use it as a jumping-off point for a refreshing brand of guitar-driven pop that is quite their own. Though not as immediately accessible as last year’s “Stoneage Romeos,” “Mars” is a deeper and more expansive work.

I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVY’s “St. Kilda’s Alright” (Poly Ester; import). Sung in a broad, working-class Australian accent, such songs as “Thursday Crawl” and “Let’s Go Buy a Pizza” have a kind of lunkheaded neighborliness about them that’s appealing. But the brazen punk rockabilly mishmash that makes Side 1 of this six-track EP so disarming turns into the twisted blues and gothic horror of Side 2. It’s something this Melbourne quintet is not as comfortable with.

“THE JOHNNYS” (RCA Green; import). While Americans may sneer at the Johnnys’ Texas-style hats and Western riffs, Australians have just as much right to pilfer cowboy culture as anyone--their history, too, is littered with gold rushes, stampedes and the smothering of a native culture. The Johnnys’ mixture of standard country with garage rock is a covered wagon full of fun, especially on the rhythmic “Pray to John Wayne.” In future, the Johnnys may want lay off the Americanisms and investigate more of their own Western mythos. There must be more to it than Ned Kelly.

THE LAUGHING CLOWNS’ “Prehistoric Sounds” (Hot; import). Formed by the dark-voiced Ed Kuepper, one of the guiding lights of the legendary Saints, the Clowns leaven their spare brand of rock with an alternately grating and fascinating off-kilter style of jazz. None of their albums--the others are “Reign of Blood Throne of Terror,” “Mr. Uddich Schmuddich Goes to Town,” and “Law of Nature”--is for those who want easy hooks and bileless pop.

THE LIME SPIDERS’ “Slave Girl” (Big Time). The garage lives! When Mick Blood growls, “Take a little trip back to the Stone Age with me,” he’s not kidding. This six-track EP has some of the grungiest riffs known to man and packs the kind of punch most of the current West Coast psychedelic set only dream about. Listening to it, it’s easy to recall British writer Jan Morris’ description of Sydney’s rock music: “Often the thump of it drives the customers into a frenzy, and the bars are full of strapping young Ockers throwing their hands above their heads, whooping and beating their enormous feet.”

THE LIPSTICK KILLERS’ “Mesmerized” (Virgin; import). Back in 1981, this Australian band took up residence in Los Angeles and played a series of wall-scorching dates at Madame Wong’s. One of those nights was recorded and, with production by local scenester Chris D., is now seeing the light of day. The Killers’ post-Iggy, shamanistic guitar rock is magnetic. The real gem --not on this LP--is their single, the sweat-pumping “Shakedown U.S.A.,” which was released here on the Bomb Voxx label.

THE OLYMPIC SIDEBURNS’ “Olympic Sideburns” (Epitaph). Melbourne bands are known for being experimentalists, and in the grand tradition of that city’s haunting and twisted Birthday Party, the Olympic Sideburns mangle the blues and roots-rock into some weird new form. But where Birthday Party rejected pop out of hand, the Sideburns fall in and out of love with it, as evidenced here by “Have Love, Will Travel” and a bracing version of Love’s “7 and 7 Is.”

PAINTERS & DOCKERS’ “Love Planet” (Big Time). The bio claims this is what you’d get if R.E.M. were loud, drunk and Australian, and it’s not far off the mark. This quintet’s raw yet hook-filled pop doesn’t have R.E.M.’s sense of mystery--nor its pretension. On songs like “Fun Is Pain” and “Love Hate Love,” Painters & Dockers display a sense of vulnerability not found in many bands of this type.

SCREAMING BELIEVERS’ “Communist Mutants From Outer Space” (Big Time). Lead singer Ken Sykes’ dry wit and obsessive vocals power this sonically ambitious debut. With the stripped-down jazz of “My Eyes,” the haunting pop of “Faith,” the soaring punk of “Don’t Talk of Love” and the snide self-deprecation of “Unprofessional,” the Believers are out to prove they’re the most eclectic of Australian underground bands. If they keep putting out albums this wily and this good, they may end up being the best as well.

THE SPIKES’ “Six Sharp Cuts” (Big Time). On first listen, the Spikes seem just like more rubbish in the back of the garage, but more attention reveals a corrosive mix of blues and late-’60s psychedelia. Playing at a slower speed than some of their counterparts, the Spikes at their best dig in with sharp, long claws.

THE TRIFFIDS’ “Raining Pleasure” (Hot; import). A sense of isolation grips the Triffids--as well it should, since they come from the world’s most isolated major city, Perth. Their rustic rock-folk blend is as haunting and moody as it is deeply Australian. While this LP is less accessible than its predecessor, the magnificent “Treeless Plain,” it nevertheless is quality Triffids. (Also noteworthy is the Triffids’ alter ego, the Lawson Square Infirmary, which gives us the best mini-epics Ray Davies never wrote.)

COMPILATIONS:

“SHAKE AND SHOUT” (Survival; import). This compilation of Australian ska and R&B; bands is disposable except for two tracks by the Dynamic Hepnotics. Their “The Hip Shake” and “The Hurt Is On” are such great restatements of the sweaty James Brown dance-floor ethic that they make this album almost worth having.

“THIS IS HOT” (Hot; import). One of the better compilations of new Australian music, this album contains tracks by the Triffids, Laughing Clowns, Aboriginal Coloured Stone, Gondwanal and Project (which combines synthesizer and the Aboriginal didgeridoo), Celibate Rifles, the avant-jazz Benders and Plays With Marionettes, which spawned Melbourne personality Hugo Race, an associate of ex-Birthday boys Nick Cave and Roland Howard. Not one dud track.

“UGLY THINGS, VOL. 1 AND 2” (Raven; import). Indispensable for anyone who cares about pop history, these collections reveal there was definitely life Down Under before Helen Reddy. Compiled by Australian journalist Glenn Baker, these surveys of classic ‘60s Australian pop show that such bands as the Easybeats, Running Jumping Standing Still, the Birds and the Purple Hearts were putting out material as good as much of what was coming out of the United States and England at the time. A must.