The Cruel Sea | Artist

The Cruel Sea was an Australian rock band formed 1987 in Sydney initially by Danny Rumour (guitar), Jim Elliott (drums) and Dee Corban (bass) and Gerard Corban (guitar). Lineup changes saw the addition of former Beasts of Bourbon singer Tex Perkins, plus Ken Gormly (bass) and James Cruickshank (guitar) replacing the Corbans. Dan Rumour had previously been with Graeme Revell's ground-breaking industrial outfit SPK, then with neo-psych band Sekret Sekret, before forming The Cruel Sea. Their debut album Down Below had some excellent instrumental tracks but otherwise was unremarkable. Their second release, the excellent This is Not the Way Home, was to be their critical and commercial breakthrough album. Full of funky Louisiana swamp blues and vocals by Perkins which were compared with Captain Beefheart and Tony Joe White, the album did well in the charts and was nominated for an ARIA award. The band then toured Europe in support of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, gaining mainstream exposure and success. Their following four studio albums, while consistently good, couldn't reach the peak set by This is Not the Way Home. The band played sporadically up until their final concert in 2013. Tex Perkins started working with Don Walker of Cold Chisel, and former Beast Charlie Owen in the trio Tex, Don & Charlie. Tex also has several excellent solo albums. Outstanding Cruel Sea albums include This is Not the Way Home (1991), The Honeymoon is Over (1993), Three Legged Dog (1995), and Where There's Smoke (2001).

Artist Website: texperkins.net.au

Featured Albums: The Cruel Sea

Related Artists: Tex Perkins, Beasts of Bourbon, Blackeyed Susans, Lime Spiders, SPK, Sekret Sekret