Espresso Bongo
Studio album by
Mental As Anything
ReleasedJuly 1980
RecordedMusic Farm, Byron Bay, Australia
GenrePop
LabelRegular
ProducerCameron Allan
Mental As Anything chronology
Get Wet
(1979)		 Espresso Bongo
(1980)		 Cats & Dogs
(1981)
Singles from Espresso Bongo
  1. "Come Around"
    Released: June 1980
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

Espresso Bongo is the second studio album released by Mental As Anything. It was released in July 1980,[2] and peaked at #37 on the Australian Album charts.[3]

Recording

Greedy Smith later said the recording, "just got away from us all together. We'd only learned the songs the week before we recorded them, and then we put them down in seven days."[4]

O'Doherty later recalled, "we did it in six days under the influence of all sorts of terrible things. It's one of my favourites and it's the weirdest album we've done but it could have been played a lot better and done a lot cleaner."[5]

Reception

AllMusic said, "Sounding like it consists of songs leftover from the sessions for their debut, Espresso Bongo does no one any favors, although it is not a bad album. Cameron Allan's production is even flatter than before, sucking almost all the excitement out of what could have been an exciting album." The efforts of Martin Plaza are described as "buried".[6]

Rip It Up said "The hooks are just as subtle, but growing songwriting expertise and excellent production mean that the sound is smoother, and the band no longer wear their influences like badges". The subject matter was said to be, "that great Australian institution, suburbia".[7]

Track listing

Side A
  1. "Troop Movements in the Ukraine"
  2. "Semi Trailer"
  3. "Missing Plane"
  4. "Insect Liberation"
  5. "Won't Let Me Drive"
  6. "Come Around"
Side B
  1. "Harmonic Visions"
  2. "Away"
  3. "Cannibal"
  4. "Blacktown to Bondi"
  5. "The Girl"
  6. "Live Now Pay Later"

Personnel

Musicians

Recording details

Charts

Chart (1980) Peak
position
Australian (Kent Music Report)[8] 37

Certifications and sales

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[9] Platinum 50,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalogue
Australia / New Zealand July 1980 Regular Records Vinyl LP, Cassette L 37358 / C 37358
Australia 1992 Regular Records CD D19561

References

  1. ↑ Espresso Bongo at AllMusic
  2. ↑ "Mental As Anything". Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  3. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.
  4. ↑ Duncan Campbell (1 April 1982). "Mentals: Greedy spills the beans". Rip It Up. No. 57.
  5. ↑ George Kay (1 September 1985). "Method In Their Mentalness". Rip It Up. No. 98.
  6. ↑ Stephen Schmee. "Espresso Bongo". AllMusic.
  7. ↑ Simon Grigg (1 September 1980). "Records". Rip It Up. No. 38.
  8. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 198. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  9. ↑ "Feature Picks" (PDF). Cash Box. 11 December 1982. p. 8. Retrieved 5 December 2021 – via World Radio History.
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