"Holy Water" was the third single taken from Australian rock group

The Triffids The Triffids were an Australian alternative rock and pop band, formed in Perth in Western Australia in May 1978 with David McComb as singer-songwriter, guitarist, bass guitarist and keyboardist.McFarlane (1999). Encyclopedia entry fo"The Triff ...

' '' Calenture'' album, and was released in August 1988. It was produced by

Craig Leon Craig Leon (born 7 January 1952) is an American-born record producer, composer and arranger currently living in England.International Who’s Who in Classical Music 2005'', Routledge, 2005. Leon was instrumental in launching the careers of many ...

(

The Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

, Blondie, The Bangles) and was written by lead guitarist and lead singer

David McComb David Richard McComb (17 February 19622 February 1999) was an Australian musician. He was the singer-songwriter and guitarist of the Australian bands, The Triffids (1976–89) and The Blackeyed Susans (1989–93). He also had a solo career incl ...

. This was one of only two tracks (the other was "

Bury Me Deep in Love Bury Me Deep in Love is a single released by Australian rock group The Triffids from their album '' Calenture''. It appeared in October 1987 and reached No. 48 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. Note: Used for Australian Sing ...

") that resulted from Leon's production of the band's fourth album. The production costs of Leon's efforts were more than the total costs of the band's break-through album, ''

Born Sandy Devotional ''Born Sandy Devotional'' is an album by The Triffids, released in March 1986. The songs were written by David McComb. The album was recorded at Mark Angelo Studios in London in August 1985 with Gil Norton co-producing with the band, and mixed ...

''. The record sleeve however credits the production to Gil Norton who produced the remainder of the album with the band. The single was released as 7", 12" and CD single versions by

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

but failed to chart in either Australia or the United Kingdom.

Background

"Holy Water" is the third single from Australian folk rock group

' fourth studio album, '' Calenture''. It was released in August 1988.Strong, Martin C. (1999) ''The Great Alternative & Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 661 The track was written by lead guitarist and lead singer

. It was produced by

(

, Blondie, The Bangles) and is one of only two tracks (the other was "

") that resulted from Leon's work for ''Calenture''. Leon had wanted to record all the tracks without the rhythm section of

Martyn P. Casey Martyn Paul Casey (born 10 July 1960) is an English-born Australian Rock music, rock bass guitarist. He has been a member of the Triffids, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Grinderman. Casey plays either his Fender Precision Bass or Fender Jazz Ba ...

on bass guitar and

Alsy MacDonald Alan MacDonald (born 14 August 1961) is an Australian musician and lawyer, best known as the drummer of the 1980s band The Triffids, where he performed under his nickname 'Alsy'. He was born on 14 August 1961 to Prof. Bill MacDonald, a professo ...

on drums. According to guitarist and violinist, Robert McComb (David's brother), "Craig Leon didn't understand what we were on about... it becomes arbitrary who plays what, as long as it gets played". While David recalled, "There was a lot of that shit going on last year (1987) ... It's good to have a certain amount of disrespect for these so-called experts". "Holy Water", set to a shuffling drum machine, hinted at The Triffids’ interest in

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

. The track was remixed by Michael Frondelli. Wilson Neate of ''Perfect Sound Forever'' described the track as "euphoric" and cited it as an example of The Triffid's "unbridled pop sensibility hichemerges – a development that sounds like an organic progression". ''Mess+Noise''s Lauren Zoric felt it was "blissful" and indicative of the album's "devastating ... loveliness". The B-side, "

Good Morning, Good Morning "Good Morning Good Morning" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. It was written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. Inspiration for the song came to Lenn ...

", is the band's cover version of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' track and was The Triffids's contribution to the 1988

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

'' Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father''. On the 12" single, additional tracks are "Red Pony" which is taken from the 1983 album ''

Treeless Plain ''Treeless Plain'' is the debut album by The Triffids, released in November, 1983. The album was recorded at Emerald City Studios, Sydney, Australia in twelve midnight to dawn sessions, during August through to September 1983. It was the band' ...

'', and "Raining Pleasure" is from 1984's extended play of the same name. The latter track features lead vocals by keyboardist

Jill Birt Jillian Margaret Birt is an Australian rock musician and architect. Birt was the keyboardist and vocalist of the alternative rock and pop band, The Triffids from 1983 to 1989. In 2008, The Triffids were inducted into the Australian Recording I ...

. The single was released as 7", 12" and CD single versions but failed to chart in either Australia or the United Kingdom.

Track listing

Personnel

"Holy Water" is credited to: ;The Triffids members *

– keyboards, backing vocals, lead vocals ("Raining Pleasure") *

– bass guitar * Graham Lee – guitar *

– drums, backing vocals *

– lead vocals, guitar *

Robert McComb Robert Harold McComb is an Australian musician who played guitar, violin, organ, and other instruments with Perth-based rock group The Triffids, from 1979 to 1989. He is the older brother of the band's founder and lead singer-songwriter, David M ...

– guitar, backing vocals, violin ;Additional musicians * Sam Brown – backing vocals * Adam Peters – keyboards ;Production details * Michael Frondelli – remixing ("Holy Water") *

– producer ("Holy Water") * Gil Norton – producer ("Holy Water") * Nick Mainsbridge – producer ("Raining Pleasure") * The Triffids – producer ("Raining Pleasure", "Red Pony") ;Art work * Peter Ashworth – photography * Lawrence Watson – colour photography * Island Art – sleeve art

References

{{authority control 1987 songs The Triffids songs Songs written by David McComb 1988 singles Island Records singles