TISM Machiavelli And The Four Seasons

Shortly after performing at the grunge-centric Big Day Out 1994, TISM were a hit—and proceeded to beat their third record to death with a collective realisation: After 12 years of being a rock band, the more traditional sound they’d established now associated the Melbourne septet with its popular evolution, which they found passé. Ever the reactionists, this sentiment drove the creative about-turn of 1995’s Machiavelli and the Four Seasons—and would inform the roughshod condemnation of rock ’n’ roll nostalgia that “Garbage” streaks towards on the back of a throbbing techno backbeat. A largely underground phenomenon prior to this album, TISM’s embrace of the era’s equally underground rave culture on Machiavelli and the Four Seasons ironically turned them into a household name. Gone were any prescient guitars on “Greg! The Stop Sign!!”’s deceptively upbeat concern for drunk driving—but what remained a constant throughout each track—and what would prove to be the nexus of TISM’s unlikely appeal no matter what genres they were straddling—was the band’s lyrical knack for turning outrageous proclamations into singable slices of satire. “I’m on the drug, I’m on the drug, I’m on the drug that killed River Phoenix” blares the infamous refrain of opener “(He’ll Never Be An) Ol’ Man River”, now a much-loved bona fide classic despite the fact it callously hinges on the fatal overdose of actor River Phoenix. With Machiavelli and the Four Seasons, TISM set out to prove that people might be listening, but they’re not really hearing—and in doing so, hilariously cemented themselves as infinitely listenable.