Surprise Surprise
Welcome to the Snake Village
1985 Independent
Australia
Glenn Paisely – Bass
David Foodstuffs – Keyboards
Lance Link – Drums, Vocals
Alexander Macartney – Vocals and Guitar
Side 1:
- Telefone
- I Once Loved This Girl
- Zombies (aka “Walking With a Zombie”)
- Colours
- Heaven
- For Once in My Life
Side 2
- Sounds of Now
- Saviour
- Out of Her Mind
- Pictures of Matchstick Men
- Cried All My Tears
- Snake Village
This band started off as Surprise Surprise, then shortened their name to just Surprise, and eventually signed with Refuge records and released two full length CDs in the late 80s. This early demo is pretty different from their later releases as Surprise. Some songs sound like the soundtrack to the Monsters TV show (especially the song “Zombies”). I think they used to call this sound “Mod” or “Neo-Psychedelic”? I may have that part wrong, but it still sounds pretty cool. Power pop/alternative guitars with trippy keyboards and smooth background vocals. The song “Zombies” is listed as “Walking with a Zombie” on the cassette itself, and it had been previously released on a single the year before as the B-side to “Anguished Heart.” Also of note is that “Cried All My Tears” was released as a single, with “Telefone” as the B-side the next year after this was released. After that single, they shortened their name to Surprise and released the Good Guys Don’t Always Wear White demo.
Christian Tape Underground 