The Divinyl Miss C.

Rip It Up, Issue 68, 1 March 1983, Page 8

The Divinyl Miss C.

Russell Brown

Isn't ; it funny how misleading appearances can be? Before I called Divinyls singer Christina Amphlett in Sydney I wondered just what I'd be getting. ; What sort of an interview would the gym-slipped, sleazed-up,. pouting Lolita in the photos do? "Hi, I'm Chrissie," she said pleasantly. Chrissie Amphlett proved to be a pleasant, articulate young woman. Nothing's what it seems in rock'n'roll ... Things kick with the band's stage act, which has a pretty good reputation. What can Kiwis expect? No details, but it will be "exciting" she hopes. "We've always worked towards that. When the band [ first began j three years ago, I used to find it difficult to perform and because I was singing a lot of my own lyrics I used to feel a bit embarrassed about it. So gradually, I worked on and developed my performance to what it] is riow^pJßl^BMM "I've tried to externalise a lot |moreiipUßHßßl The Divinyls' debut album, Desperate, was recorded at New York's Power Station late last year with Australian Rock king Mark Opitz. We tried to capture as much of a live sound as possible not [going into the studio and all of a sudden doing a whole different 1 number." [ The album only took four weeks. Was it intentional for it to be done so quickly? - "Yes. It's very much the nature of this band. We knew what we were doing, we had the songs prepared and we just went in and put them down. There was still room for spontaneity, but there was a lot prepared." h. But why New York?

"We needed that change. We needed to get out of Australia to go someplace else and record. You can spend so much time in a place and you need to get out. You get in a rut." It's been said the Divinyls stand for old fashioned rock'n'roll. True? "I suppose a lot of our ethics are true to that but we're trying to break new ground. The music is the thing that counts and the audience. "What you see is what you get," she sums up. The Divinyls play the Gluepot on March 24 and 25. They're nothing earth-shaking, but smart money might be on the Divinyls. The album, is just far enough to the left of the Pat Benatar crowd to retain the vestiges of credibility and the out-of-character single 'Science Fiction' is a genuinely pleasant little tune that would sound good on radio. The image is marketable, the music reasonable it could be the Divinyls' year.