Jack Frost were a short-term Australian rock band, a side project for

Grant McLennan Grant William McLennan (12 February 19586 May 2006) was an Australian alternative rock singer-songwriter-guitarist. He co-founded the Go-Betweens (1977–89, 2000–06) with Robert Forster in Brisbane in 1977 and issued four solo albums: '' Wat ...

(of

the Go-Betweens The Go-Betweens were an Australian indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1977. The band was co-founded and led by singer-songwriters and guitarists Robert Forster (musician), Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, who were its only co ...

) and

Steve Kilbey Steven John Kilbey (born 13 September 1954) is an English born Australian singer-songwriter best known as the lead singer and bass guitarist for the rock band The Church. He is also a music producer, poet, and painter. As of 2020, Kilbey has r ...

(of the Church). They released two albums, ''Jack Frost'' (1991) and ''Snow Job'' (1996). Australian musicologist,

Ian McFarlane Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the ''Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017. As a journalist ...

, determined their material, "ranged from romantic ballads to tough rock, with the two singers' voices fitting together well."

History

In July 1990

(of the Church) contacted

(of

), "he's interested in the idea of them writing a song together. Grant says 'Come over and bring your 12-string' and offers to bake some cookies." Kilbey on lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards and drums and McLennan on lead vocals, guitar, keyboards and bass guitar formed Jack Frost in Sydney in 1990. The pair wrote enough tracks for a self-titled album, which was released in 1991, via Red Eye Records/

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

. The album was recorded in three weeks, with Pryce Surplice on drums, synthesiser and as co-producer; plus "special guests" including Karin Jansson on backing vocals. Mclennan said, "Whatever you hear is the only version of that song musically. We didn't do three or four versions to choose from. We didn't plan it at all. Everything was written in the studio on that day. Lisa Waller of ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in 1 ...

'' reported in November 1990 that, "

he duo He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

are doing a couple of live acoustic performances in Sydney and Brisbane but will wait to see how the album is received before making more commitments to their new found partnership." Australian musicologist

described ''Jack Frost'' as "

he songs He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

ranged from romantic ballads to tough rock, with the two singers' voices fitting together well." Jonathan Romney in Q Magazine called the album "a mix of mannered intensity, detached fol-krock cool and - occasionally downright wiseacre-hood." The album provided two singles, "Every Hour God Sends" (November 1990) and "Thought That I was Over You" (April 1991) before the members resumed their solo careers and main band projects. Waller's colleague compared their styles, "Kilbey writes with a lush opulence. The ambience of the songs is as important as the lyrics. McLcnnan writes with a more subtle sound, where the lyrics are as demanding as the arrangements." Kilbey and McLennan resumed the Jack Frost project in late 1995. They had recorded new material back in 1993 and were joined in the studio by Kilbey's brother Russell on backing vocal, organ and

blues harp The Richter-tuned harmonica, 10-hole harmonica (in Asia) or blues harp (in America), is the most widely known type of harmonica. It is a variety of diatonic scale, diatonic harmonica, with ten holes which offer the player 19 notes (10 holes tim ...

Tim Powles Timothy Guy Gerard Powles (born 21 December 1959) is a New Zealand music producer and artist. Also known as timEbandit Powles, he primarily plays the drums and percussion. Early career Powles started his music career at Nelson College, which ...

(from the Church) on drums and percussion and Jamie Pattugalan on drums (on the track, "Pony Express"). McFarlane noticed, "The resultant album, ''Snow Job'', came out to little fanfare and duly sank without a trace." It was co-produced by the Kilbey brothers and McLennan. ''

Woroni The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university and member of the Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition ...

''s Brett Leigh Dicks described how " tis a reflection of a unique teaming. But whereas Jack Frost's first endeavour relied heavily on programming, the mechanics of this recording is based upon a very different texture." By 1996 the pair resumed their separate musical careers. Grant McLennan died in May 2006 of a heart attack.

History

Discography

Albums

Singles

References