Review: Bedroom Philosopher - Songs From The 86 Tram

"Cultural diversity is warmly celebrated here, in the Bedroom Philosopher's most successful work to date."

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The Bedroom Philosopher is the stage name for Justin Heazlewood, a Burnie born musical-comedian who found some attention with this "I'm So Postmodern" single back in 2005. His first album, In Bed With My Doona was a personal favourite of mine, and his 2009 follow-up Brown & Orange was a fairly decent endeavour. Last year for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Heazelwood created a show called Songs From the 86 Tram, presented from the point of view of a variety of fictional (yet totally recognisable) characters who all share the public transport system.

The show was a hit, and Heazlewood collected most of the songs from the show into what would become his third album. Songs From The 86 Tram is a wonderful celebration of our social and cultural diversity. Employing the use of a range of believe characters, many whom are immediately identifiable yet barely covered by other comedians, Heazlewood follows the tram journey from Bundoora to Docklands with these characters. Of particular note is the migrant on "Sudanese" learning Australian culture via suburban Melbourne; the unlucky Irish Catholic girl; the fame-seeking, trend-following Northcote hipster; and the 'new media' artist, who delivers the superb line 'Have you ever heard of sound art? I sincerely doubt you have,' in the most elitist tone you could imagine. Classic.

These characters are the stars of the show, but Heazlewood writes wonderful songs to back them up. Each track spans genre, style and tempo to give a musical collection as diverse as the characters presented within. His use of words is as witty here as it has ever been, and there are many genuinely hilarious lines to these songs. The way he has crafted each song to present the character at the centre of each piece is a fine skill indeed and the sign of a very intelligent comedian. For the characters that are based on clichés that are frequently used for comedic value in other comedy outfits (such as the bogan, the elderly), here they are treated with a third-dimension and Heazlewood tries to shine a different light on these stereotypes. This is warmly welcomed.

"Man On A Tram" is the roll-off-your-tongue, Dr. Seuss lyrical delight which is little over one minute, and surprisingly entertaining. The entire record is packed with intelligent references through the tracks, and thankfully it isn't too Melbourne-centric at all. The characters aren't strictly 'tram travellers' only, and little more than a general knowledge of Melbourne is needed for the majority of the record. Really, there should only be a few jokes that those uninitiated with Melbourne culture don't understand. This isn't to say this is a particularly 'global' album, as it makes use of many aspects of Australian culture and humour. But it isn't confined to a single State, either.

Production from Chris Scallan is clean and works great, bar the vocals on the opening track being a touch too soft underneath the piano. Musically, it is interesting enough to keep you listening, although the lyrics are clearly the most important part of the Bedroom Philosopher's show. To be fair, though, music is used on several occasions as the joke rather than just to support the jokes. These occasions are particularly enjoyable.

"Middle Aged Mum" just isn't as funny as an opening track should be. It is a good track for reasons other than comedy; character, content, and concept. but it ultimately falls short of the humour found on the rest of the album. The jokes are a little sparse, yet it paints a fair image of the depressed, middle-aged mother. "In My Day (Nan)", while an enjoyable track, also falls short. Half of this track is similar to "I'm So Postmodern", in that it follows a formula of 'song title... joke!' for each line, but the actual jokes here are hit and miss. It uses the expectations of what the 'grandma' character and twists these for further comedic exposition, but some of these twists are just inane and don't create any more than a chuckle.

The music of Prince gets a nod on "Tram Inspector", featuring the overtly-sultry titular character; but it's comedic value is quite shallow in comparison to the rest of Songs From The 86 Tram. The artist-spoofing "New Media" is the highlight of the album, concerning a character who clearly believes he is bigger then he really is. The accent of this character is spot on and adds a great deal of believability. Heazlewood's accents on this record are superb for each song, and makes each track really stick.

The final track "Old Man At End" is almost poignant in nature, and is a fine summation to the tram ride that is the 86. Cultural diversity is ultimately prevalent through Songs From The 86 Tram, and this song, which poses the character at his end, just wanting to sit down with the rest of the 86 cast for a beer. 'We are tramily' , as Heazlewood would say.

(This was originally posted on the 18th of April 2010, elsewhere.)