Michael Cullen - Love Transmitter (Self-Released)

Michael Cullen may not be a household name, even to indie music fanatics, but his roots lie deep in Australia’s 90s post-punk scene with membership in bands like The Hardheads. In the early 2000s he teamed up with Tim Powles, an indie legend in his own right, to record his solo record, Love Transmitter, and it is something of a lost record because only recently has it been rediscovered. Cullen displays his influences proudly on this record from the Go Betweens and the Triffids to Joy Division and Nick Cave.

I love Joy Division, but I must admit I’ve heard a million people say they can do a spot on Ian Curtis. Unfortunately, it never feels genuine precisely because they’re doing an impersonation; it’s not their own vocals. Cullen, sadly, falls into the same trap here. There are a good deal of songs where he uses his own voice and it feels natural, but then there are tracks like “Tidal Wave” where it sounds like he desperately wants to be Curtis. The majority of the songs work when he is himself because he has the perfect voice for his music.

The album is all over the place stylistically, but that is responsible for a lot of its charm. It plays like a great Factory Records rarities compilation or an exploration of every 80s post-punk subgenre from the subtle synths and goth of “Hey Sister” to the indie pop and noise of “All Used Up.” It’s supposed to be a lost album and it feels like it because of how unpolished it is at times, resembling the beautiful shambles of other great lost records like the Velvet Underground’s two posthumous collections released in the 80s. Love Transmitter is available from the artist, now reissued and newly remastered.