Where did the Southend Rainbows come from?

The Southend Rainbows are a force of nostalgia that few can (or have been able to) resist. Grown in the fertile soils of sunny Lismore in 1981, they cut a swathe and a swagger that has earned them an untiring fanbase and an inalienable place in the local musical imagination. TJ Cheen, Chonga and Chooka Buckley and Damo Shitsimmons (when he could be found) were idols for a generation of musicmakers. With creative control alternating between Cheen and Fitzsimmons, the early successes on the raging Sydney scene were undercut by darker divisions in the project. The boys, as famous for their chaotic offstage relationships as their prolific and pinpoint output, formed and reformed in a number of articulations over the years. When they finally called it quits in 2008, “TJ” removed the band from the wide world of the web. His growing dissociative suspicion of technological globalisation cut a rift between he and the more “modern” members of the band. It wasn’t until 2014 that he “remissed” his original hesitation (while trapped inside a log Cabin 2 hours out of Launceston after injuring his ankle during a particularly emphatic Crossfit session).

The boys were proud to present “All Tip, No Iceberg”, an EP-format retrospective, conceived of just before the split but never carried through. Though comment wasn’t forthcoming from the elusive frontman, the others formed a touring band with $teve Grange. Unable to allow the songs live play without his input, Cheen rejoined the group in August 2014 to complete the lineup. Reformed, Refreshed and Reloaded, the Southends are bringing back the fury that Australia never knew she needed.

The final (original?) trio