https://www.rrr.org.au/subscriber-giveaways/the-saints-long-march-through-the-jazz-ageCloses 7 December 2025, 11 pm
AOTW Giveaway: The Saints
Long March Through the Jazz Age is the fifteenth and final studio album from The Saints, released posthumously on Fire Records two days before what would have been Chris Bailey's 69th birthday. The twelve tracks blend western-tinged guitars, Rolling Stones-style country shuffle, horns and strings into something closer to roots and Americana than the punk that made the band's name.
The Saints formed in Brisbane in 1973 and released '(I'm) Stranded' in September 1976, a landscape shifting record that arrived before the Sex Pistols, Clash or Damned had put out a single. The original lineup with guitarist Ed Kuepper split in 1978 over creative differences, but Bailey continued under the Saints name for another four decades with rotating members, releasing fourteen albums.
This final chapter was recorded in late 2018 at Church Street Studios in Sydney. Bailey and longtime drummer Pete Wilkinson flew in from Europe to work with guitarist and engineer Sean Carey, joined by Davey Lane from You Am I and a handpicked group of young Sydney horn and string players. The songs grew from Bailey's rough demos into lusher, more expansive arrangements. On the seven-minute title track 'Carnivore,' a mournful trumpet break stretches over jazz-inflected chords while Bailey's baritone holds the centre.
Lyrically, it's full of empires falling, biblical imagery, and political jokes. There are lines about ageing, regret and grace, but delivered with Bailey's signature dry humour. Wilkinson said these vocal takes had a depth and breadth that surpassed anything he'd heard from Bailey before.
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