With You Am I, Tim Rogers forged a reputation as one of Australia's finest songwriters, skipping over musical genres from grunge to guitar-pop and topping the Australian charts. But somewhere along the way he fell into blues and since that time, despite calls to return to the fold and respect the mainstream, Tim seems quite happy to slowly sink into a more traditional blend of blues and country. Here's his first solo effort as Tim Rogers & The Temperance Union: Spit Polish. 12 retrospective/introspective numbers tell us more about Rogers than any You Am I record and deliver thick portions of the enigmatic frontman's strengths: laconic lullabies and bent blues. The melancholy Some Fellas Heartbreaker opens proceedings and drips with irony; the concept of profiting from romantic disappointment by writing a hit ballad. You'll hear that same style of honky tonk riffing that impressed on You Am I’s Deliverance but Rogers injects a little Western edge into his tunes, making them more rural than urban. That's the defining slant that makes Spit Polish different to You Am I's recent efforts. I Only Understand Her In The Rain stands out, combining the rustic feel with the traditional strength of yearning lyrical content and I particularly liked Letter To Gene, a tribute to everyone old enough to remember donning Kiss make-up and launching into imaginary solos on cardboard cut-outs of guitars. Lisa Miller returns an old favour and guests on Damn Songs; a welcome addition to a strong tracklisting. The duo sound great together, as they did on Rogers' contribution to Miller's Version Originale. Fans of You Am I have grown up with Rogers and this is the next step in our maturation. Are we getting old? No, with Spit Polish Rogers shows that we're moving with the times, leaning away from the digital world to favour the art of traditional - and very human - musical genres.

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Tracklisting
1 SOME FELLAS HEARTBREAKER
2 FICTION
3 GOLDFIELD BLUES
4 STRAY DOG BRUISE
5 WHERE THE WIND DONT BLOW
6 THE MESS
7 TIME AND DISTANCE
8 KING OF THE HILL
9 I ONLY UNDERSTAND HER IN THE RAIN
10 LETTER TO GENE
11 DAMN SONGS
12 FUN - PART ONE

Full listing of TIM ROGERS & THE TEMPERANCE UNION releases