Originally released in 1985 on Mr. Spaceman Records, Down on the Farm was recorded on a two-track tape machine using borrowed equipment. In other words, it was a classic study in low-budget recording with little or no luxury. Amphetamine Reptile Records re-issued the EP along with the Cosmic Psychos' self-titled 1987 debut in 1991. Together, these albums form a brilliant, rough-hewn document of simple, gritty rock & roll informed by late-'70s Australian punk like the Saints,
Radio Birdman, and
Rose Tattoo. Without question the band's rawest work, it may also be one of the Cosmic Psychos' best, freshest, and least rehearsed. Not that any of the trio's later recordings sound overwrought, but when a band is under time and money constraints, they quite often rise above the stress brilliantly. Brawny bassist Ross Knight's vocals sound like a man who has just gotten off of work, after many hours digging ditches in the heat. In other words, if he's a bit ticked off, there's probably a genuine reason. ~ Patrick Kennedy