The Cruel Sea merged sharply contrasting influences in a manner comparable to blending oil with water, forging a rock approach that broadened Australian rock & roll traditions while establishing the band among the nation’s most commercially dominant acts throughout the 1990s.
Guitarist Danny Rumour had nursed the underlying concept since his earlier involvement in punk groups. As a regular at a Sydney pub, he would assemble impromptu instrumental performances with assorted local players whenever a scheduled act failed to appear, drawing on equipment stored in a back room. Audiences responded warmly to these spontaneous sets, and after Sekret Sekret disbanded following a seven-year run, Rumour resolved to develop the idea with a stable lineup. The group took its name from a Ventures instrumental dating to the 1960s.
The entirely instrumental Cruel Sea began performing in 1988, squeezed behind the pool table at another Sydney hotel where guitarists had to step aside so patrons could complete their shots. Within weeks the residency was attracting crowds of up to 300. At several of those early shows, moonlighting Beasts of Bourbon vocalist Tex Perkins operated the lights.
A few months later, at a party, the musicians were properly introduced when Perkins approached them after their set and proposed adding lyrics to selected instrumentals. Rumour had already contemplated recruiting the right singer one day. Perkins, already regarded as an Australian music legend for his rock & roll swagger, supplied the precise combination of pedigree and personality the band sought.
At the outset the partnership stayed informal: Perkins contributed vocals to only some songs and, given his Beasts of Bourbon schedule, appeared at only a portion of the gigs. The initial 12" Down Below EP was later expanded into the full-length debut album of the same name. With the follow-up release This Is Not the Way Home the musicians grew more assured in uniting clean instrumentals with rough-edged rock vocals and broadened their range of influences. A European tour supporting Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds further clarified their hybrid style.
When the Beasts of Bourbon again suspended activity in early 1993, Perkins became a permanent member. The resulting album The Honeymoon Is Over reached number four on the national chart and earned four ARIA Awards, Australia’s equivalent of the Grammys. Further international tours followed.
On each subsequent album and tour the Cruel Sea continued to probe its multifaceted character. Instrumentals became less frequent on stage and record, yet Perkins added texture during those passages. The band still occasionally performed without him, while Perkins maintained periodic involvement with the Beasts of Bourbon and released two solo albums, Far Be It for Me and Dark Horses.
