For over a year now, one phrase has been on the lips of people the world over; “what happened to The Hollywood Models?” One of Melbourne’s best post-punk outfits seemed to disappear without a trace shortly after their well received, highly entertaining double single launch in November of 2016. Rumours circulated of a falling out between Filth Pitt and Svetlana Del Rey, the husband and wife duo at the centre of the band. Some said that powerhouse drummer Kev The Kid had once again devoted his life to infiltrating the construction company he believed to be responsible for his father’s death, in order to bring them down. As this reporter heard from an anonymous source, he had risen through the ranks to become the assistant to the CEO. That same source confirmed to me that the band’s keyboardist Doctor Acorn had used his cybernetic enhancements to shoot himself into space, in order to find intelligent life to exploit for resources, and rule over as a benevolent God.
With all of that hearsay taken into account, I was just as surprised as anyone else when the seminal outfit announced their reunion tour out of the blue. It’s a shocking development, yet for many, a welcome one. However, I can’t help but wonder – what brought these artists back together under the Hollywood Models banner? Call me a skeptic, but I don’t think they’re doing it for the art – this reunion tour seems to be a cash grab, a way for the band to line their pockets before disappearing again, only to return in a few years to make some money when this batch runs out. They’re exploiting their fans, because they know they can make millions of dollars playing the hits. It’s not the first time a band has done this; take The Eagles, who have played their ‘final reunion tour’ about 200,000 times now. Or Fleetwood Mac, who are basically skeletons walking on stage at this point, but still cop $160 a ticket so that hipsters and baby boomers can find common ground and sing along to tracks from Rumours.
With that taken into account, to see The Hollywood Models in concert is something of a religious experience – their shows take an audience on a fully immersive journey. So, even though this reporter sees through the reunion tour facade for what it truly is, a shameless cash grab, it is still a reunion tour I cannot miss. It’s kind of like going to see Bob Dylan any time in the last 10 years – he’s getting on, he doesn’t sound as good as he did in his prime, but dammit, you’re in the room with a living legend. Maybe The Hollywood Models have passed their prime too, but who doesn’t want to experience those classic hits just one last time? That is, until the next time.
I reached out to the Models to see if they could shed some light on what led to the unexpected reunion, and they avoided my question, simply stating “fare evade your way to the Gaso and immerse yourself back into the 2016 party life as Hollywood Models are back for one more hoorah!”
Check out our interview with The Hollywood Models from way back when they launched their first single here.
