After hearing the song and seeing the video you would think 1965 NOT 1985. I would have loved to hear this in the eighties. This I could have gotten into a lot.
They debuted in March 1984 and released a series of independent records on Sydney’s Citadel Records. Each release made it to number one on the Australian alternative charts.
The Stems were a garage punk band formed in Perth, Western Australia in late 1983. They were hugely popular in Australia. They released this song in 1985 with a song “Cant Resist” as the B side. They would release 7 singles, 2 albums, and 2 EP’s between 1985-1987.
They broke up in 1987. Guitarist Dom Mariani explained: “I was not very happy with the way things were going towards the end of The Stems. We got quite big, and there are the usual problems that happen with that. People tend to drift apart, there are internal conflicts, egos going wild, and bad management was probably the major factor that contributed to The Stems breakup.”
The Stems regrouped in 2003 and played to packed houses across Australia and Europe. They disbanded again in 2009 and regrouped in 2013 and still play from time to time.
Tears Me In Two
All those things that you never said
All those words going through my head
Time after time I let her cry
I laughed and I laughed
And she waved goodbye
She waved goodbye
She waved goodbye
She waved goodbye
She waved goodbye
I said my prayers and shed my tears
All my dreams have become my fears
I wrote her letters that I could not send
My memories are my only friend
She waved goodbye
She waved goodbye
She waved goodbye
She waved goodbye
Everyone thinks that I am crazy
I can’t stand the things that they say
Think that I’ve been oh-so-cruel
Commit me with lies I did not do
I didn’t do them
You know I didn’t do them
Don’t tell me that I did them
You know I didn’t do them
I didn’t do them
I couldn’t stand it for a second more
I turn it down for, I want love for
Why can’t my heart leave me be
Tears me in two, can’t you see
I can’t stand it for a second more
I turn it down for, I want love for
Why can’t my heart leave me be
Tears me in two ways, can’t you see
Tears me in two ways
Come on baby
Take an look down there
Tears me in two ways
…
PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture 
They sound a bit like The Animals with that organ driven sound, great stuff.
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I’d actually say a little later in the ’60’s, because there’s a definite psychedelic vibe here…
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Yea there is… hard to believe they were in the middle of the 80s doing this…I love it though
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Copy and Paste my comment of I have never heard of this! lol. I think The Strokes lifted from these guys…
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It is some high energy stuff…that organ sounds distorted…thanks for giving it a try Deke
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That could have fooled anyone into thinking it was a 60s production. It’s a fun listen, and fun to watch the video.
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It fooled me…I thought the date was wrong on the video but no….
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Haha! They did a great job with it.
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pretty cool , most definitely strawberry alarm electric prune tasting music! And look as well. Once more, a band I never heard of, perhaps surprising given that was around when all things Aussie were cool over here.
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More bands than I thought were doing that 60s garage type bands at the time and they had record contracts…I just wish I would have known then.
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Strawberry alarm electric prune tasting music? LOL!
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The organ and the guitar raise this into a groovadelic realm. Thanks for finding and sharing this gem, Max!
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I’ve never heard of this band, even though they’re Australian. They could almost fit into 1990s Brit-pop though – the vocalist sounds a bit like Liam Gallagher from Oasis. That bass is mixed really high, I like the way the guitar and organ tones fit together.
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Yea I thought maybe you had heard of them. I do like the mix of that organ. You are right about the Brit-pop vibe. Many of these bands as I go through them are dressed in mod-clothes and mid-sixties haircuts…
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Not bad. Never heard of them…ever. Cool stuff.
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I’ll just say ditto to all the comments above 😀. Another garage rock find I have never heard of – digging it though. Keep up the good work
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Thanks Paul…all of these bands were connected to the Alt movement here…so many different places. Athens, Minnesota, the Paisley underground in California…cool time and some good music.
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That’s really cool, Max. They sound and look like some ’60s psychedelic garage rock band!
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they do…I wish I knew about these bands back then
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I’m another that’s never heard of them, but this is great… more than a wee bit of the Sonics and 13th Floor Elevators in their sound, eh? I’ll be checking out their albums.
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That is a good comparison. I’m just surprised about finding a lot of these bands during the 80s.
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Discovering music is great. Especially when it’s this good. I read on Wiki that John Curley (Afghan Whigs) produced their second album!
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Oh cool! They were and still are huge in Australia. I delayed posting this because I posted a song by the Creeps last Saturday that resembles this style a lot. I did not know about this sixties scene in the 80s…I wish I would have back then as a teenager.
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Never heard of them, either. Definitely retro psychedelic.
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Like I said…wish I would have known about bands like this back then
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