Cattletruck | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Melbourne, Australia |
| Genres | Pop rock, rock, blues rock |
| Years active | 1985–1988, 2016– |
| Labels | Regular Records Laneway Music |
| Members | Paul Janovskis, Phil Viggiano, Greg Aldridge, Geoffrey Howard, Andrew Persichetti |
| Past members | Bruce Coombs, Charles Todd, James Martin, Nick Cross, Paul Janovskis, Peter Knight, Steve Colebrook, Philip Viggiano, Tony Dennis |
Cattletruck are an Australian Pop rock/rock/blues rock group formed in 1985. The group released two studio albums, Ready to Believe in 1987 [1] and Welcome to Our Blues in 2026.
Born out of the wild energy of St Kilda’s bars and backrooms, Cattletruck crashed into the Australian music scene with irreverence, grit, and a refusal to play by the rules. What began in 1985 as an irreverent semi-acoustic punkabilly covers outfit —playing anywhere, anytime, invited or not—quickly evolved into a full‑throttle electric band with a sound that fused pop rock swagger with raw rock’n’roll urgency.
Fronted by Paul Janovskis, with line-ups that included Tony Dennis, Peter Knight, Nick Cross, Phil Viggiano, Bruce Coombs, Charles Todd and James Martin, the band embodied the restless spirit of Melbourne’s fertile 1980s live scene.
In early 1985 singer/guitarist Paul Janovskis decided to "get serious" and the group independently produced a single "Never Is", which earned public radio airplay and opened doors to support slots with A-list Australian and International acts including Hoodoo Gurus, Models, Midnight Oil, Icehouse, Australian Crawl, Hunters & Collectors, The Birthday Party, Screaming Jay Hawkins, The Violent Femmes, New Order, Los Lobos, OMD, Jason & The Scorchers and George Michaels. By 1986, they had signed with Regular Records, releasing a string of successful singles and video clips capturing their chaotic charm.
In December 1987 their first studio album Ready to Believe was released, peaking at number 58 on the Australian Charts and standing as a snapshot of a band that thrived on unpredictability. From crashing parties to opening for Public Image Ltd with two acoustic guitars and a drummer they’d never rehearsed with, Cattletruck lived for the moment. The record distils that energy into tracks that balance sharp songwriting and superb production with the band’s trademark irreverence.
This note is not just about a record—it’s about a band that embodied the raw, unpolished joy of live Australian rock in the 1980s. Early Cattletruck may have burned bright for only a few years, but their legacy is etched in the memories of those who witnessed their fearless performances and in the grooves of that album. The original band ground to a halt amidst bickering, management and financial issues in 1988
After a long hiatus, Janovskis returned to performing in 2009 Solo/Acoustic, soon touring extensively in Cambodia and Vietnam as an Acoustic Duo over several years, specialising in East Texas blues with sideman, ace guitarist Matt Dwyer. A Live album, ‘The Wild Wild East’ was released in 2024 commemorating this period
In 2016, encouraged by Melbourne Rock luminary Geoffrey Howard, they decided to commemorate the 30-year Anniversary of the release of the ‘Ready to Believe’ album, assembling a new line-up for a series of shows. This line up consisted of Greg Aldridge, Drew Bascombe, Geoff Howard, and original members Paul Janovskis and Philip Viggiano.
The shows went well and delivered a fantastic live album recorded at the first show at the iconic Melbourne venue, the Corner Hotel, aptly titled ‘Live at The Corner’ released in 2021 and available on all Streaming services.
Back in 2017, Janovskis digitised his extensive back catalogue of unreleased Cattletruck tracks, demos, extended mixes and rarities, delivering the collections ‘Extended Versions’, ‘Platinum Sessions’, ‘Acoustica’, ‘Powerplant Sessions”, ‘Sydney Sessions” and ‘Live: Nineteen Eighty Six”, all available on the Streaming services.
At the conclusion of the 2016 Anniversary run of shows the band was keen to stay together. Paul was collaborating closely with Geoffrey Howard on new material with a view to recording a new studio album. Songs were developed and an initial pre-production rehearsal was held, unfortunately, several days prior the series of Melbourne COVID19 Lockdowns commencing. Further band work was postponed for the 20 months of Pandemic impact from March 2020.
During the Lockdowns Paul recorded and released a number of Acoustic Solo versions of new songs with video.
In January 2022 studio recording began for a new Cattletruck album, with sessions continuing until late 2025. The recording band consisted of Paul Janovskis, Greg Aldridge, Stephen ‘Irish’ O’Prey, Phil Viggiano and Geoffrey Howard.
The album, titled “Welcome to Our Blues” featuring a new strong rootsy blues-rock sound and ten original songs with a special guest appearance by Joe Camilleri on Sax will be released in 2026 in conjunction with a series of live Festival appearances across Australia during the year.
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| AUS [2] | ||
| Ready to Believe | 58 | |
| Live: Nineteen Eighty Six |
| - |
| Acoustica |
| - |
| Extended Versions |
| - |
| Powerplant Sessions - EP |
| |
| Sydney Sessions - EP |
| |
| Live at the Corner |
| - |
| The Wild Wild East |
|
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [2] | |||
| 1985 | "Never Is"/"Crawfish" | - | non album single |
| 1986 | "Change" | 81 | Ready to Believe |
| 1987 | "Leave Me" | 39 | |
| "Rain" | 56 | ||
| "Resurrection Shuffle" | 33 | ||
| 1988 | "Ready to Believe" | - | |
| "(It's Not a) Bad Life" | - | ||
Countdown was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974 to 1987, it presented music awards from 1979 to 1987, initially in conjunction with magazine TV Week . The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards. [10] [11]
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | themselves | Most Promising New Talent | Nominated |