CRIME & The City Solution were already almost a decade old and on their third lineup by the time they recorded their debut EP “The Dangling Man” in 1985. Formed by Simon Bonney in Sydney in 1977, they’d reformed the following year in Melbourne and were then resuscitated in London by Bonney, accompanied by members of The Birthday Party. Consequently viewed as a Cave-adjacent outfit, nevertheless Crime & The City Solution forged their own identity – partly through Bonney’s unconventional approach to vocals and partly through a memorable appearance in Wim Wenders’ film Wings Of Desire. The band recorded one album in London before moving to Berlin where they recorded three powerful records with yet another lineup that included Bonney, Einstürzende Neubauten’s Alex Hacke, Bad Seed Mick Harvey and Bonney’s wife Bronwyn Adams.
After leaving Berlin for America, Bonney reformed Crime in Detroit in 2012 with Hacke, Jim White and David Eugene Edwards. The latest Crime album, The Killer, was recorded back in Berlin by yet another iteration of this evolving ensemble. “When I accept life on its own terms, I am happy,” says Bonney. “Some people have the willpower to mould the world in their image, but I write about what’s it like to be powerless, to accept that powerlessness and turn it into a positive.”
CRIME & THE CITY SOLUTION
“JUST SOUTH OF HEAVEN” EP
MUTE, 1985
Flood-produced second EP featuring the “London lineup” of Simon Bonney, Mick Harvey, Rowland Howard, brother Harry and Epic Soundtracks
We were originally from Sydney but we were outcasts there. There was more of a scene in Melbourne with The Boys Next Door. When we got to
