PILLARS OF SOCIETY (BLACK/YELLOW/RED VINYL)

ARIA Hall Of Fame inductee Kev Carmody's debut LP from 1988 is a landmark album of Australian protest music. It's stripped back, raw and angry, but also full of humanity and great love, tearing apart the hypocrites and embracing the downtrodden. He was in his 40s by the time it was released, with enough experience to give the music and subject matter some real gravitas. Tracks like "Thou Shall Not Steal" and "Black Deaths In Custody" cut right to the point, and remain so relevant today. The spoken-word piece, "Comrade Jesus Christ", takes the story of Jesus away from the establishment and reconfigures him as a warrior for the dispossessed and outcast. It is a stunning piece of poetry, and the album itself is a remarkable piece of First Nations storytelling.