[1][2] Initially they were formed as the Bottomless Schooners of Old in late 1988 in Perth as a side project and loose collective to perform cover versions of "countrified alternative rock" music.
[4] They played eight gigs and recorded four songs before their main bands' reactivations forced them to put the project on hold.
[1][2] The group had used Perth's Planet Sound Studios in March 1989, with the band members co-producing alongside James Hewgill.
In mid-1990 Snarski travelled to London and recorded an album's worth of material with McComb and Kenny Davis Jnr (of the Jackson Code) on keyboards.
Upon returning to Australia, Snarski moved to Sydney and, with Davis aboard, formed the next line-up of the Blackeyed Susans.
Soon after Kakulas rejoined,[1][2] having worked with Grant McLennan (ex-the Go-Betweens) after the demise of Martha's Vineyard, six months earlier.
Kathy Wemyss (of the Jackson Code) on vocals and trumpet, and Tim Rollinson (of DIG) on guitar,[1][2] were recruited whilst on hiatus from their inner city cabaret band, Pressed Meat and the Smallgoods.
McComb returned to Australia after releasing two solo singles and playing a few shows in London with his band the Red Ponies; he settled in Melbourne and rejoined the group.
[2] Two locals, Warren Ellis (ex-These Future Kings) on violin, organ and piano accordion, and Jim White (ex-Venom P Stinger, Conway Savage and the Deep South) on drums completed the line-up.
[1] Its lead track, "A Curse on You", was described by Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, as "a piece of gothic high-drama-set-in-song that recalled a William Faulkner novel.
[2] After supporting American alternate rockers, Concrete Blonde, for a gig in Adelaide, Snarski spoke to Nicole Leedham of The Canberra Times in December 1993, "It was an odd choice but it was good exposure for us...
"[11] All Souls Alive was released in the United States on Frontier Records in April 1994 receiving positive reviews: Ned Raggett of AllMusic opined that Snarski's "combination of rock forcefulness and just-twangy-enough brooding also suit the lyrics, courtesy mostly of Kakulas and McComb, quite well.
Images of emptiness, forlorn hope, romantic bitterness, and religious iconography litter the songs, but rather than amping things up á la countryman Nick Cave, the Susans coat everything with just enough honey in the arrangements.
[1] Each included four bonus tracks from a cassette-only album, Hard Liquor, Soft Music (March 1994) by the Blackeyed Susans Trio.
[1] For recording the line-up of Lee, Kakulas and Snarski were joined by Jen Anderson (ex-Black Sorrows) on violin, Kiernan Box on piano, organ and harmonica, Ashley Davies (ex-White Cross, Wild Pumpkins at Midnight) on drums, Dan Luscombe on guitars, Helen Mountfort on cello and Wemyss on trumpet and string arrangements.
[1] It was recorded at Fortissimo Sound Studios, with production by Kakulas, Snarski, Victor Van Vugt, Andy Parsons and Tony Cohen.
After recording the album the line-up of Box, Luscombe, Kakulas, Snarski were joined by a new drummer, Mark Dawson (ex-John Kennedy's Love Gone Wrong, Ed Kuepper Band).
This became an annual event: they returned to The Corner Hotel, Melbourne, to play the best and the worst of the Presley's back catalogue each year, concluding in 1998.
After a respite the Blackeyed Susans reconvened in August 1998 to record another EP, La Mascara, which was released in November.
[1] According to McFarlane, "In keeping with the theme of Mexican masked wrestlers, the band was billed on cover as 'las Blackeyed Susans'.
A video for "To Skin a Man" was commissioned: it was produced and directed by Adam Kyle and Holly Shorland, depicting images of flesh and blood which were too much for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), where it was screened only in black and white.
[16] From May to July 1999 the Blackeyed Susans prepared thirteen songs on a four-track machine in the living room of Snarski's flat.
[2] The record was a tribute to the influences and aspirations of the band – including songs from Presley, Frank Sinatra, Big Star, and the Velvet Underground.
Shangri-La was nominated for Best Adult Contemporary Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2003, missing out to John Farnham's The Last Time.
[20] Graham Blackley of Beat magazine opined that "On this enticing album, which was elegantly produced by Dan Luscombe, the band create a richly textured sound that embraces light and shade while managing to be both atmospheric and memorably melodic... [it] is the assured work of a confident and inspired band still at the top of their game.