The Crystal Set
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The Crystal Set was a Sydney-based Australian indie rock band formed in the late 1980s featuring Russell Kilbey (bass and lead vocals), Phillip Maher (guitar & vocals), Craig Moore (keyboards & vocals) and Tim Seckhold (drums).
The band released their first single, "A Drop In The Ocean", independently. They were signed to Red Eye Records owned by John Foy and the first single was reissued through Red Eye. Their next two singles, "Wholy Holy" and "Benefit Of The Doubt", were moderate indie hits on the small but enthusiatic east coast Australian scene. After a line up change and the departure of Craig Moore, Russell Kilbey took up duties on guitar and vocals and Luke Blackburn, a Melbourne musician, joined as bassist and vocalist.
Red Eye Records signed a distribution deal with Polydor Australia in 1990. The Crystal Set released their next album Almost Pure under this label and had moderate success with the singles, "Thrive" and "She Spits Out Stars" in 1991. Their Red Eye/Polydor labelmates were The Cruel Sea, The Clouds, Steve Kilbey (Russell's brother and lead singer and bassist from successful 1980s Australian band The Church), Jack Frost (aka Steve Kilbey) and Grant McLennan (The Go-Betweens), The Bhagavad Guitars, Curious (Yellow) and The Beasts of Bourbon.
The Crystal Set disbanded at the end of 1991. Russell Kilbey went on to collaborate with David Thrussell from techno-industrial outfit Snog in a band called Sex Industrie, doing a cover version of the classic AC/DC song "Jailbreak".