END Kuepper fulfils all the requirements for cultdom: a pedigree with one of Australia's most cred bands, The Saints; long periods of obscure bliss with bands like The Laughing Clowns and The Yard Goes On Forever; a prolific output of albums (21 to date), none of which have troubled the charts very much, but most of which have had the critics referring to him as "glory riddled", "genius" and even "god".
It's a wet evening, and this same rock n roll deity sits onstage in Whelan's on Wexford Street, teasing lush chord shapes out of his electric guitar, and keeping time by tapping his foot on a flight case. There's a bank of effects pedals on the table beside him, and throughout his set, Kuepper manages to wring weird, ethereal sounds from his axe.
You probably won't know any of Kuepper's songs, although The Saints punk anthem, I'm Stranded, written by Kuepper and Chris Bailey, might ring a distant bell.
Onstage at Whelan's, he introduces each song in a soft spoken voice, while the guitar trundles happily along on a rolling wave of phase and flange.
He does tracks from solo albums like Honey Steels Gold, Frontieland and Character Assassination, including the rock edged Highway To Hell, the pleasant, bighearted Everything I Got Belongs To You, and the pastoral, psychedelic The Weepin' Willow, but there's a suspicion that Kuepper is just stroking the surface of his talent.
