Our common friend and fellow traveller, the outrageously talented Tom Sanford of Winter Kills and Beachwood Sparks, introduced me to Evad Fromme in some secret rebel rocker social media group online about a decade ago.
We became fast friends and kindred brethren.
Evad is one of the best frontmen and underground rock ‘n’ roll performers and songwriters in the Divided States Of Fear And Slavery we've seen since probably the long gone heyday of Raji's and English Acid, when bands like Celebrity Skin and Stars From Mars and Raw Flower and the purple-haired Zeros ruled the dive bars.
Of course ever since the mid-‘90s, the Wall Street land barons have been tearing down all of rock ‘n’ roll's most venerated landmarks, from CBGB to Tower on Sunset, to build always more unattainable, prohibitively expensive condos and hotels for lawless hedge fund managers and big pharma and private prison shareholding rich people. In the war crazed USA! USA! mockingbird Big 5 corporate mainstream, the entire media has been disgracefully hijacked and weaponized to promote forever war and a fascist police state for the past 25 years. So no high quality rock’n’ roll gets heard on our public airwaves. They can't ever really kill it, but it's all back underground, now.
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- By JD Misfortune
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Devil in Berlin – The Cutthroat Brothers and Mike Watt (Hound Gawd Records)
“Devil in Berlin” is what you get when you pair two punk rock barbers with a Stooge. Say again?
The Cutthroat Brothers are the US garage punk duo of Jason Cutthroat (guitar/vocals) and drummer Donny Paycheck (Zeke). Their day jobs really are cutting hair and trimming beards. They've roped in legendary bassman par excellence Mike Watt (Minutemen, fIREHOSE, The Stooges).
Duos really are the new black in underground rock and roll and their status as configuration du jour seems sure to escalate as COVID subsides and people realise it’s an economical way to gig and stretches the rider further..
And barbers? Dunno about your part of the world, barber shops were never a big thing in Australia. On the other hand, shave shops operated by bearded hipsters are thicker on the ground in our inner-suburban shopping strips than bomb craters in downtown Beirut, so hopefully the blood that the band has wron on previous album covers has come from one of their number.
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- By The Barman
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Step Into The Light – Paul Berwick’s Magnetic Quartet (self released)
At the risk of damning with faint praise, Paul Berwick made an indelible mark with the shoulda-been-huge Happy Hate Me Nots in the 1980s and ‘90s and he and his new band, The Magnetic Quartet, have much to live up to. This four-track EP “Step Into The Light” is a good start.
Sydney’s HHMNs developed from punk-pop to bona fide power-pop contenders over their first existence but never quite broke out into the mainstream. Another run in the 2000s after the sad loss of bassist Christian Houllemare tried but never scaled the same heights.
Berwick is a talented songwriter with a sharp ear for a melody and has assembled a superb band of old hands in Matt Galvin (guitar), Jim Dickson (bass) and Nick Kennedy (drums). Berwick fills out their sound on acoustic guitar. COVID has limited their live appearances to a handful of well-received gigs, so the question was would their recordings do them justice?
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- By The Barman
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We may be biased but you'd be mad not to want to go to this. X, White Knuckle Fever, Jupiter 5 and Rubber Necker on the I-94 Bar Stage in Sydney on March 20. Tickets here.
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Australian rock band Leadfinger and Golden Robot Records are pleased to announce the release of “Silver & Black”, the long-awaited new album and their first since 2016’s “Friday Night Heroes”.
The album will be launched at Marrickville Bowling Club on Saturday, April 2 with support from Rubber Necker and Hellebores and tickets are on sale here. Tour dates appear below.
The story of “Silver & Black” began not long after the career high of the first tour of Europe in October 2017 when the band's singer/songwriter, Stewart Cunningham fell ill and was shockingly diagnosed with lung cancer.
Following almost two years of treatment that included losing one of his lungs and a long, painful recovery the band began to try and regroup, not even knowing whether Cunningham would be able to play and sing again.
Somewhat miraculously things slowly fell in to place in the isolation (and therapy) of the rehearsal room and then in and around Covid and lockdowns the band managed to write and record the new album at Garth Porter's Rancom Street Studio in Sydney with Brent Clark producing.
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Seasoned Sydney-via-Newcastle outfit Joeys Coop are prepping to release their sophomore album, “Lachlan Valley Dirt”, and the first video single, “I Am Alive”, has been unveiled.
Featuring the songwriting talents and playing of Brett Myers (Died Pretty) and Mark Roxburgh (Decline of the Reptiles), the line-up is rounded out by ace bass wrangler Marc Lynch (from 90s JJJ faves Glide) and Lloyd Gyi (drummer for Perry Keyes and Dave Warner). "Lachlan Valley Dirt" is out on February 26 and is the follow-up to "Service Station Flowers".
Joeys Coop will be playing dates to support the album:
Link and Pin, Woy Woy - Fri March 4
Moshpit, Newtown - Sat Mar 26
Federal Hotel, Bellingen - Sat April 2
Cave Inn, Brisbane- Sat April 30
Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle - Sun May 8
Flow Bar, Old Bar - Sun May 22
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Wendy Morrisey photo
Having trouble keeping up with COVID stalled gigs? You’re not the only one. Ex-Wreckery and Bad Seeds member and leader of The True Spirit, Hugo Race, is pushing on with his postponed shows to celebrate the Doors’ “LA Woman” album’s 50th anniversary. He’ll play shows with the True Spirit in Melbourne later this month to make up for past postponements.
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Christopher Ferguson photo
Hoodoo Gurus are poised to release their long-awaited new studio album, “Chariot of the Gods” on February 11. “Chariot of the Gods” is the band’s first album in more than a decade (the longest interval between Hoodoo Gurus’ albums in their history) and is available to pre-order today here.
“The last twelve months have been frustrating and nerve-racking for everyone but, for the Hoodoo Gurus, this dark cloud has had a silver lining,” says frontman
Dave Faulkner. “Forced to rely on ourselves instead of the outside world for validation, there has been a creative rebirth within the band that has resulted in a string of singles and a new album.
“Most important of all, the musical bonds between the four of us have never been stronger. When the discussions are all about which songs we're sad about having to leave off the record, that's a damn good sign. I'm tellin' ya, folks, we've got a real spring in our step right now”.
“Chariot of the Gods” is 14 tracks (17 on the deluxe double-vinyl edition) and the first full-length recording with relative new recruit to the Hoodoo Gurus’ line-up, on drums, Nik Reith. The tracklists for CD/digital and vinyl versions are below.
Fans across the globe can hear “Chariot of the Gods” played in its entirety for the very first time when eMusic Live streams a special event recorded at Damien Gerard Studios on the NSW Central Coast.
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- By The Barman
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Jye Talbot Area photo
Following the release of their sold out 7" singles boxset and run of five nights of hometown celebrations at La La La's in Wollongong just before Xmas, Tumbleweed steps into the new year with an announcement that was meant to come last year.
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- By The Barman
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