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- By The Barman
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Friends of Died Pretty drummer Chris Welsh have launched a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for treatment for lung cancer.
Welsh, who lives and works in rural Thailand, has flown to Australia for treatment ahead of a series of shows with Died Pretty in October.
The band’s singer, Ron Peno, is still undergoing medical treatment after a diagnosis of esophageal cancer in February 2019.
Says fundraiser organiser and former bandmate Robbie Warren: “Chris's extraordinary talent has helped to make Died Pretty the iconic band we all know and love. Unfortunately, Chris has recently been diagnosed with lung cancer, throwing his world and his loved ones into turmoil.
“Right now, Chris needs our support more than ever. Having dropped everything to return to Australia for urgent treatment, his initial lung cancer diagnosis lacks a biopsy leaving him very uncertain about the extent of the cancer.
“Chris is too humble to ask for help, so this fundraiser has been put together for us all to rally together and show our unwavering love and solidarity.”
Donate here.
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- By The Barman
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The Beasts – the band populated by the surviving members of the Beasts Of Bourbon - will perform two very special shows in Melbourne and Sydney this August to celebrate 40 years since the original band’s foundation.
Tex Perkins, Kim Salmon (guitar), Charlie Owen (guitar), Boris Sujdovic (bass) will be joined by drummer James Baker, fresh from the last-ever Victims show in Perth.
Friday, 11 August – Factory Theatre, Sydney
(Tickets)
Sunday, 13 August – Croxton Bandroom, Melbourne (Tickets)
Tex Perkins takes up the story:
Forty years ago, I was a skinny 18-year-old kid living in Darlinghurst in Sydney having the time of his life - playing gigs, taking and drinking everything within arm’s reach!
Constantly meeting and bonding with people in other bands who would turn out to be lifelong friends.
When my band up and left me in the dead of night by the side of the road with a month long residency, it was those friends that were there to help me pick things up and start again.
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- By The Barman
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Get Old – The Holy Soul (self released)
There’s undoubtedly some self-effacing irony in the title of the fourth long-player by Sydney veterans The Holy Soul. Ageing is an inevitability and these guys (and gal) have been around since the early 2000s, coalescing in a shed in the suburban outskirts before establishing a base in the creative oasis of the inner-west.
Since then they’ve collaborated with the likes of Damo Suzuki (Can), David Thomas (Pere Ubu) and Robyn Hitchcock (The Soft Boys), the latter an adopted Aussie who produced this while on one of his extended stays in Sydney.
“Get Old” contains The Holy Soul’s trademark interlocking guitars and throbbing rhythm section, and typically dodges easy categorisation. There’s a touch of jangle, some bluesy swagger and a large slice of glam.
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- By The Barman
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Raised and home-schooled inside the music school that is her namesake, West Australian teenager Penny Lane has been immersed in creativity her whole life, and her original songs reflect the musical influences and experiences that have shaped her as an artist.
The daughter of the late Richard Lane of The Stems, Penny has been blessed both with his natural talent and the gifts he gave her by teaching and playing music to and with her every day of their life together.
The Fremantle younger has set her sights on an acting career and has released a single to help raise funds to get her to Los Angeles.
“In October last year I started acting as a way to process some of my difficult emotions after losing my Daddy in 2020,” Penny says.
“After months of auditions, I am one of a hundred young actors who have been chosen from thousands to attend a professional acting course and showcase in Los Angeles, where I will get to perform in front of casting directors, agents and managers at a week-long event.
“The past few years have been really hard for me and this opportunity has given me something to dream about and I hope you can help me get there.”
Penny is a multi-instrumentalist who lves to create musical soundscapes and lyrics that help her to translate the depths of emotion that she has had to navigate. With her first release at just 14-years-old, “Lavender Dice” is a hypnotic and soothing journey through a kaleidoscope of cascading metaphors and feelings.
You can buy the single for $6 here but if you want to donate more it will help her on her way. To find out more, check out her GoFundMe page.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 1874
The pain will be real when the Psychotic Turnbuckles emerge from their palatial luxury homes in Pismo Beach and go on a two-city rampage in New South Wales in July.
The Turnbuckles play La La La’s in Wollongong on Friday, July 28 and Marrickville Bowling Club on Saturday, July 29 as preparation for a Japanese tour in October.
Lame-brain failed gym flunkies, The Dark Clouds, and limp-limbed Brisbane bovver boy pretenders, Shandy, are making up the numbers on both bills .
Prepare to see them out-classed in two no-holds barred elimination bouts, courtesy of the Turnbuckles, who are rightly hailed around the Intercontinental Rock and Roll Team Champions (undefeated).
“We’re heading to Japan to ‘say no to sumo’ but first we’ll practice our moves on The Dark Clouds and Shandy,” said Turnbuckles manager Chester Chitworth.
“We visited Australia for a training camp in a remote rural location earlier in the year and worked in our new bass man, The Infliktor, but this time is the real deal.
“We’re a hot commodity in demand around the world so who knows when your sad little country will see us again? I’m outta here – we’re going surfing.”
Tickets for both bouts are on sale via Moshtix (Wollongong) and Oztix (Marrickville.)
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- By The Barman
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Buy or stream the song on all digital platforms or score a hard copy of the album here.
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- By DP Muir
- Hits: 5101
![maz smiths](/images/assets/maz-smiths.jpg)
Il Bruto
![smiths crowd](/images/assets/smiths-crowd.jpg)
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- By Edwin Garland
- Hits: 4508
Chris Masuak and Dog Soldier
The Silver Dragons
Link and Pin Café, Woy Woy
Sunday, 21 May 2023
We still want to cling to memories of our youth and for some it’s easier than others. Some say this music thing is an affliction. Others joke that it’s a curse and others consider it fun.
When we were teenagers or aged in our early 20s and seeing bands I don’t think we would have imagined that some of us would still would still be doing so 40 years later. In fact, I used see the musos on stage aged in their late 20s and think they were really old farts.
Well here I am on a Sunday afternoon, on the noisy express to Newcastle full of screaming kids and even louder adults bellowing, as the train weaves snake-like past the Hawkesbury River, on my way to another afternoon gig at the Link and Pin in Woy Woy. Heading to see Chris Masuak and one of his rare Australian tours these days.
The Link and Pin is venue of another time: an oasis that exudes an old-time vibe as you walk in. It’s like you stepped into a place not quite rural and certainly not inner-city despite its rock posters and wall full of underground records. The beer garden is rustic and packed as the drinks flow. I have never have not had a good time there.
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- By Robert Brokenmouth
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Woke Up and Seen my Reflection - M.J. Halloran (Torn & Frayed Records)
Well, it's been nearly a month since I was almost not here at The Bar anymore. And here I am, finally getting to a few reviews before I shut down again and get on with “my book”.
MJ Halloran's “Woke Up and Seen my Reflection” was recorded in Melbourne live to two-inch tape with his long-time collaborators Steve Boyle (Moler, Hungry Ghosts, Rowland S. Howard, Brian Henry Hooper, among others) and Tim O'Shannassy (The Paradise Motel, Penny Ikinger, Belle Phoenix, Brian Henry Hooper, among others) with the addition of Andrew McGee (the founder of Shock Records), and guest performances from Kim Salmon (who you've never heard of, right?).
There's a good back story to how it came about too.
Steve, Tim, Andrew and MJ decided to try, in Melbourne, what they'd done previously with Steve Albini in Chicago. That is, recording in one room without overdubs. So, they'd better get it right first go. MJ's press notes remark that Link Wray was a good reference point, as Wray did something similar with his 1971 self-titled record from 1971, which he recorded in a converted chicken barn.
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