Those Johnnys chaps get back in the saddle

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By The Barman

The Barman

12 September 2024

Hits: 898

Your favourite cowpunks The Johnnys are back for their first Sydney show since 2023 and it’s at their spiritual home, Marrickville Bowling Club, with a killer line-up, presented by The I-94 Bar. Tickets are on sale here.

Joining The Johnnys will be high-energy Melbourne veterans Brando Rising, launching their self-titled album, and the internationally-credentialled swamp rockers Pete Ross & The Sapphire, signed to French label Beast Records but now living in Sydney..  

The show is a home town return from the injured list for bassist Graham Hood, who is bouncing back from a wrist operation.

All is well with Hoody after the equivalent of a grease and oil change, He, Slim and Billy have been in the studio over winter, working with producer Phil Punch to preparing a vinyl re-issue of their debut  album, “Highlights of a Dangerous Life”. 

The gig will be the Sydney debut of Brando Rising, with singer Ripley Hood and bassist Tony "The Kid" Robertson (of Hitmen and The Naked Lunch) back on what was their home turf for many years. 

Peter Ross and his crack outfit are fast making a name for themselves in Sydney and played a memorable support to Charlie Owen at a sold-out Django Bar that still has people talking.

Book your ticket often and early to save and make admission on the night a breeze. Cheap drinks and even cheaper thrills from The Johnnys under The Bowlo's Coppperart ceiling. What else could your heart desire?

• the johnnys
• brando rising
• marrickville bowlo
• pete ross and the sapphire

Chimers to hit the road in support of new album

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By The Barman

The Barman

10 September 2024

Hits: 1157

_{Katelyn Slyer photo.} 

Wollongong duo Chimers is hitting the road in Australia, in support of their new album “Through Today”, which is out on November 8 on Poison City Records in Australia and 12XU in North America.

It’s the second album for husband-and-wife Padraic and Binx  following their self-titled debut in 2021 and they’ll play their own shows in four states and as special guests to Party Dozen (Sydney in October) and The Saints ’73-’78 (in November).

• australian tour
• chimers
• the saints '73-'78
• through today
• poison city records
• 12XU Records

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Unwelcome? Unloveable? Ed Clayton-Jones lets YOU be the judge

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

09 September 2024

Hits: 1091

Interloper - Ed Clayton-Jones (Golden Robot Records)

The past is a mystic portal. You know? Maybe not so much if you're under 24 years; but, if you survive long enough, you draw on the past more than the present, simply because 1) there's a lot more of it, 2) there's a lot you missed the first time, 3) you're finally beginning to put the pieces of your youth together and 4) your thirties and forties will just have to remain unexamined.

Not all of us ponder our beginnings, but we should, because it's how we got here. And some of that getting here was pure luck as much as anything. Anyone who thinks that they were predestined or that their life was written by god ... sorry, chum, you think you're way more important than you actually are. Remember that last roast lamb? Could've grown up and had a happy life, but guess what..?

• the wreckery
• ed clayton-jones
• golden robot
• interloper

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Turnbuckles wind up "40 Years Undefeated Tour" in Brisbane

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By The Barman

The Barman

04 September 2024

Hits: 1114

The I-94 Bar's favourite World Tag Team Champions, Psychotic Turnbuckles, wind up their "40 Years Undefeated Tour" with a Punkfest-promoted show at Black Bear Lodge in Brisbane on Saturday. Supports are The Dangermen, KillPIll and The Busymen and it's an early show with doors at 6.30pm. Tickets are here. 

But there's more! Turnbuckles frontman Jesse The Intruder and whichever other band members can be pried out of the fleshpots of Fortttude Valley will be Judy Jeston's special guests on her Subterranea show on 4ZZZ from 4.30pm AEST on Friday and you can stream it here.

• brisbane
• psychotic turnbuckles
• the dangermen
• the busymen
• killpill
• black bear lodge
• punkfest

Sonic grandeur - and numb bum - in a magnificient setting

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

03 September 2024

Hits: 1333

_{Josh Lord and Ash Wednesday.}

Melbourne Drone Orchestra presents Norla Drone edition 6
Ash Wednesday & Josh Lord
+ David Pittaway
+ Jennifer Lea & Sasha Braganca
+ Blood of a Pomegranate
Norla Dome, The Mission to Seafarers
Docklands, VIC
Sunday, August 25, 2024

So, there's this fantastic venue in Melbourne which I'd never heard of, never mind been to. The Mission to Seafarers.

It's a bloody beautiful building to look at, quite distinctive and engaging. The website says this "recently renovated Flinders St building is architecturally significant and is considered a fine urban example of a merging of the "Arts and Crafts and 'Spanish Mission Revival' architectural styles in Melbourne.

"The enchanting design offers a unique venue for functions and events of all styles and sizes; with full bar facilities, beer garden, a commercial kitchen, and all within the heart of Docklands and a short stroll from the CBD."

• josh lord
• ash wednesday
• the mission to seafarers
• norla drone
• david pittaway
• jennifer lea
• sasha braganca
• blood of a pomegranate

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The Stems cast a spell in Sydney

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By The Barman

The Barman

02 September 2024

Hits: 2337

 
_{Murray Bennett photo.}

The Stems
+ New Christs
Manning Bar, Sydney
Saturday, August 30, 2024
Photos: Tony McNamara unless otherwisde credited.

Shows by The Stems are reverential experiences, And for good reason. The band’s membership is scattered over two coasts of Australia and gigs don’t occur often. When they do, you know they're going to be something worth bottling.

What’s the special sauce? It’s Dom Mariani’s timeless pop songs being delivered by top-shelf players who have a chemistry that can only come from most of them playing together for years.

The foundation is Mariani on guitar and vocals, drummer Dave Shaw and bassist Julian Matthews, with a guitar foil of Ash Naylor (this tour) or Davey Lane, who are both ubiquitous and gifted in equal measures.

As far as recordings go, The Stems have not been prolific, with just two full-length studio albums since 1987, so it’s all about the quality and not the length. Their first LP, “At First Sight Violets Are Blue”, was a fully formed pop classic, and the 2007 “follow-up”, “Heads Up”, was substantial in its own right, although is not as well-known.

• sydney
• new christs
• julian matthews
• manning bar
• dom mariani
• the stems
• ash naylor
• australian tour
• dave shaw

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Re-born Sacred Cowboys spring a surprise show

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

01 September 2024

Hits: 3106

The Sacred Cowboys
Town Hall Hotel,
North Melbourne
Friday, August 28, 2024
PHOTOS: James Stewart

You may have seen a few videos of this secret warm-up gig on Sacred Cowboys leaderr Garry Gray's Facebook page.  They're great but being there was something else.

See, unlike the two English twonks who recently announced another culture-sucking reformation tour, when we'd all assumed they'd been safely banished to a tiny island in an oasis in a vast desert, the Sacred Cowboys are a kind of poke in the moral and political eye, as well as being the kind of rock band people actually enjoy when it's parked in front of them. 

Despite coming from the same melting-pot that punk initially came from, The Sacred Cowboys could never have been called “punk” with any accuracy. If they resembled anything, it would be a band from the early 1970s stages of Max's or CB's. They have a kind of outsider-taint to them, an aspect both foreign and familiar. Still do have it, you know.

Also, while there was a reason Molly Meldrum dissed the band on “Countdown”, he'd been told to play them, and he had no choice. The truth is that the Sacred Cowboys were their own coiled critter, intent on their own mayhem. That their lyrics were also broadly and potently political added to their attraction. 

• sacred cowboys
• garry gray
• town hall hotel
• shotkickers

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God Damn, New York! Andy really did Get The Band Back Together

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By The Barman

The Barman

29 August 2024

Hits: 3009

_{New Dictator Keith Roth flanked by (from left) Andy Shernoff, Albert Bouchard and Ross The Boss.}  

As far as reformations go, it was a longshot at best. We speak not of Oasis, but the much more seminal and important Dictators, out of New York City, who all and sundry figured had drawn their last collective breath after some bitter internal fallings-out.

The May 2020 announcement that the Dictators were reassembling - sans longtime frontman Handsome Dick Manitoba) - caught the world unaware. Before the first single, “Let’s Get The Band Back Together”, hit the Interwebs, it seemed similarly implausible that the new line-up was recording.

A new album, the plain language-titled “The Dictators” will be released online and on CD in September, with vinyl to follow in October. Which leads us to ask: How did punk rock’s original misfits and premier proto-punk influences find their way to being a band again?

Co-founder and songwriter Andy Shernoff gives us all the answers, live and on the line thanks to the wonders of Zoom…

• ross the boss
• top ten
• dffd
• blue oyster cult
• scott kempner
• andy shernoff
• handsome dick manitoba
• Daniel rey
• albert bouchard
• keith roth
• the dictators
• jp patterson
• sandy pearlman
• richard meltzer
• manifest destiny
• the dictators go girl crazy
• manitoba's wild kindgom

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Hell Oh! King Brothers bring their death-defying chaos back to Oz

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By Matt Ryan of Munster Times

Matt Ryan of Munster Times

29 August 2024

Hits: 1778

Explosive Japanese band King Brothers are returning to Australian shores for the first time since 2016 this month. A mix of blues and outta control ‘90s garage, King Brothers are an example of a band that take two genres with deep roots and manage to make a sound that sounds original. 

With a reputation for loose and rowdy shows, this run of gigs by the band from Nishinomiya City are a must see.

Lead singer and guitarist Keizo spoke to Matt Ryan via email.

• australian tour
• 2024
• king brothers
• hell oh! oz

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