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- By The Barman
- Hits: 1762
One of the most irreverent bands ever to come out of the Southern Californian punk scene,Descendentsare returning to Australia and New Zealand this October, playing six headlining shows.
Descendents have one of the most enduring legacies of any punk rock band in history. Known for their early, defining timeless classic albums such as “Milo Goes to College” and “I Don't Want to Grow Up” and songs, “Hope”, “Suburban Home” and “Good Good Things”.
Milo Aukerman (vocals), Bill Stevenson (drums), Stephen Egerton (guitar) and Karl Alvarez (bass) will be joined by a swag of local supports listed below.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 1973
Ride Hard Ride Free b/w Smokestack Lightning - Zeke (Hound Gawd Records)
Seattle speed metal merchants Zeke cop a perennial barberqueing from critics who perceive their Motorhead-meets-Black Flag to be one-dimensional thrash. That might be partially correct - the 2000 cover of “Rhiannon” was certainly an attempt to crack the mould - but what’s wrong with sticking to your guns? It never hurt Lemmy.
This vinyl-only single (as in it won’t be on any streaming service anywhere, soon) vindicates that single-minded approach. The production is more metal orientated than the band’s high-water mark album, “Dirty Sanchez”, but that won’t deter any more than a handful of followers.
With original members Blind Marky Felchtone (vocals and guitar) and Dohnny Paycheck (drums) “Ride Hard Ride Free” is as uncompromising as ever, with a furious whirlwind rhythm the foundation for a tidal wave of fast guitars. Feltchtone’s serrated knife vocal might be even more toxic than two decades ago.
Be forewarned: The B side “Smokestack Lightning” is not the Yardbirds-appropriated blues smoker from “Five Live” but a similarly pitched blistering aural assault.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 2453
Half Deaf, Completely Mad: The Chaotic Genius of Australia’s Most Legendary Producer
By Tony Cohen with John Olson
(Black Ink)
“Unputdownable” is a word and it officially entered the English lexicon in 1947. That’s a full decade before Tony Cohen came into the world, but the descriptor could have been custom-built for “Half Deaf, Completely Mad”, his posthumous autobiography.
This is a tale of hyper-energy and off-the-wall sonic experimentation cleverly disguised as a 230-page paperback. It’s a weaving, sometimes wobbling story told through Cohen’s often bloodshot or pinned eyes, with dry wit and self-deprecation.
People who worked with the man and saw his excesses first-hand might question his ability to recall fine detail, but in the same manner that Tony would feverishly splice three-inch tape to insert a crucial edit, his co-writer John Olson stitched the bits together.
Not familiar with Tony Cohen’s work? The music he produced was the soundtrack of the life of anyone into Australian underground music in the 1980s and ‘90s. The Boys Next Door, the Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Michael Hutchence, The Johnnys, Beasts of Bourbon, Go-Betweens, Hunters and Collectors, Kim Salmon, Laughing Clowns, The Cruel Sea, The Saints, X, TISM…the list goes on. Flick through your own record collection and get back to me.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 2120
A war of wordss has broken out between Brisbane bovver boys Shandy and Pismo Beach-based Intercontinental Tag Team Champions the Psychotic Turnbuckles and it isn't pretty.
The Turnbuckles make one of their sporadic visits to Australia in July as part of their preparations for an October onslaught on Japan, with gigs at La La La's in Wollongong (July 28) and Marrickville Bowling Club in Sydney (July 29.) Tickets for the respective shows are here and here.
Shandy are undertaking an East Coast tour and will be sharing the undercard at both shows with high-energy Wollongong outfit The Dark Clouds.
Psychotic Turnbuckles vocalist Jesse The Intruder started the ball rolling with his motivational video about teamwork:
The full list of dates on the Shandy run are Badluck in Brisbane ( June 3), Eddie’s Grubhouse on the Gold Coast (June 6), Golbey’s Basement in Ipswich (June 17), La La La’s in Wollongong (July 28), Marrickville Bowlo (July 29) and Link and Pin in Woy Woy (July 30.
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- By JD Misfortune
- Hits: 3166
Who Cares Anyway? Post-Punk San Francisco And The End Of The Analog Age
By Will York (Headpress)
Will York has done such an exemplary job here, in that it is a deeply entertaining read even if you aren't already intimately familiar with bands like Caroliner, Flipper, Tuxedomoon, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, Toiling Midgets, or Pop-O-Pies.
This thoroughly researched and frequently tragic tome is sure to appeal to any music fans who still long for the pre-gentrification era, when creatives could still afford to pay the prohibitively astronomical rent for warehouses and rehearsal spaces in big cities before unscrupulous landlords with big tech money killed off urban Bohemia in this country, with Judge Dredd "stop and frisk" class patrols and a nearly universal lack of accessible egalitarian neighborhoods for working class artists.
York delves deep into the avant garde, Flipper-informed history of Faith No More and Mr Bungle - way back when metal deedler Jim Martin was still partying with high school dude-metal stoner buds Cliff Burton and all through Courtney Love's inflammatory stint as vocalist. This pre-dates the Chuck Mosely era, when "We Care A Lot" crossed over into college radio and MTV airplay, long before when Mike Patton joined the group and they went supernova mainstream in the hyper-polished commercial whiteboy funk era of the band and their defiantly unpop experimental endeavors that followed.
I find the startlingly dangerous, death taunting, law scorning, ledge dwelling excesses of the Sleepers’ Ricky Williams and Michael Belfer of particular interest, but the heavy book is spilling over with twisted tales of debauchery, comedy, community and collaboration in the post-punk era. Recommended.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 3426
Artists (from left) Glenn Smith, John Foy, Simon Day and Ben Brown are ready to sign and validate your poster collection.
They’ve literally mapped the history of Sydney underground rock and roll shows on telegraph poles and walls for more than 50 years and now they’re taking a stand against bootleg artworks.
Poster artists Glenn ‘”Glenno” Smith, Ben Brown, John Foy and Simon Day are making themselves available to fans to have their rock posters officially verified in Sydney on Saturday, July 1.
It’s a free service but for an optional extra fee, The Poster Boys will sign and encode your poster confirming its authenticity and value for now, and into the future. It starts at 11am at: 11-13 Burnell Place, Darlinghurst - look for the big red doors.
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- By JD Misfortune
- Hits: 1352
Legend Of The Bleeding Heart – Golem Dance Cult (Flying Rats)
Employing both organic instruments and all the latest digital technology, this Suicide-like duo have known each other since their teen years and have been collaborating off and on since then. Charles Why shares vocal duties along with production, bass, guitar, etc., while brooding and mysterious frontman Laur cuts a profile like a dashing cross between Peter Murphy and Ian Curtis. I dig their new album, thoroughly.
With membership drawn from Belgrave, Victoria (Australia) and Besancon (France), Golem Dance Cult has poetic lyrics that are super visual collages informed by ancient horror films, low budget sci-fi, vampires, Bowie, Frankenstein's monster, a haute couture eye for detail and ‘70's superstar celebrity glam rock pomp and circumstance.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 4245
News that a long-lost five-track release by Sydney band The Most was making its way onto streaming platforms has made the ears of veterans of Australia's 1980s underground scene prick up. The Most were among many terrific acts in a crowded inner-city Sydney scene, and a band that spawned future members of the Lime Spiders and The Cruel Sea.
Originally issued as a cassette in very limited quantities by fanzine "48 Crash", the "Another Day" EP is now available online, so we tracked down The Most drummer RICHARD LAWSON to extract some historical details. THE BARMAN did the interrogating.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 1969
Saints and Laughing Clowns elder statesman Ed Kuepper is backing an extensive re-issue campaign of his solo back catalogue with a series of Australian shows under the moniker, “The Exploding World of Ed Kuepper".
Kuepper will be joined by the all;-star band of Mark Dawson on drums, ex-Sunnyboys bassist Peter Oxley, pianist Alister Spence and brass maestro Eamon Dilworth for a run through seven states and territories.
The Exploding Universe will tackle the best of “Electrical Storm” and “Honey Steel’s Gold”, the iconic Kuepper solo records being re-issued in re-mastered form in all formats right now by Remote Control label. All shows are fully seated and on sale now.
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