Beasts saddle up once more to mark 40

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By The Barman

The Barman

12 June 2023

Hits: 2372

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.

• beasts of bourbon
• sydney
• the beasts
• 40th anniversary

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Old souls ring true

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By The Barman

The Barman

11 June 2023

Hits: 1961

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.

• pere ubu
• damo suzuki
• the holy soul
• get old
• robyn hitchcock
• the soft boys
• trent marsden

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Help the late Richard Lane's daughter Penny realise her dream

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By The Barman

The Barman

07 June 2023

Hits: 2249

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.

• stems
• richard lane
• penny lane
• lavender dice

Psychotic Turnbuckles gear for Japan with two Aussie bouts

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By The Barman

The Barman

07 June 2023

Hits: 2060

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.)

• wollongong
• shandy
• psychotic turnbuckles
• marrickville bowling club
• the dark clouds
• lalala's

Watch the new flimclip for Mick Medew and Ursula

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By The Barman

The Barman

31 May 2023

Hits: 3548

• i-94 bar records
• love is calling
• mick medew and ursula
• tracey walker

Masuak and Dog Soldier deliver in Canberra

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By DP Muir

DP Muir

31 May 2023

Hits: 5310

Chris Masuak and Dog Soldier
Il Bruto

Sunday, 28 May 2023

Smith’s Alternative, Canberra, ACT

I conquered a three-day bout of sciatic pain by doing some stretches and then dancing with total abandon for a few songs. Such is the delight that a pure, dedicated and quality trio can deliver to a discerning audience!

 

Thank you, Masuak! Bravo Dog Soldier! You’re all champs for coming to Canberra; so many others don’t bother to embrace this passionate regional audience.

 

• hitmen
• radio birdman
• screaming tribesmen
• chris masuak
• canberra
• dog soldier
• smith's alternative
• il bruto

Masuak's relevance bites at nostalgia's heels

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By Edwin Garland

Edwin Garland

29 May 2023

Hits: 4689

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.

• chris masuak
• australian tour
• dog soldier
• link and pin
• 2023
• the silver dragons

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Wake up and reflect with MJ Halloran

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

22 May 2023

Hits: 2734

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.

• kim salmon
• mj halloran
• woke up and seen my reflection
• torn& frayed

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Catch a falling star

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By The Barman

The Barman

14 May 2023

Hits: 2469

Proby And Me. A Howling Tale of a Falling Star – MJ Cornwall (BookPOD)

The label doesn’t lie. “Proby And Me” is a runaway train of a story, a rollicking saga of a disastrous “tour” down under by the trouser-splitting, UK-exiled Texan-born ‘60s pop star who was, briefly, as big as the Beatles.

The context: Ex-publican Brett Stevens (aka Brett Eldorado) and former Hoodoo Guru Clyde Bramley had lured the man to Sydney - and he barely made it past the front door of the Hopetoun Hotel.

By 1990, Proby’s currency as anything but a cult item had well and truly faded. He was plucked from a housing estate in the north of England where his performing stocks were low, his live appearances limited to a circuit of scrappy workingman’s clubs and seaside summer resorts.

Proby’s would-be promoters flew him to Sydney, put him up in a Bondi hotel and paid his considerable bar tabs. At least his food bill would have been minimal. PJ sounds like a graduate from the Eating Is Cheating School.

Attempts to match Proby with a backing band were fraught - his preference was a full orchestra - musicians who “read” - and his promotional appearances in media were sporadic and booze-sodden. A warm-up gig in Newcastle and an inner-city stand at Paddington RSL that sparked a mini riot were the only shows.

Author Mark Cornwall tells the story through the eyes of Eldorado - or should that be ears as Proby never shuts up. It’s 321 pages of staccato chatter and patois - delivered like machine gun fire in the style of James Ellroy.

It’s a story that’s exceedingly well told, with grim humour and massive swathes of colour.

Proby namechecks everybody from Jimi Hendrix to The Doors, Marc Almond to Elvis and Kim Fowley to Jimmy Page, in recounting a storied life mostly spent clutching defeat from the jaws of victory. What’s more, the yarns have all been verified to be true, and their common denominator is that when it turned to shit, it was always somebody else’s fault.

• clyde bramley
• hoodoo gurus
• proby and me
• brett eldorado
• mark cornwall
• mj cornwall
• pj proby

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