TV Smith (and the Hard-Ons) deliver Down Under

 
TV Smith's Adverts
The Tote, Collingwood, VIC
Friday 3 April 2026
The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar, North Melbourne, VIC
Sunday 5 April 2026
Words & Pictures: Robert Brokenmouth

I cannot believe it’s been so long since I’ve seen the Hard Ons. Been in a tunnel for a few years. Never mind.

I sent some rude words to the publicist, Dave Laing, when I found out TV Smith was touring - but (understandably) not to my hometown, Adelaide. I did an interview with TV Smith, and was glad that I’d got a few things right.

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• hard-ons
• melbourne
• the tote
• tv smith
• adverts
• the last chance

Sydney's favourite rock and roll dive bar announces free 9th birthday weekend

“The Small Bar That Could” and “Sydney’s version of CBGB”. They’re two of the names for MoshPit, the dive bar on King Street in the suburb of St Peters that’s been a spawning ground for countless up and coming bands - and a home for some not so young.

The venue is notching its ninth birthday in May and is holding a three-day event to mark the occasion.

“None of us know which birthday will be our last so we're going all out with bands all weekend - Friday night, all day Saturday, and Sunday arvo,” said mine host Pat Jones (pictured above).

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• sydney
• moshpit bar
• ninth birthday

Ex-Trash Brat Troy Toma leaves Detroit and lets his Americana juices flow

24 Hours in Detroit - Troy Toma and The Lousy Lovers (Jett Plastic Recordings)

So, my good friends, I hesitate to even commit my thoughts to paper very often nowadays cause I'm just so curmudgeonly and grouchy and pessimistic, I've totally turned into one of those ruined, scarred, and bitter men muttering to himself about the MC5, and wishing all these new kids in their expensive hats would get off my fucking lawn.

I got the oldness; walk with a cane, been having some scary health issues, with gratitude for some narrow escapes, my old friends are dropping like flies, and many of those remaining suddenly look like Uncle Jessie from "Dukes" Of Hazzard".

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• trash brats
• troy toma
• 24 hours in detroit
• jett plastic recordings

Ex-Dubrovnik Peter Simpson wants to turn your world; Sabrina Lawrie invites you to dream

Ex-Dubrovnik Peter Simpson has released another single from his excellent solo album, "Good Times Gone Bad”.

“Turn My World” takes a slight country tack and includes backing vocals from Peter’s Dubrovniks bandmates Boris Sujdovic and Chris Flynn, and his his sons Dom and Vo Simpson.

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• peter simpson
• sabrina lawrie
• good times gone bad
• turn my world
• edge of a dream

New Sydney "Indie Sounds" compilation looms, tour dates announced

The release of Vil-Nil Records’ “Indie Sounds From The Harbour City Volume 2” is imminent, and a tour to support it has been announced.

A stack of Sydney appear on the LP and CD. The roll call is Hard Ons, Van Ruin, The Darrans, Mezcaltones, Nunchukka Superfly, The On and Ons, The Jane Does, Tshitaki, Fowl Weather Vein, Disgraceland, Division 4, Jupiter 5, Pocketwatch, and  Little Incursions.

Album pre-sales are open here. Don't be tardy. It will sell out, just like its predecessor. 

The accompanying tour is extensive, taking in Sydney, Canberra, Coffs Harbour, the Central West, Wollongong, the Central Coast and the Shoalhaven, as well as a gig in Brisbane. Bands appearing include The Jane Does, Fowl Weather Vein, Jupiter 5, The On and Ons, DISCGRACEland, Owen Guns, Loose Surface and I Hate People.

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• the on and ons
• jupiter 5
• the owen guns
• pocketwatch
• DISGRACEland
• the jane does
• fowl weather vein
• indie sounds from the harbour cityy

Sydney's The Jane Does make a name for themselves on debut LP

The Jane Does – The Jane Does (self released)

It seems hard to find good bands fronted by women no longer aged in their teens in Sydney these days. The reality is that the city’s small roster of rock and roll venues means the sisters (mums? aunts?) aren’t hiding, you just need to look for them at the right time.

Along with The Sugar Beats and Raising Ravens, The Jane Does are the pick of the semi-femme crop (although technically you could say that the former come from Wollongong.)

The Jane Does are  Rebecca Halley (vocals and guitar) and Joanne Bennett (bass and vocals) sharing front-of-stage duties with guitarist Matt Allison. Rebecca and Jo are cousins and have shared stages before. They’ve had a series of drummers but Tim Savage now seems firmly sequestered on the stool, barring spontaneous combustion or bizarre gardening accidents.

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• the jane does
• ROCKS
• matt allison
• joanne bennett
• rebecca halley

Asteroids and Cam Butler bring new releases while Ketamine Cowboys are feeling a little dusty

On the back of their long-awaited return to Australia in June last year Asteroid B-612 (above) are back with another dose of high-octane rock.

Their brand-new single, “Fallen Slow’”, will be released on April 10 via Golden Robot Records and is available to pre-save now on all major streaming platforms.

The re-tooled Asteroids were in Australia to promote their  2025 album “Roads, Stars”, the band found themselves with a rare few hours to spare during rehearsals. Wasting no time, Johnny Casino and Co headed into the studio.

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• asteroid b612
• swashbuckling hobo
• cam butler
• golden robot
• ron s peno
• ketamine cowboys

This punk rock purity was Maid for your ears

Maids In Bataan  - The Maids (Gutterwall Records)

There is a genre of music that collectors refer to as “Killed By Death” or ” KBD”. The label refers to onscure 1970s or 1980s punk rock records that were usually independently released by the bands themselves in small print runs.

“Killed By Death” was also a series of bootleg compilation albums that illegally reissued these songs (kind of like the “Pebbles” of ‘70s and ‘80s punk).

The Maids’ recordings were first heard by the punk rock collecting masses on volumes 7 and 17 of “Killed By Death” and thanks to these bootleggers, the legend of the band has grown.

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• killed by death
• the maids
• maid in bataan
• gutterwall records

IT'S AN ULTRA MONDO DELUXE UNDERGROUND SCENE REPORT

I Wanna Live Before I Die b/w Let Me Go – The North Hollywood Phantoms (Heavy Medication Records)

By JD Misfortune and The Ball Tonights

If you're a rock ‘n’ roll diehard like me, you probably go through fallow stages where you just can't locate fresh and original rock ‘n’ roll motherfuckery to help cope with the obscenely darkening and depraved, authoritarian cyberhell and demonic police state new world disorder chaos swirling all around us.

These cats, Richard Duguay and Pat Todd, are the best of the best, utter assassins of lukwarm, ho-hum mediocrity, they have come to raise a ruckous, yank you outta your collective trauma and make you feel like Little Richard. When it comes to producing high quality, dirty and dangerous, blues infused derelict poetic rock ‘n’ roll with that heartland feel, you have to go all the way to Australia to find other contemporaries creating modern art jampacked with that much soulpower and vivid storytellin', these blokes know how to spin a purple yarn, a mile long, on broken glass with runny black eye makeup.

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• pat todd
• heavy medication records
• the north hollywood phantoms
• richard dugay