The Goodbye Johnnys let their dogs off the leash

Attack Dogs EP – The Goodbye Johnnys (Take The City)

Rock and Roll has no borders: Take The City is a Spanish label and The Goodbye Johnnys are a Swiss band. They play raucous Rock and Roll in the style of The Boys or a less messy version of The Heartbreakers, and have been around the block a a few times with a handful of singles and two albums to their credit.

They're also Zurich's supports-of-choice for touring acts like TV Smith and Ruts DC. This four-track seven-inch EP shows them strutting their stuff to good effect.

“Attack Dogs” is a catchy call to arms and “Losers Crime” is nearly as good. “Get Me” dirties up the rhythm guitar with some nagging, if thin, overdubbed lead. “Too Late” benefits from a sneering vocal and sharp guitar and is the best of the bunch. Good, honest punk rock with no pretensions. 

1/2

Buy it  

• the goodbye johnnys
• attack dogs

The Saints '73-'78 are off to the UK to tour with The Damned

The Saints ’73-'78 will return to the UK this November-December - as special guests to The Damned on their "Final Damnation Tour".

The bands will play seven dates together including one at the new London venue, the 3,800 capacity British Airways ARC, as well as a series of 2,500-people regional dates. 

Tickets for The Saints ’73-’78 with The Damned are on-sale from 10am (AEST) on Friday May 1 via thesaints73-78.com

Read more …

• the saints
• the damned
• the saints '73-'78

Ex-Dropbear drops new single

“I Won’t Sing About It” is the latest tune from Australian indie-artist Johnny Batchelor, onetime frontman for Sydney underground band Dropbears who has been releasing a slew of new music since mid-2024.

With summery indie tones and a touch of blue-eyed soul, "I Won't Sing About It" is a bittersweet tale of lost love and the first track from a new EP which will continue the eclectic stylings of Batchelor’s well received album, “Ain't Nobody”:

The song is by Johnny Batchelor, backed by Lee Borkman (keyboards and backing vocals), Genevieve Davis (backing vocals), Marc Scully (bass) and Yani Socratous (drums). Batchelor sings and plays guitars and it was recorded at Scully's Studio 57 in Sydney.

Read more …

• dropbears
• johnny batchelor
• i won't sing about it

Peel slowly and listen to these Hovering Spooks

Andy Says b/w Creeping Jean – The Hovering Spooks (Dominion Recordings)

This is a fantastic debut release from this Sydney supergroup comprising ex-members of Sunnyboys, Sardine V, Dropbears, Linme Spiders, Wedding Parties Anything, The Saints, Celibate Rifles and the New Christs.

“Andy Says” is a homage to/observation about Andy Warhol (who else?) that bustles along with the self-assuredness that you’d expect, given the band’s pedigree. It’s a superb piece of lyrically sharp pop rock, propelled by neat guitar interplay from Cub Callaway and Richard Burgman, and Phil Hall’s wonderful vocal.

Flip it over for the cover of a Kinks B side given the “Prehistoric Sounds”-era Saints treatment in the outro, with horns and vocal again from Phil Hall. It’s not as wired as the paranoid original but it works regardless.

Stream it or procure a vinyl copy here and apply the supplied banana to the cover art. A word of warning: once you do you won't have a spook's chance of removing it.

1/2

• sunnyboys
• the saints
• the hovering spooks
• andy says
• creeping jean
• the kinks

For the love of music: Peter Black's magnificent obsession

Delicate Barflies, I'm more than a little stunned. The breadth, beauty and sophistication of Peter Black's latest two solo albums. “A Bowl of Spiders” and “The Boss Is Gone Gone Gone” is really damn exciting. These LPs are world-class and really, the man needs exposure overseas outside the context of his bands, Hard-Ons and Nunchukka Superfly.

As far as I can see, Australia has no idea what constitutes a pop song anymore - the mainstream seem happy enough with some oik ranting or squawking over a vague wafty structure. 

Anyway. Fucking hell. I've asked my local record shop to get Blackie's latest two records in for me.

Read more …

• hard-ons
• peter black
• nunchukka superfly
• The Boss Is Gone Gone Gone
• a bowl of spiders

Beastly line-up makes for a Sacred night in Sydney

Sacred Cowboys
+ Belle Phoenix Band with Jeffery Wegener
+ Pete Ross and The Sapphire
Marrickville Bowling Club, Sydney
Saturday 18 April, 2026

WORDS: Ed Garland
IMAGES: The Barman

Tonight was one of the strongest bills for some time at the Marrickville Bowlo with the common thread that all three bands are on the legendary record label Beast Records.

Beast is an ultra-cool French imprint that has always gone for the musical underbelly, putting out soulful stuff with swagger and a sense of the street. And more importantly bands with great songs – acts like HITS, Kim Salmon, Six Foot Hick, Spencer P Jones and numerous others, The label is also part of the iconic Binic Festival where tonight's headliners Sacred Cowboys are playing later this year.

It’s been 20 months since I saw tonight’s opening act, Pete Ross and The Sapphire, when they supported Charlie Owen at the Camelot Lounge in Sydney. What I took away from  that night was that they were a class band of great players, with incredible songs and Pete Ross’s soulful voice.

More than a year-and-a-half on, they could still be the most underrated act on the Sydney circuit, but they remain unpretentious and humble. Tonight, they were playing as a three piece and you might say it was “The Sapphire going Nirvana”. They were certainly more direct and more rocking.

Read more …

• sacred cowboys
• garry gray
• marrickville bowling club
• belle phoenix
• mark ferrie
• pete ross and the sapphire
• jeffrey wegener

The Crisps take it up a notch ahead of album and Euro tour with Chris Masuak

Inner-west Sydney rock and roll outfit The Crisps have "upped the ante" by releasing  a blistering new single, "Take It up a Notch" (get it?) and it's available now on Bandcamp.

Known for their sharp pop sensibility and high-energy shows, The Crisps are releasing the single as a taster for an album, “Four On The Floor” in July to coincide with a European tour.

The shows in Germany, Poland and France will be double-headers with the Australian version of Chris Masuak’s Dog Soldier.

Read more …

• stuart wilson
• heavy medication
• chris masuak's dog soldier

You need Fowl Weather Vein to know which way the wind blows

Fowl Weather Vein – Fowl Weather Vein (Vi-Nil Records)

The years 1978-82  produced the greatest explosion of music in the last century. Only the mid to late 1960s rivals it. Some called it New Wave, others came up with Post-Punk.

Record companies were opening cheque books as fast as new labels arrived and there was the buzz of a DIY ethos. More importantly though, the period produced an artistic tidal wave surfed by one-hit wonders and more enduring artists whose music careers have continued for decades.  

Consider the massive diversity of a crop that included Wire, Echo and The Bunnymen, Pere Ubu, The Fall, The Pop Group, XTC, The Cure, The Jam, Siouxie and The Banshees, Joy Division, Talking Heads, Blondie, Psychedelic Furs, Gang of Four. There was also the rise of Ska. There were was no single blueprint or style, just an explosion of creativity.

Read more …

• keith claringbold
• vanilla chainsaws
• paul berwick
• vi-nil records
• marc scully
• fowl weather vein
• trench gashes
• paul timmins
• paul simpson
• mark nicholson

Smoked Salmon get Totally Sick!! on new record

Smoked Salmon - the Australian band featuring art school dropout, seminal punk rocker, Scientists, Surrealists and Beasts of Bourbon living legend Kim Salmon - will release a new album "Totally Sick!!" on May 29. The second single, "Fully Sick and Tired" is out now digitally. 

"Totally Sick!!" will be released on limited edition spew green vinyl (100 only), and black vinyl. The single can be purchased individually or as an immediate download track ahead of the album. Order here.

The band describes the new album as "songs for when you’re not feeling so good" but not all about medicine, and the single is a tribute to the great Aussie tradition of "taking a sickie". 

Read more …

• kim salmon
• fully sick and tired
• totally sick!!