Groundhog Day as The OSees lay waste to Sydney

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By Edwin Garland

Edwin Garland

10 March 2025

Hits: 1403

_{Bryan Grenberg photo.} 

The OSees
+ G2G
+ Exit Mould
The Metro Theatre, Sydney
February 28, 2025

During the 1990s, The Metro was THE venue in Sydney. I could list the life-changing gigs that I went to and it was chocka block full of top shelf bills every weekend. More than a thousand punters crammed in and with great sound. And great sight-lines.  Tonight, I am back again to see if the sold-out OSees can top their intense performance of almost two years ago.

In the '90s, playing a gig at The Metro was something to aspire to. Even I played gigs there back in the day, as an opening act. Damn, they treated you well, with a fridge full of beer and a dressing room…complete  with a photocopied A4 piece of paper with your band’s name on the door. It was welcoming.

It is still a top shelf room in a prime location. While the suburbs outside the city are abuzz with Friday night teens, roaming gangs and dance music kitsch and glitter, The Metro is mostly (sadly) like the last oasis of rock ‘n’ roll in the Sydney CBD.

• sydney
• metro theatre
• osees
• G2G
• exit mould

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Detroit's The Strains kick major butt on new single

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By The Barman

The Barman

08 March 2025

Hits: 633

“Running the Lines” b/w “Checkin’ Out” – The Strains (I-94 Recordings)

 It sounds cliched in these transnational times, but you can still get a sense of where a band lives from the sound of their records. The Strains are undeniably denizens of  the Motor City, with that gritty and uncompromising, blue collar guitar sound that’s rooted in the blues and late ‘60s heavy rock.

A side “Running Time” rides a wave of searing guitars, courtesy of Gretta Smak and Jamy Halliday, a tearaway tempo and the take-no-prisoners vocal of Paul Grace Smith (ex-Dumbell). It skids to a halt all too soon, running a touch over a coupla minutes. So play it again, Sam! Flip it and you’ll hear a spiffing cover of The Torpedos’ “Checkin’ Out” from 1979 (RIP Johnny Angelos) with a rolled gold minor chord melody that sticks like dogshit on your sneaker.

When you read a one-sheet describing The Strains as "a Detroit version of the Patridge Family", c’mon, you can’t help but get happy, because a semblance of irony still exists in a very confused Amerika. It's not on our own I-94 Bar label but the much more active I-94 Recordings imprint from Detroit. Get it here. The Strains are currently touring the Midwest with Handsome Dick Manitoba and be warned their full-length self-titled album that you’ll find here is a killer.

• detroit
• i-94 recordings
• the strains
• running the lines
• the torpedos
• checkin' out

Cyclone postpones sold-out Ups and Downs Sydney show

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By The Barman

The Barman

06 March 2025

Hits: 1270

_{Ups and Downs: Staying home for now.}

Tropical Cyclone Alfred is bearing down on the Australian coast and is already wreacking havoc on this weekend’s gigs in South-East Queensland. Today, it took down one in Sydney.

The sold-out Ups and Downs show with a reformed Crystal Set at Marrickville Bowling Club has been postponed as most members of the headliners are unable to leave Queensland for reasons that are too obvious. The band posted on Facebook:

Friends, it is with great regret that we have decided to postpone this Saturday's sold-out show at the Marrickville Bowling Club with the Crystal Set. Those of us who live in and around Brisbane need to stay close to home with family and friends as Cyclone Alfred approaches. The new date for the show is Thursday 10 April - all tickets remain valid, with refunds available if you cannot attend. Our huge apologies for all inconvenience this has caused!

Crystal Set’s shows at Smiths Alternative in Canberra on Friday and The Chippo in Sydney’s Chippendale from 5pm on Sunday are going ahead.  

• marrickville bowling club
• ups and downs
• cyclone alfred
• postponed
• crystal set

First Australia, now The Saints '73-78 take on the world

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By The Barman

The Barman

28 February 2025

Hits: 897

The Saints ’73-’78 are celebrating 50 years since their first-ever shows this November with a month-long international tour, taking in New Zealand, USA, Canada, the UK, Sweden and Germany.

The Saints ’73-78 are surviving members from the original Saints, Ed Kuepper (guitar) and Ivor Hay (drums), joined by Mick Harvey (The Birthday Party, Bad Seeds) on guitar, Peter Oxley (Sunnyboys) on bass and Mark Arm (Mudhoney) on vocals. They will be augmented by a three-piece brass section and the band is fresh from a sold-out Australian tour.

UK tickets are available via Alltickets and dates are after the fold. NZ, Europe , Candian and US tickets are at feelpresents.com

• ed kuepper
• american
• USA
• mudhoney
• mark arm
• ivor hay
• the saints '73-'78
• world tour
• canada

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Sonny and stars shine brightly on "Parallax in Wonderland re-boot

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By The Barman

The Barman

27 February 2025

Hits: 988

Parallax In Wonderland – Sonny Vincent (Dead Beat Records)

Tracking the career of New York City punk original Sonny Vincent is a tall order. The man is nothing if not prolific and he’s has had more labels than a printshop out the back of a bootleg distillery.

This album was first unleashed in 1998 (on vinyl only as “Hard In Detroit”) and the latest iteration, on CD and LP on Cleveland label Dead Beat, has been re-mastered and is a marked sonic improvement.

First, an aside: The original wasn’t my entry point into the raw music of Sonny Vincent, but it's where the relationship really took off.  You can draw a line through earlier bands like Testors and Shotgun Rationale, but “Parallax” coalesced everything that makes Sonny’s music great: frenzied punk energy, guitars and melody, laced with passion and verve.

• wayne kramer
• scott asheton
• ron asheton
• sonny vincent
• dead beat records
• bob stinson
• parallax in wonderland
• capitain sensible
• hard in detroit

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Tassie trip for guitar great Charlie Owen and his stories

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By The Barman

The Barman

25 February 2025

Hits: 730

Fresh from blistering Melbourne and Sydney shows with The Beasts last weekend, guitarist Charlie Owen is taking his “Searching For Charlie Owen” spoken word and music show across the Bass Strait to Tasmania, teaming with local comedian Anthony Morgan.

The Charlie Owen band history includes Beasts of Bourbon, the New Christs,  Tex, Don & Charlie, Tendrils and Working Class Ringos, and he’s collaborated with Paul Kelly, Chrissie Amphlett and Louis Tillett. 

"Searching for Charlie Owen” is a much more intimate affair than the recent Beasts gigs. It's a heartfelt trip through Charlie’s back pages full of warmth and reflection, and has sold out venues in Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.

The shows are supported by Sound Pressing Records and I-94 Bar. 

Charlie Owen
Tasmanian Tour
with Anthony Morgan
FEB
27 - Cygnet Bowls & Community Club, Cygnet
Tickets
28 - The Grand Poobah, Hobart
Tickets
MAR
2 Mar - Valentino Safe Co, Lilydale
(2pm)
Tickets

• beasts of bourbon
• new christs
• paul kelly
• louis tillett
• searching for Charlie owen
• anthony morgan

Hoax returns from the grave, three decades later

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By The Barman

The Barman

23 February 2025

Hits: 828

Hoax – Hoax (Driving South)

Hindsight is a fine thing and it’s clear that the combined impact of grunge, corporate clumsiness and the commodification of music through disgitisation did many bands a disservice in the 1990s. Hoax was probably one of them.

Hoax was a staple of the live circuit in Newcastle, Australia, in the late 1980s and early ‘90s, opening for a slew of touring bands while building a local fanbase. Hoax took their lead from punk rock (whatever that is) and suffered constant line-up changes. They came and went, with the core of Geoff Mullard (vocals and guitar) and Anthony Dean (drums and vocals) going on to many other bands.

• newcastle
• geoff mullard
• hoax
• anthony dean

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Iggy live again and he's no Passenger

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By The Barman

The Barman

18 February 2025

Hits: 842

Montreux Jazz Festival 2023 – Iggy Pop (Ear Music)

Live is where it’s at for Iggy, Always has been. These days, the tours aren’t as frequent and stage diving is out of the equation, but he remains a peerless live performer at age 77.  But yet another live album?  

The obligatory scene setter: This is a “greatest hits and deep cuts” show on which Ig is backed by a seven-piece band. The three-piece horn section includes Leron Thomas, who featured on the “Free” album, and Corey King, who plays with Mary Bilge.  Sarah Lipstate (aka soundscape guitarist Noveller and also from "Free") is on board with French foil Greg Fauque (handling the lion’s share of the lead breaks), as well as jazz pianist Florian Pellissier.

• iggy pop
• stooges
• leron thomas
• noveller
• live at montreux 2023
• sarah lipstate
• ear music

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"Jangleland" foreshadows new folk-pop album for Dom Mariani

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By The Barman

The Barman

18 February 2025

Hits: 665

Dom Mariani, legendary frontman of garage rockers The Stems and power pop heroes DM3, steps away from his current blues-heavy outfit Datura4 to return to his jangle pop roots with a brand-new solo single, "Jangleland."

“Jangleland” is a breezy, country-tinged ode to the electric folk rock of the late '60s and the sun-kissed West Coast vibe of the early ‘70s.

It was recorded in Perth, Western Australia, and features Joe Grech (Datura4) on bass, drummer Salv Di Criscito, Peter Busher (The Lone Rangers) on acoustic guitar and backing vocals, and Luke Dux (The Floors and Kill Devil Hills) on pedal steel.

"Jangleland" is the first taste of Mariani's forthcoming self-titled solo album, showcasing the unique West Australian guitar pop flavour he helped pioneer from the late '80s onwards.

"I'd written 'Jangleland' some time ago and kept revisiting it, playing it at the odd solo show," Mariani explains.

"I'd accumulated enough material over the last decade that didn't fit with Datura4, and I thought it was time to put them all on one album. I've been a Byrds fan my whole life, and I'm still in awe of their sound. I was inspired to bring some of that spirit to this tune."

Dom Mariani's new single "Jangleland" b/w "Day After Day" is out now via Alive Naturalsound Records  and can be streamed or bought as a download here.

• dm3
• alive naturalsound
• datura4
• dom mariani
• the stems
• jangleland