_{At the MoshPit Bar in Sydney. Sandra Kingston photo} 

Celia Curtis’ Top Ten-ish of 2021 (in no particular order)

Pat Todd & The Rank Outsiders - “...there’s pretty things in Palookaville...” Album.
Sixteen songs from the Punk/ Country/ Blues/ Rock’n’roll master craftsman. Pat Todd is the real deal! Sure, it’s not as instantaneously enthralling as 2008’s “Holdin’ on to Troubles Hand”; But seriously, SHOW ME AN ALBUM THAT IS? “..pretty things” grows on you like a stubborn fungus.

Literally anything Pat does in a year is Top 10 worthy. Luckily he put this record out so I didn’t have to rate one of his turds. (Which would have been good shit by the way).

Kevin 'BIGDADDYK' Cherry
SYDNEY SOUNDS 2RRR 88.5 SATURDAY 6PM (Sydney time)
TOP 10 + 2   OF 2021.

DATELINE: FRESHWATER BEACH, SYDNEY, NSW: I'm fortunate to be living within 10 minutes walking distance to the birthplace of Australian surfing - affectionately known to the locals as Freshie.  I usually go there in the early evening around 6pm when it's un-patrolled as there are less people and cooler so I’m less likely to get sunburnt. Water temperature has been tropical (around 21 degrees Celsius) but refreshing.  A great, healthy and socially-distanced way to spend Summer.

The following 12 highlights (in no particular order) are by local bands recorded during Covid lockdown and regularly played on The Sydney Sounds Show ON SaturdayS 6pm 2RRR 88.5mz.

1. MOONLIGHT FIVE
Made their debut last year (and listed in my Top 10 of 2020) with the polarising song/video “Lockdown Blues”, followed a few months later with the more accessible “Listening to Gospel Music on The Radio” - both of which received radio airplay, locally and overseas, to critical acclaim. About to launch their third song/video “I Just Want To Be Me” which had its radio airplay debut on SYDNEY SOUNDS on January 8. A band that are not afraid to go out on a limb and create something a bit different from the usual Sydney rock sound.

2021 was a year of invention, reinvention and history slowly fading away – and that’s just on the subject of Brisbane music! Losing Fred Hardon of the Hardons and the Leftovers’ Ed Wreckage dealt huge blows as two pioneers from the first wave of punk gave their last middle fingers towards the sky.  

From a personal standpoint, Phase 4 Records sadly left Fortitude Valley after six years and not because of the price of rent – just the ultimate cost of nobody bothering to walk its promenades while the sun was out. It’s the customers who help pay it after all!   

After a brief stay under Backbone’s wing in East Brisbane before the council decided it’s best to turn a vibrant and accessible venue and artspace into greenspace (or is that developers’ dreamspace?), we again moved the store to a new forever home on the top floor of the Cave Inn, a ball’s throw from the grounds of the Gabba. Here, at the discretion of Omicron, we will be hosting bands and events as well as running Brisbane’s only after hours record and vintage emporium.  The only downside could be the loss of our slender figures, with the pizza and beer providing fine companionship for our racks.  

VOIGT/465 – "LIVE KIRK GALLERY 19/05/79" (Download only, self-released) 
Sydney's Voigt/465 used punk almost as a cue to unleash a sound that captured their love of (daggy) UK art-rock of the early 70s and throw it right into the fire of Sydney’s ever-expanding inner-city music scene. Their Kirk Gallery show – which you’ll find on their Bandcamp page - was originally recorded via the ABC’s mobile truck for a radio broadcast that never happened.  

This show (which was shared with the Thought Criminals and Tactics) serves as an impressive aural document from this short-lived act that left us with only one single and an album over their all-too-brief life. And if one more person spells the band name as Voight/465, I too may scream like co-lead vocalist Rae Macron Cru! 

MONSTER THUNDERCLAP’S TOP TEN

1. EAST COAST LOW – “SEAS ON FIRE”
Cause I f&*king like it!

2. LUCIFER STAR MACHINE – “THE DEVILS BREATH”
Cause I F#&king like it!

3. GRINDHOUSE – “SEX PUNK POWER”
Cause it’s SEXY!!

4. SHOWS 2021
Cheers to all the awesome bands we shared a stage with, and a huge shout out to all the venues…. CAUSE I SAID SO!!!  

5. LEADFINGER AND SWEDISH MAGAZINES AT MARRICKVILLE BOWLO, NSW
No explanation needed!!

6. TUMBLEWEED 30^TH ANNIVERSARY SHOWS AT LA LA LA’S, WOLLONGONG, NSW.
Brilliant!

7. SPIDERS – “SHAKE ELECTRIC”
Cause it’s Killer!

8. MONSTER MAGNET – “A BETTER DYSTOPIA”
Cause it’s a mind-blowing album of covers!

9. MARVEL – “LIZARD LOUNGE”
Cause they do it for me!

10. AUSSIE BANDS
All the great Aussie bands putting out inspirational music (WE SALUTE YOU!) F@$k all the lazy MOFO’s, that say there isn’t any good music anymore.

Monster Thuinderclap plays guitar for Wollongong's The Dark Clouds. 

_{The Scientists with LIndsay Hutton.}

During these times when time and space seem displaced to a point beyond rescue, here’s a wee list of what’s been keeping me going during that which was designated 2021. We’ll approach this alphabetically because I don’t believe in that numerical bollocks. I’m reporting here while Scotland waits on the thundersnow to arrive. Thundersnow is a weather phenomenon, not an act you need to check out.

 
2021 Top Ten

But I am choosing to not count very well as I wanted to share a lot of stuff. I was at home for most of the time – of course. An amazing time to live through. Knowing most of the entire world was going through the same thing, figuring out the same problems, trying to work out what was real and what wasn’t in the daily news. Incredible.

And it levelled the music scene. I loved that! All the competitive shit between players just stopping for a while. I also kept doing a  weekly show on RRR in Melbourne - doing it remotely like most of the volunteers on air – and all I wanted to play was music made in this time. And there was a lot of music coming out.

A Top Ten from the recliner rocker…

Firstly, some YouTube highlights for me in 2021.

Clyde Bramley’s Top New South Wales Live Music Venues 2021

“The Magnificent Seven” (I’m sure there are many more out there, but I haven’t had a chance to interact with them over the past year!)

1. Marrickville Bowlo, Marrickville, NSW
The flagship Sydney venue at the moment. I particularly like the Sunday arvos with a very civilised 4:30-7:30 time frame. Richard Ball always does a sensational mix.

2021 ALBUMS:

1. COURETTES – “BACK IN MONO” (DAMAGED GOODS) 
The Courettes still seem to be without profile in these parts but have been gathering plenty of fans across Europe over the past few years. A Brazilian/ Danish wife (guitar & vocals)/ husband (drums) team who have been fine tuning their garage crossed with 60’s girl group sound, culminating in this whizz bang LP.

2. HARD-ONS - I'M SORRY SIR, THAT RIFF'S BEEN TAKEN (CHEERSQUAD) 
I thought the prior Hard-Ons album was their best yet and then they go and drop this. Hard to beat!

3. CIVIC - FUTURE FORECAST (FLIGHTLESS)
Fantastic rockin’ album which delivers on the promise of their earlier EP and singles.

_{T Bones at Danny Hamburgers in 1990:  Charlie Wilde, Helen Cattanach, Andrew Pupillo and Rob Lastdrager.}

Bring on 2022 after a surreal 262 days in lockdown here in Melbourne. We all did a lot of daydreaming and walking the hood waiting for cocktail hour. Here are a few highlights that got me through in no particular order.

1. T Bones Greatest Hits 1991
Our 30^th Year anniversary. Recorded at Sing Sing in Melbourne by Mark Smith in a couple of days. I was worried at the time after having four wisdom teeth removed days before the recording, I needn’t have been. Still has great R&R energy. Would’ve been cool to do a 30^th reunion show in 2021. C’est la vie.

10. JAMES DOMESTIC – “FAZE OUT”
This just scrapes in as a debut single but by the time The Domestics’ frontman’s album emerges this Spring, it’ll be a shoo-in for end of year lists. A brilliant first effort, “Faze Out” keeps some of the East Anglian hardcore pioneers’ energy but cloaks his Dury-ish man-in-the-pub spiel in junskshop electronica.

9. VIEWS – “MOTHER TAPES ANTHOLOGY 1986-1990”
Not sure how this lot passed me by in my student days, but this double from Area Pirata is an excellent introduction to (or reminder of) Brescia band Views. One for paisley underground fans, they borrow the Dü’s knack for belligerence and melody with occasional wigouts into Yo La Tengo lightheadedness.

8. SONNY VINCENT – “SNAKE PIT THERAPY”
STILL one of punk’n’roll’s best-kept secrets, Sonny came within a Rizla’s breadth of going overground and not a moment too soon. The Limit album that came out earlier in the year, fronted by Pentagram’s Bobby Liebling, brought him a whole new audience, but this is really what he does best. A confident resurgence considering the trials of recent years.

TOP 10 FROM OUTTASPACE!
By Adam Brzozowski and Milly Dalton, co-owners at Link and Pin cafe and live music venue, Woy Woy, NSW, and the Outtaspace record label.

The label went a bit quiet (because REASONS), but we’re ending 2021 with a BANG!

1. NOT THE JOHNNYS Link and Pin, New Year’s Day 2021
Hoody, Slim and special deputies Kane Dyson and Matt Brown had the audience fit to bust; it was our first proper rock’n’roll show in the beer garden after the Avalon COVID spike. There were a few tears between us when the fellas ripped into ‘Injun Joe’. You can see THE JOHNNYS live at Link and Pin on 9 January, 2022! Tickets here.

Another year with nothin' to do....!! No gigs to speak of though we did manage to fit in one Black Bombers show just before the years end to blow away the cobwebs..!! Top Ten? Mostly reissues but here goes...

Bored – “Back For More” (Bang!)
A UK Record Store Day release. R.I.P. John Nolan

Endless Boogie- “Admonitions”
The Boogie is indeed endless.

This is not a real Top Ten list as such. Just a list of personal highlights that were beacons in what was another shit year for most of us.

The passing of Johnny Nolan (Bored!, Powder Monkeys, Powerline Sneakers) did not help. After his death, I read through al private messages we exchanged over the past decade. Johnny was a man of passion and so much love for music a genuine lovely bloke with his bands. R.I.P.

The Sonny Michaels Show
This shambolic pisstake on the bad ‘70s TV host has equal parts Norman Gunston and Don Lane. We get two hours per month. It is so funny.  Paula and Mike Brown are a talented duo and the Sonny Michaels character is world-class.  They also present at least 15 artist videos who would not normally get viewed outside their YouTube channels .Great work. 

10. Subterranean // 4zzz Radio
Judy Jetson's show on 4ZZ-FM in Brisbane on Fridays (4-6pm) does a fantastic job on reminding you the weekend is here. Her garage/psych play list will send you down obscure rabbit holes. 

9. Live Music
Gotta feel for the promoters and the musicians this year. Just when you thought we're back. The mat had been drizzled with baby oil for ease of being pulled from underneath. How do you make plans!?! Hats off to everyone who did - even if there was rescheduling involved. We owe yers all a beer. 

8. The Doors // L.A. Woman 50th anniversary release 
An album that sounds as good today as anything you're ever going to hear. Got lost in the repetitive takes of "The Changeling Pt.1" sitting on the train on my way to the Ashes the other week and missed my stop. It'll do that. It's a nice opportunity to revisit Jim.

7. Supergrass/Rocket Science // Split 7"
This one was pretty special to work on. Both incredible bands in their own right. Fitting to see them both on the same wax. The project really came to life when CJ Rhodes put his mind's eye to the artwork. Sounds as good as it looks too!

6.. Even // Reverse Light Years
These guys continue to stay true to their own sound and don't stray far from their path. For good reason too... Could easily be five or six radio singles on this double LP.  Looking forward to hearing this one come to life on the live stage.

5. X // Asperations 40th Anniversary
They didn't waste their time in the studio recording this now essential LP way back then and the world is a better place for it. Found this via RSD 2021. Anytime the spotlight shines on X is fine by me.

4. The Beatles // Get Back doco
Lots of smoking cigarettes and drinking tea. Ringo with the patience and timing of a clock. George misunderstood. Lennon living in Paul's pocket, Yoko in John's. An album then birthed out of Paul's arse brought to life by Billy Preston. Brilliant.

3. Sonic Rendezvous Band // Detroit Tango 
This band is the greatest. Ever. Nick Royale has done us a favour with this standalone release. Thanks.

2. Hot Buttered Surfboards // 50 years
Not sure if there are many wax heads at the I-94 Bar...but man... Terry Fitzgerald... the Sultan of Speed is still keeping the northern beaches of Sydney alive. Morning of the Earth original surfer/shaper and if you give him a holla he'll shape you a surfboard and organise Martyn Worthington to give the board a spray. Total throwback to the 70's..Nuts! 

1, Coopers // Partnership w/ Sapporo
Yebisu beer...Once impossible to find outside of Chinatown. Coopers brewery have made this one, fully imported, available at the local bottlo. Worthwhile investing in an occasional cartoon for the fridge. It'll get you pissed.