brando rising

I coulda sworn I sent a review of this violent fucker in yonks ago but... apparently not. Anyway, it's been a couple months, and I still play it, often and loud, usually in the car, and I have the dangerous driving fines to prov

"Brando Rising" sounds fresh, piercing, varied and they approach the six songs here from every which way, and the disc hurtles toward you with the measured savagery of a Hammer film (or a killer making his way up the stairs). There's a healthy dollop of Stooges/ Iggy influence (no surprises as singer Rip fronts the Four Stooges when he's got a few moments to spare) and as The Barman points out belwo, a few other influences. 

Don't let the influences influence you. Guitarist Kelly Hewson wields a nasty, savage guitar and is one of the few guitarists to use wah-wah and get away with it. Wah-buzzsaw? Something like that. Either way, they've got a top rhythm section which knows how to party, a guitarist who wants to rule the world and a singer who already does (so I am told). They're entertaining, intense, new, not particularly pretty and belong headlining at your local beer barn.

Brando Rising – Brando Rising (self-released)

And, PLAY LOUD. What a fuckin' sound!

Ooooh, you're in for a stompin', whompin' treat. Only 100 copies, so get it while you can. Right, so, it's taking me a while to get my head round the enormity of this, okay? There's lots to pay attention to, which isn't at all possible, so endless re-listens are on the cards.

It's taken Brando Rising a little while to put this out, and from Kelly Hewson'smuscular, sinewy opening bars to vocalist Ripley Hood's closing shouts, you're hooded, grabbed, stuffed unceremoniously into the boot and taken for a bumpy, gritty ride to into some sort of moral swamp. God knows what your babbling explanation for skimming the casino take will be, but you know you're in trouble... and you'll have “Brando Rising” on repeat in no time flat.

_{Ripley Hood in front of Brando Rising. Robert Brokenmouth photo.}

In which your scribe receives news and loses it a tad. This is a very partial review… I missed quite a few things … oh, dear.

So, an Adelaidean in Melbourne negotiates buses, trams, and other hurdles (including a Lebanese cab driver who’s lived here for 40 years and still has an accent like a wheel of cheese to a plastic butter knife) to arrive at a record shop.

With a Budget flat-bed truck outside. 

Your favourite cowpunks The Johnnysare back for their first Sydney show since 2023 and it’s at their spiritual home, Marrickville Bowling Club, with a killer line-up, presented by The I-94 Bar.Tickets are on sale here.

Joining The Johnnys will be high-energy Melbourne veterans Brando Rising, launching their self-titled album, and the internationally-credentialled swamp rockers Pete Ross & The Sapphire, signed to French label Beast Records but now living in Sydney..  

The show is a home town return from the injured list for bassist Graham Hood, who is bouncing back from a wrist operation.

All is well with Hoody after the equivalent of a grease and oil change, He, Slim and Billyhave been in the studio over winter, working with producer Phil Punch to preparing a vinyl re-issue of their debut  album, “Highlights of a Dangerous Life”. 

The gig will be the Sydney debut of Brando Rising, with singer Ripley Hood and bassist Tony "The Kid" Robertson (of Hitmen and The Naked Lunch) back on what was their home turf for many years. 

Peter Ross and his crack outfit are fast making a name for themselves in Sydney and played a memorable support to Charlie Owen at a sold-out Django Bar that still has people talking.

Book your ticket often and early to save and make admission on the night a breeze. Cheap drinks and even cheaper thrills from The Johnnys under The Bowlo's Coppperart ceiling. What else could your heart desire?

The Golden Rat with Joe Rizzo – “Can Any Of You Muthas Dance?”
This live recording from July 2024 went straight to digital and we're thankful someone had the nouse to preserve it. The Golden Rat headlined a tribute show in Tokyo to honour the late Walter Lure (Heartbreakers/Waldos), who passed away in 2020. Joining The Golden Rat (Hiroshi The Golden Arm and Mr Ratboy) for this special evening was drummer Joe Rizzo - who'd done time with Walter for years (and was also a member of The Waldos, Pillbox and D Generation). Killer set of Heartbreakers/Thunders tunes done right! 

Marc Valentine – "Basement Sparks" CD
My brother and I saw Marc Valentine in ‘93 in London when he was fronting power-pop outfit the Last Great Dreamers. He released a killer album a couple of years back that included Wreckless Eric and Matt Dangerfield from The Boys, but this new album, “Basement Sparks” goes one better. Great songwriter who understands the pop/hook combo very well.

_{Brando Rising strut their stuff last weekend. Marina Valieva photo.} 

Someone from interstate recently commented that it looks like Adelaide is the place to be right now.

No, it's not. And certainly not with another inexcusable electricity price hike on the cards this year - do our Fearless Leaders have any idea what damage this is doing to the economy? No? Perhaps those protesting schoolkids could do better. Certainly they found a better cabinet in Ikea, so they must have a better idea about things than the current crop of cockwombles. 

However, the bleary light of today reveals that, had I known about the other gig last night, I might have faced a difficult decision. Missing the Yard of Retard gig, with (among others) Fear and Loathing and the first appearance of Bomber Down (featuring, as YoR so eloquently put it, "Rob Szkolik, Adelaide’as gayest man") would have caused a grave personal "torn in two" moment, as I had put my grubby paw up to see Brando Rising at the Enigma months before the gig was booked. Instead, I see the results of the Yard's gig on Fartabout and, not for the first time nor, I suspect, the last, I rather wish I could clone myself so I could do several things at once.

A Crack in the World - Brando Rising (Crankinhaus)

“A Crack in the World” is an utter cracker, and if any of you lot had recorded anything half as good as this you'd have heads as big as prize-winning pumpkins.

I mean to say, Jesus wept, lads. “A Crack in the World” gets your attention as surely as if someone has heaved a box of tinned tuna at your head.

Doesn't matter what mood you're in, put this in your slot (oo-er, missus, fnaar fnaar etc) and you'll feel like a character in a 1950s Warner Brothers cartoon who has rashly “just added water” to a mysterious sachet.