hard-ons

Revived Sydney record label Method Records and Music is crowd-funding a collection of unreleased and rare recordings by some seminal Australian artists.

“Sound of Sydney Volume 4” reprises the compilation series the label issued in the 1980s and so far includes tracks from Ups and Downs, Deniz Tek, the Hard-Ons, Happy Hate Me Nots, Even As We Speak and Fast Cars.

“The purpose of this crowdfunding is essentially a pre-sale for the latest volume of the Sound of Sydney,” says label owner Fabian Byrne, also part of Fast Cars.

“We want to press on vinyl as well as CD and print a really cool T-Shirt based on the album design which will feature one of legendary artist Peter O’Doherty’s brilliant paintings of Sydney."

Sydney's finest purveyors of glam alt-rock, Starcrazy, are back with a hard hitting, hard rock rendition of ABBA's, “S.O.S”' and have given I-94 Bar first look at the brand new music video, which is due for release on streaming channels tomorrow. You can pre-save it here.

You can catch the band live at The Lady Hampshire in Sydney on Saturday, September 23 along with local up and comers, Mayeflower, The Polymics and DEDPAN. Tickets are here.

In only a few years since forming, Starcrazy have sold out multiple electrifying shows, released two independant EPs, received ongoing radio airplay from Alice Cooper, opened for world class artists (such as The Animals, Faster Pussycat, Wednesday 13, Chris Klondike Masuak and Hard-Ons), and even performed on national television!

Lead singer, Marcus Fraser, says of the new single:" We've always been into anything 70's and decided to incorporate a rocked up version of ‘SOS’ into our live set. 

“It took a little patience learning the three-part vocal harmonies and transposing the piano part to guitar but audiences have been super responsive so we decided to record it in the studio. It's really fun putting our own spin on a classic pop tune. 

“We added a completely new backing vocal part in the last chorus written by our bassist, Jack Barratt."

The music video was filmed and directed by John Flaws and edited by their very own, Jack Barratt. It pays homage to the original ABBA video from 1975 with crazy spinning camera effects and unique mirrored close ups of the band members.

The fifth and final chapter of the Hard-Ons re-issues of all their pre-sabbatical releases on Citadel Records is upon us and it’s a bumper crop.

1992’s “Too Far Gone” was the last Hard-Ons record before they broke up (temporarily) in ’93 and remains one of their most off-the-wall and adventurous offerings.

In the spirit of previous re-issues, Citadel is packaging it as a two-CD set with a whopping 53 tracks.

The original 14-track album is complemented by outtakes, live cuts and demo’s in a six-panel fold-out wallet.  

We could go on at length but can’t do better than the media release (Click MORE):

It might be apt to drop in some Dylan to catch your attention from the get-go (“There’s something happening here and you don’t know what it is/ Do you, Mr Jones?”) but it’s not necessary. Cutting to the chase, Peter Black is using melodies and colouring here to make a solo album that’s his most captivating to date.

Waiting For The Last Gasp Of My Generation – Nasty S and The Ghost Chasers (Twenty Something Records)

French journeyman Nasty Samyhas been on the European underground touring circuit as long as anyone can remember, playing with the likes of Second Rate, Hawaii Samurai, The Black Zombie Procession, Demon Vendetta, Cab Drivers Stories, Teenage Renegadeand a bunch of other bands you’ve possibly never heard of.

He’s a lifer.

He’s also a magazine writer of some repute.

“Waiting For the Last Gasp…” is a cover album, with Nasty S playing most of the stringed instruments on a selection of ‘80s and ‘90s punkish and powerpop songs that he digs, and with a rotating cast of guest vocalists.

Impossible to ignore Aussie magazine "Unbelievably Bad" is celebrating its milestone 13th issue with a live gig and more at Sydney's Factory Theatre on July 19. Kicking off at 4pm in the arvo and going long into the night, the event will feature a healthy line-up of bands and a record fair.

Twenty bucks gets you live performances by Meat Cake, White Knuckle Fever, Chinese Burns Unit, Join The Amish, Hostile Objects, The VeeBees...plus a very special guest band.

Hard-Ons have a new album about to land - their first with their old drummer Keish de Silva back as lead vocalist. Here's a film clip for lead track "Crushed" shot by Jonathan Sequiera, producer of "Descent Into the Maelstrom" and boss of Cheap Music Videos, who you need to engage if you want your band to have a filmclip without morgaging its backline. 

The Hard-Ons
So I Could Have Them Destroyed Tour
NOV
8 - Evelyn Hotel, Melbourne, VIC

15 - Rosemount Hotel, Perth, WA
16 - Mojos, Fremantle, WA

22 -  Vinnie’s Dive Bar, Gold Coast, QLD

23 - The Foundry “Punk Fest”, Brisbane, QLD

29 - Altar, Hobart, TAS

30 - Pub Rock Diner, Devonport, TAS

DEC
6 - Crown & Anchor, Adelaide, SA

7 - Brighton & Seacliff Yacht Club, Seacliff, SA

13 - Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney, NSW

14 - Dicey Riley’s, Wollongong, NSW

A quick follow-up to the news that You Am I's Tim Rogers has joined the Hard-Ons. Pre-orders are open for their album "I'm Sorry Sir, That Riff Has Been Taken" which is out on Cheersquad on LP, CD and digital on October 4. Grab your copy here.

The announcement certainly has people takling. And the official word from the principals? Hard-Ons’ Ray Ahn says: “I’m thrilled to have Tim on board, and I am loving his contribution!” 

Bandmate Blackie concurs, "How fucking good is this!!"

And Mr Rogers? “I was already the luckiest goof in rock’n’roll, and I get asked to make a racket with my heroes? Strewth. Wake me up sometime, will ya?”

The first fruit of the partnership, a single “Hold Tight”, is out on all streaming platforms on Friday, August 13.

This lavish double CD package closes the lid on the first life of the Hard-Ons, nicely. Not in the literal sense of the term. Far from it. It's like a skateboard ride down a very rough track, a mix of disparate hardcore and metal songs that sits at odds with much of what came before. 

When the original album came out in mid-1993, nobody knew (but band members could sense) that it was the last recording by the Hard-Ons with their original line-up. That's the context and it now makes sense. 

It’s funny how records released in the past evoke specific memories when revisited years later. For me, this one doesn’t throw up much. I think I bought it well after it came out. It seems lots of fans shared that indifference.

1. Dion Lunadon “Beyond Everything” Album
This is the second solo album by ex-D4 member Dion Lunadon. I actually discovered his first album via a reviewon this very site and loved it instantly. If anything this one is even better - a really cool mix of super raw Stooges-y guitars, moody synths, atmospheric interludes and balls-out garage rock.

2. Love Gang "Meanstreak" Single
This band's debut album “Dead Man's Game” was one of my favourites of 2019 so I was stoked to get this tasty morsel from their follow up due in January 2023 on the excellent Heavy Psych Sounds label. It’s a roaring greasy blues proto metal number that absolutely pummels the listener. Kind of sounds like Budgiemeets Motorheadand all the awesomeness that would entail.

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.

 _{Mark Fraser with Blackie of the Hard-Ons}

Ten best albums for 2021… no particular order.

HARD ONS- “Sorry Sir, That Riff’s Been Taken”
Is it pop? Is it Punk? Who cares, its fkn perfect.

THE QUICK SIXES – “Swamped”
Swampabilly meets surf in the most perfect of ways.

 _{Josie Jose photo}

Best Albums of 2021 (not in order)

Blowers – “Blowers”  
In the tradition of Jay Reatard and the Oblivions, Blowersare a band that proves less is more. Killer bare basics, as well as plenty of humour. One take, if there’s a mistake, fuck it, that’s the take. This LP is prime example of garage rock at its purists and best.

Civic – “Future Forecast”
After a few brilliant EPs it’s great to finally get a full Civicrelease. Combining elements of ‘90s Melbourne rock and US 2000s gunk rock, this stayed on the turntable for a good fortnight.

Cutters – “Australian War Crimes”
Six tracks clocking in at 10 minutes, including a diss on Rye, a suburb I don’t care for, and the title track, a reaction to revelations of Australian SAS soldiers’ behaviour in Afghanistan. Brutal and superb.

GIGS:

Adalita - Melbourne Town Hall
Adalita performed in the magnificent space of the Melbourne Town Hall, with J.P. Shilo playing the four storey-high Grand Organ. They were accompanied at various stages by Adalita's band, plus backing vocalists Charm of Finches and The Letter String Quartet. Adalita's emotive and well-crafted songs were driven home by her powerful guitar playing and the brooding sound of the swirling organ. A contender for one of the best gigs I’ve ever seen in my life.

Ed Kuepper and Jim White  - Rising Festival
Ed Kuepper and Jim White opened the ill-fated Rising Festival in Melbourne at the Comedy Theatre and what a show it was. It felt pretty exciting to be at a gig in another iconic building. There was also an element of fear - in this seated though crowded space, was I going to get out of there virus free? All in the name of rock ’n' roll!!!

The Rising Festival had an eclectic, artistically challenging and ambitious programme of events but unfortunately was closed down on the second day due to you-know-what. Another one bites the dust.

Liz Reed photo

THE FARMHOUSE’S TOP TEN

Hello I-94 Barflies. What a shitty year it’s been. Charlie Watts’ passing makes me feel old and I type with a heavy heart with the passing a few days ago of my friend, the great guitarist John Nolan (Bored!, Powder Monkeys, Spencer P Jones and The Escape Committee and more recently Powerline Sneakers.) Last drinks, last smokes. R.I.P.

Thank fuck there is music. There have been numerous great releases this past 12 months, so here we go.

My Top Ten is all over the shop - non sensible and I’m sure a few were from years back, but I only just caught up!

1. Get Back by Peter Jackson 
Stupendous all the way through. 

2. McCartney 3,2,1
Stupendous all the way through. 

3. Radio 2SER-FM

Greetings Rockers and Goomers! It’s the end of another weird year. How many is that now?

Here are my Top Ten releases - mostly Australian artists - and venues, in no particular order of preference. Not all were released in 2021 - but close enough. These releases and venues kept me sane in 2021.Merry Xmas and a free and Happy New Year!

_{TheDean fronting The Dark Clouds. Rayna Jeffs photo}

1. Sentacruz & the Genre Fluid Blues.
The Dark Clouds have been doing what they do for over 10 years now. So I’m pretty comfortable these days to refer to myself as an artist or even a muso.  Now sadly for me there is one big negative to playing Rock n Roll. At times I find myself losing the whole “being a music fan” thing. I can get lost in critiquing the production, a snare sound, the arrangement rather than enjoying it for what it is.

So for this Barfly Top 10 I’ll try and throw my muso hat away and write it as the music fan I’ve been since I first  heard "Linda Bella Linda" by Daniel Sentacruz Ensemble back in Rome, 1974.

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, Sonnycame 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 Tens for 2023: Mark Fraser of Vi-Nil Records and Redbackrock Surf & Snow Clothing. Former partner in Link & Pin Cafe, Woy Wo

Fave releases:

DMA’S – “How Many Dreams”
A virtual hit factory from go to woe. Melodies. Feelgood. Pretty much perfect. 

HARD ONS – “Ripper 23”
Clever cover art. Clever songs. Pop-etched perennial punk from here to Punchbowl.

LION ISLAND – “Pilot Termination Kiosk”
Infectious and dangerously catchy indie rock with an A plus report card. 

COUSIN BETTY – “Self Titled”
Hard and fast, some softer moments that build and explode, some quirky side-tracks, and plenty of sheer aural insaniity. This thing is a beast. 

OWEN GUNS – “Monks in Sexyland” 
Beautiful irreverence that never ever holds back. That’s The Owen Guns. This eight-slab smacker is a doozie!