mudhoney

Existential Hangover - These Things (Dirtyflair Record Company)

Three albums in and These Things just made their own patch of swamp in Australia just a little deeper.

These Things have nailed it with “Existential Hangover”. Crawling king snake fuzz intersects with patches of clean guitar against a no-nonsense backbeat. If Mudhoney crept out of a recycling depot in a rural Victorian town and went on an absinthe bender with Reverend Beat-Man, they’d sound like this.

Noisy Wollongong duo Chimers - whose self-released and self-titled album has found fans among the likes of Henry Rollins, Fugazi's Guy Picciotto, and members of The Mark Of Cain and Mudhoney – have released a new single to coincide with a host of shows up and down the Australian East Coast.

The band is about to support Mudhoney on selected dates and has issued “Turn On The Lights” b/w “Closure”  on “translucent transfusion red” and “recycled marble love” wax on boutique label Soundpressing.

Pick up a copy at the gigs or here.

_{Katelyn Slyer photo.}

Wollongong's Chimers - whose self-released and self-titled album of 2021 has found fans in Henry Rollins, Fugazi's Guy Picciotto, and members of The Mark Of Cain and Mudhoney - have released a new single "Generator" ahead of extensive live dates.

The single will be launched in Sydney on January 20 at Vic On The Park with support from Private Wives, and in Wollongong on January 27 at La La La's with Uncle Pit.

Irish born Padraic Skehan and life partner Binx formed the band in their Wollongong backyard during the initial lockdown of 2020. Veterans and drummers both of the ‘Gong’s vibrant garage-scene - The Pink Fits, Drop Offs, Evol and more. Chimers is an altogether different beast, Padraic taking a giant leap forward by removing himself from the back seat and assuming the roles of singing, playing guitar song-writing.

The long-rumoured and exhaustively researched biography of iconic Australian musician Spencer P Jonesis out tomorrow. 

Hard on the heels of the James McCann-compiled tribute double album, “All The Way With SPJ”, “Execution Days - The Life and Times of Spencer P Jones” is being published by Love Police and can be ordered here.

“Execution Days” was written by Melbournite Patrick Emery, who whose work has graced The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, Beat, The Brag, Time Off, X-Press, Mess and Noise, Faster/ Louder, “1001 Albums You Must Hear” and the I-94 Bar.

Patrick carried out 150 interviews with friends, relatives and bandmates of the late Spencer, as well as the man himself.

With a career spanning over 40 years, Spencer’s resumé is vast, deep and eclectic, ranging from the wild cowpunk of The Johnnys, to the garage swamp of Beasts of Bourbon to the rugged beauty of his solo albums, to cameos with Ian Rilen, Paul Kelly, Maurice Frawley, Rowland S. Howard, Renee Geyer, Mudhoney and Violent Femmes. He also toured Europe with Sonny Vincent’s Shotgun Rationale.
 
“Execution Days” traces Spencer’s life from his childhood in New Zealand to his evolution as a musician in Australia to his profound impact on those around him. Along the way there are stories of irreverence and excess, of frustration and heartache, of friends loved and lost.

Supergroup The Monkeywrench are touring Australian shores for the first time.

Co-founded in 1991 by Mudhoney's Mark Arm and Steve Turner with Tim Kerr (guitarist for the Big Boys and Poison 13), The Monkeywrench was intended to be a one-album band. With additional members Tom Price (U-Men, Gas Huffer) and Australian Martin Bland (Lubricated Goat) they ended up recording three LPs: “Clean As A Broken Dick Dog” (1992), “Electric Children” (2000) & “Gabriel’s Horn” (2008).

Earlier this year, the band reunited to play ATP Festival in the UK plus shows in Seattle and London. With another performance at Sound on Sound Festival in Austin this November, the band decided to add Australia to their schedule.

With another reformation unlikely in the foreseeable future this could be the only time to see these legendary players on the one stage together as The Monkeywrench.

THE MONKEYWRENCH (USA)
AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2016

THURS 17TH NOV
CROWN & ANCHOR, ADELAIDE
Tix via Moshtix

FRI 18TH NOV
THE TOTE, MELBOURNE
Tix via venue website

SAT 19TH NOV
RIVER ROCKS, GEELONG

WED 23RD NOV
BRISBANE HOTEL, HOBART
Tix via Oztix

THURS 24TH NOV
THE BASEMENT, CANBERRA
Tix via Oztix

FRI 25TH NOV
NEWTOWN SOCIAL CLUB, SYDNEY
Tickets via venue website

 
_{Sean St Leone. Keith Claringbold photo.}

10 things that made me hoppy this year (in no particular order) 

Mudhoney at Wollongong Uni
A band I’ve wanted to see for many, many years and every time I’ve been close to seeing them, something has gone wrong, so I was stoked just to make it to this show. I was even more stoked when they played an amazing set, chock full of classics. Not showing their age in the slightest. 

Descendants at the Metro, Sydney
Another band I’d always wanted to see but always missed - been a fan ever since someone put "Everything Sux" in my hand sometime in the late ‘90s. Didn’t know what to expect given Milo had a heart attack less than two months before the gig, but i needn’t have worried. They started and just kept going till the end - pretty much no breaks - just one killer song after another. Tight and more than alright. 

The Mark of Cain at the Metro, Sydney
Playing their album "Ill At Ease" from start to finish (and throwing in a few from “Battlesick” and “This Is This” to close out the night). Tight as a fishes arsehole. One of the best things I’ve seen in years. crowd loved it and every song was spot on. Brutally good. If there was any justice in the world this band would have been huge. 

Seminal Seattle four-piece Mudhoney returns to Australia in 2023, nine years since their last local shows. A mammoth odyssey spanning April and May will have them playing headline shows across six states, with a handful of festival dates among them.
 
Mudhoney has an enviable career spanning three decades 13 studio albums, five live records, and headline shows around the globe. Their provocative debut single “ and 1992 hit “” cemented them as pioneers of the grunge explosion.

 
The band has managed to find time to lay down tracks in the studio this year for their next opus due in 2023, which follows their 2019 EP “Morning in America” , giving Australian fans the opportunity to hear all of the new and a bunch of the former favourites live.

Dates after the fold.