psychotic turnbuckles

THE BARMAN
I-94 Bar barkeep
Sydney, Australia 

“Monday Evening Gunk”
My favourite thing to do on a Monday night. Props to Jill, Wax, Pat and Sonjaat MoshPit, News and Brews co-pilot Rossy,  tech-head Zac, photographer/chronicler of choice Shona Ross, and the many guests and hosts involved. My original Top Ten was going to be a chronological list of Gunk episodes because it would be like picking a favourite child. 

“Goose Lake” – The Stooges (Third Man Records)
What a fucking trip.

"If This Is The Hand I'm Dealt" and "I'm Gonna Cheat As Much As I Can" solo albums by Peter Black
Got to these very late in 2020 and the Hard-Ons and Nunchukka Superfly guitarist just goes from strength-to-strength with his quirky, catchy and compelling solo work. One acoustic, one electric. Get a full hand.

Raw garage rock ’n’ roll in the Australian pub rock tradition, with an obvious nod to ‘70s hard rock and the “Pebbles” collection. A record made distinctive by the classic Aussie twin-guitar attack. Those were my first thoughts on this CD from a band made up of members of Psychotic Turnbuckles, Sheik the Shayk and Buffalo Revisited.

It was recorded in Zen Studios, the capital city of Sydney’s inner-western Garageland region, by Geoffrey Lee over seven years, and what hit me straight away is that none of the live intensity has been lost. It captures a raw and live garage/pub band warts, belching and all…I can see a bloke over there who once drunkenly spilt beer on me and that other idiot that pushed me over in the mosh pit. And then I’m lifted up by another and patted on the back…

_{Jessie The Intruder makes a point, The Grand Wizard adds riffage.} 

The Psychotic Turnbuckles
White Knuckle Fever
The Stallers
Factory Theatre Fusebox, Marrickville, NSW
Saturday, April 17 2021

This was my the first concert since early 2020 that did not have some form of restrictions like seating (although numbers were capped) and what a great night it was. Held in the Fusebox at the Factory Theatre, a smaller and more intimate venue than the adjoining main performance space, this was the perfect venue to showcase three top rate bands.

Starting proceedings were The Stallers who were the perfect reason you cannot afford not to get early to a gig and not catch the support bands. "Tight", "loud", "devastating", "passionate" are four words to sum up the powerhouse of The Stallers.

Cramped – 50LgE (self released)
This six-song EP from the New South Wales Far North Coast trio 50LgE(“50 Large”) with lineage derived from The Eastern Dark and the PsychoticTurnbuckles is as stylistically diverse as they come, swinging from swampy rock to garage rockers. 

“Cramped” is an unabashed lift from the early Cramps,not weird enough to rouse Bryan Gregory from his grave but obvious enough to send the message that 50LgE are big fans.  “White God” chalks up one for the atheists without getting out of second gear. 

Black Interceptor b/w Bee-Music - 50LgE (Rare bone Records)

Ensconced in sub-tropical Far Northern New South Wales - where the hippies are numerous and the sheep would be scared if they weren’t so mellow - 50LgE is a band that clearly likes to do things its own way. 

You’d issue your debut single as a 12-inch slice o’ vinyl, right? Cheap to ship (not). Although the included download card is a nod to modern technology, that’s a lot of vinyl to hold two songs and the run-out groove goes forever. 50LgE have their own DJ cranking garage rock tunes between sets, and also boast their own brand of beer. Now you’re talkin’…

First, the intros: This is a garage rock-influenced trio whose number includes ex-The Eastern Dark drummer Geoff Milne, bassist DB (ex-The Tellers - from Brisbane) and guitarist Tone Changer, whose own cv includes a spell in the Psychotic Turnbuckles back when he was a kid. So you know that two of them have had the good sense to get out of Dodge (aka Sydney) and make a tree change.

The Psychotic Turnbuckles are wound up their tour of Japan and are swinging by Sydney, Australia, en route to their homes in Pismo Beach, California, for a show on Saturday, December 23.

A Psychotic Christmas will poit the Intercontinental Rock adn Roll Wrestling Tag Team Champions of the World against arch-enemies The Dark Clouds and unhinged exhibitionists DISGRACEland at Marrickville Bowling Club.

Tickets are here and there's a message from Turnbuckles frontman Jess the Intruder in the See More link.

It's been four decades since they burst onto the Australian rock and roll scene, and Pismo Beach’s own Psychotic Turnbuckles are descending Down Under for a three-state tour.

With three albums and a dozen singles and EPs to their credit, the Turnbuckles are still The World Rock and Roll Tag Team Champions and retained their crown on a Japanese tour that included an appearance at the world-famous Tokyo Halloween Ball. 

The 40 Years Undefeated Tour will take on the Tote in Melbourne on Saturday, June 29 for their only Victorian show, presented by The I-94 Bar.

Guests on this leg are Sydney’s glam kings Starcrazy and Melbourne’s retro sound champions The Vibrajets.   

Five years since they played their last full set to a roomful of adoring fans in Sydney, Rock and Roll Wrestling World Champions the Psychotic Turnbuckles are back to destroy Dull City. The Turnbuckles will play Fusebox at the Factory Theatre in Sydney on Saturday, April 17.

Tickets will be strictly limited and go on sale here at 9am on Wednesday. Supports are White Knuckle Fever and southern Sydney punk rock jukebox The Stallers. The show has been timed so punters from the earliest of two Died Pretty shows in the adjoining Factory Theatre can attend. 

Living in idle luxury in their hometown of Pismo Beach since their last Australian gig with San Francisco legends The Mummies in March 2016, the Kings of the Ring are itching to smackdown all comers. Guitarist El Siccodelico has hung up his Mexican wrestling mask during the lay-off and has been replaced by Italian grappling royalty, Count Forza.

The Turnbuckles will be fast-tracked through Australian Government quarantine protocols to play this one-off show and there’s no telling if and when they’ll re-appear again.

White Knuckle Fever is the runaway psychobilly duo that’s been tearing up Aussie stages off the back of a new single, “RSA Blues”. The Stallers are a veritable garage punk jukebox and will kick off the night with a set chockful of smash ‘em up classics.

The show is presented by I-94 Bar.

The pain will be real when the Psychotic Turnbuckles emerge from their palatial luxury homes in Pismo Beach and go on a two-city rampage in New South Wales in July. 

The Turnbuckles play La La La’s in Wollongong on Friday, July 28 and Marrickville Bowling Club on Saturday, July 29 as preparation for a Japanese tour in October. 

Lame-brain failed gym flunkies, The Dark Clouds, and limp-limbed Brisbane bovver boy pretenders, Shandy, are making up the numbers on both bills .

Prepare to see them out-classed in two no-holds barred elimination bouts, courtesy of the Turnbuckles, who are rightly hailed around the Intercontinental Rock and Roll Team Champions (undefeated). 

“We’re heading to Japan to ‘say no to sumo’ but first we’ll practice our moves on The Dark Clouds and Shandy,” said Turnbuckles manager Chester Chitworth.

“We visited Australia for a training camp in a remote rural location earlier in the year and worked in our new bass man, The Infliktor, but this time is the real deal.

“We’re a hot commodity in demand around the world so who knows when your sad little country will see us again? I’m outta here – we’re going surfing.”

Tickets for both bouts are on sale via Moshtix (Wollongong) and Oztix (Marrickville.)

PISMO BEACH, CA. NOVEMBER 5 - A Message From Chester Chitworth, US business manager of the Psychotic Turnbuckles:

"It's the Xmas party you know and love and it's for one night only when the Kings of The Ring fly into Sydney from Pismo Beach and then depart, with no indication if and when they'll be back.

"Venue will be Marrickville Bowling Club on Saturday, December 21. Tickets are here.

"It's been a big 2024 for the Turnbuckles who celebrated their 40th year of slamming all challengers into the canvas, so be prepared for some surprises when Jesse the Intruder, The Grand Wizard, Count Forza, The Infliktor and Buddy Bam Bam Balam square off, one more time.

"Venue will be Marrickville Bowling Club on Saturday, December 221

"Supports will be Bahne Super-Flex and Chainsaw Four. Bahne Super-Flex (ex-Trilobites and Celibate Rifles members) are supposedly back by popular request. Whose request? Not ours! Chainsaw Four are a supergroup drawn from membership of the New Christs, Harpoon, Vanilla Chainsaws and a bunch of other bands. Who cares. They're going down, too.

"So it's nearly Xmas and there will be prizes for the best dressed (that's YOU - not the bands).

"You know it's going to be a gig to remember so reserve your spot sooner rather than later. The 40th show in Sydney was a sell out so if you snooze, it's a sure bet you will lose. Abdullah The Butcher wouldn't have it any other way.:

The latest release on our own I-94 Bar Records is on sale and it's a killer. It's the debut 45 for Sydney band Jupiter 5, "H-Bomb" b/w "Supersonic Hero" and it's unveiled at The MoshPit in Erskineville, Sydney, on Saturday night. 

Pre-sales of the vinyl are here and come with an instant download of both A sides and a live cover of the Dictators' "Minnesota Strip", which is on the limited edition CD exclusively on sale at gigs.

Jupiter 5 is a fuzz-laden garage-punk and hard rock five-piece with DNA extracted from Sheek the Shayk, Hitmen DTK, Thurston Howlers, 69BC and the Psychotic Turnbuckles. 

They'll be supported by 50LgE,a bulldozing trio from the NSW Far North Coast making their Sydney debut and comprised of former members of the Psychotic Turnbucklesand The Eastern Dark.Doors open at 8pm or you can buy a pass to stream the show here.

Bogan Rd – The Monaros (self-released)

Hello I-94 Barflies. The Monaros’ “Bogan Rd” is the latest release from Warnambool’s hardest working band. Shit, this must be their seventh or eighth long-player and it’s chock-a-block full of humour and wit.

Just listen to “Parma”. It’s a classic tune about, well, a Chicken Parmigiana. “Ring A Root’,”Kick It Long” and “Dunlop Volleys” are all so bloody Australian. This is a CD to get drunk to, stoned to and maybe not get fucked to – although the track  “King Brown” is kind of sexy.

_{The Mummies in full flight. Shona Ross photo}

The Mummies in Australia? No fucking way! Hard to believe, but true. A hit-and-run visit spanning three states in less than a week (with a stop-off in New Zealand on the way home) admittedly but a tour, nonetheless.

The Mummies were The Shit in garage rock in the late 1980s. Conceived as the ultimate anti-band by Trent Ruane (organ, vocals), Maz Kattuah (bass), Larry Winther (guitar) and Russell Quan (drums), they were a lynchpin of San Francisco’s lo-fi scene. Emerging from their tomb sporadically in the ‘90s and ‘00s, they’re renowned for being the band that gave the then very hip SubPop label the finger when refusal to sign was a death-wish. They have made no-frills Budget Rock an art-form.

(Vale) Top Ten

10. Star Crazy. Great, rockin’ live band, cool humans and for me without doubt, the award for earworm of the year:."Egging Me On".  Check ‘em out.

1. R.I.P Ron Peno and Louis Tillett
To start on a sad note we lost Two of our greatest vocalist/Front men within days of each other in August last year - Louis Tillett and Ron Peno.

I don't have any of Louis Tillett’s albums apart from The Wet Taxis’ “From The Archives” record, but had seen his live performances lots of times over the years.  Of course, there were his legendary shows with Paris Green during their residency at The Sandringham Hotel in Newtown in the late '80's, and I recall seeing him solo on piano at Bar Broadway in the early '90s.  The last performance I saw him was at The Factory Theatre which I think was one of his last gigs.

First, I’ll get the rant out of the way. I’ve spent more time working with younger bands this year and there seem to be a few issues… 

Firstly, there are so many new young bands that they can’t find gigs… especially appropriate ones. The King Street strip in Sydney’s Newtown and surrounds has about eight venues and on any given night there are only up to 50 people in each room. 

_{The Barman on tour in Japan at Mr Death's Crampstore with The Grand Wizard of the Psychotic Turnbuckles.}  

Top Ten Albums and Other Things In No Particular Order (with a qualifier that I never review gigs promted by the Bar but, fuck that, it’s my Top Ten.)

Ten Albums
1. Dark Country – Sonic Garage (self released)
This turned up on the eve of an overseas trip so a full review from yours truly isn’t among the glowing tributes already posted. A step up on the debut (which was pretty good in its own right) with lots of weaving guitars and classy keyboard textures. Sydney Old Man Rock and Roll. Just buy it.

2. Hackney Diamonds – The Rolling Stones (Rolling Stones Records)
You might have wanted to hate it. Lead “single” “Angry” was so-so but turned out to be one of the parts of a sum that’s much better than it could have been. There's a formula here but it's not a negative when it's in the hands of its inventors. Trust your own ears: It sounds contemporary but this is still The Stones being the Stones, even without Charlie.

A war of wordss has broken out between Brisbane bovver boys Shandy and Pismo Beach-based Intercontinental Tag Team Champions the Psychotic Turnbuckles and it isn't pretty. 

The Turnbuckles make one of their sporadic visits to Australia in July as part of their preparations for an October onslaught on Japan, with gigs at La La La's in Wollongong (July 28) and Marrickville Bowling Club in Sydney (July 29.) Tickets for the respective shows are here and here.

Shandy are undertaking an East Coast tour and will be sharing the undercard at both shows with high-energy Wollongong outfit The Dark Clouds. 

Psychotic Turnbuckles vocalist Jesse The Intruder started the ball rolling with his motivational video about teamwork: