shandy

Harder Yakka – Shandy (Bovver Boogie Records)

If there’s a higher energy rock and roll band in Greater Brisbane, weight-for-age, you know our email address. Only Dr Bombay comes close. So why wouldn’t you be onto this collection of pre and post-pandemic recordings faster than a Moreton Bay seagull on a chip? 

Remember sharpie rock? Shandy covers that base but with less overt boogie and more of the sort of rock rhythm that rolls. 

Recall Oi? The shout-out choruses are still here but the kicking is more to do with excising jams than taking off rival soccer fans’ heads. “Harder Yakka” has a larrikin charm that’s Australian-made, due in no small part to the distinctly Antipodean crunch in the guitars.

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.)

It's hearsay but I’ve got this on good authority: Being on the end of a kicking from one of Australia’s Sharpie gangs at the end off the ‘60s or start of the ‘70s was never have been as much fun as going to a show by Brisbane band Shandy.

For the uninitiated, a shandy is an Australian beer with lemonade added. Truly a relic of the ‘60s and, personally, there’s no reason to commit a crime like this unless your grandmother is really insistent and has a doctor’s certificate to prove she’s dying from thirst. Shandy, the band, on the other hand is less offensive by a factor of double figures. Shandy rocks.

The Sharps were a uniquely Australian brand of street gang that roamed the suburbs of Sydney and especially Melbourne 50 years ago. They liked their music raw and guitar-infested. Glam and boogie were the go. You can read more about it in this reviewof "When Sharpies Rules, the landmark compilation that came out in 2015.

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:

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.”

The shows are I-94 Bar promotions. Tickets for both are on sale via Moshtix (Wollongong) and Oztix(Marrickville.)