_{Ian "Ollie" Olsen.}

Australian underground music has lost two important figures in Melbourne’s Ian “Ollie” Olsen and Andrew Picouleau.

Picouleau was best-known as a member of Dave Graney and the Coral Snakes, The Metronomes and Sacred Cowboys, while Olsen was in Whirlywirld, Orchestra of Skin and Bone, Noand Max Q, the short-lived but high-profile collaboration with Michael Hutchence.Both passed last week after protracted health issues. 

Multi-instrumentalist Olsen was a key driver of the Australian post-punk electronic movement of the late 1970s whose punk lineage went back to The Young Charlatans (home to Rowland S Howard) and The Reals. Her was musical director for “Dogs in Space”, Richard Lowenstein’s gritty 1986 depiction of Melbourne’s underground music scene, and went on to make a mark internationally in electronic music and soundtracks.

 
SLUG has been making a name for itself in the sub-tropical climes of the northern New South Wales city of Lismore for many years. Fronted by ex-No Man’s Land singer Dave Slade, SLUG’s heady mix of big riffs and powerful rhythms has made it the local must-see band. Despite being battered by floods in recent years, Lismore itself has become a magnet for tree-changing Sydney rock and roll types.

SLUG released a video this week, shot by Peter Frare, and it’s a cover of The Gun Club’s “House On Highland Avenue”. WSe reckon it captures the dramatic homicidal foreboding of the original.

{youtube}o0DBsbtDrRk{/youtube}

You've come to the right place for the premiere of the filmclip for "Punk Grandma" by Mick Medew and Ursula. It's the lead track from their "In The Zone" album being releases on I-94 Bar Records on November 1. It will ship before then and pre-orders are open here. 

The video was filmed and produced by Tracey Walker. Thanks to Delilah Moon Willsteed and Lucas Ciechanowski for playing the punk grandkids. Also appearing are the amazing rhythm section of Mick Medew and Ursula 4, Lois Andrews and Stuart McLaughlin.  

They’re a six-piece, face-melting, horn-infused punk rock band from Newcastle in Australia, if you didn’t know, and Mucho Sonar are hitting the road to promote their fifth and first live album, “Live at Punkfest”, in October and November. You can have a sneak preview of the LP here.

Brisbane's Swashbuckling Hobo Records is marking the looming Pat Todd and The Rankoutsiders Australian - well, Victorian - tour  by releasing a limited edition seven-inch single.

The instantly collectable "9 Lives, Tall Tales & False Alarms" b/w "Bullshit World/Bullshit Man" will follow recent album releases on Hound Dawg Records and Melbourne's Dog Meat labels.

The Victorian Tour will follow Pat's rapturously received solo East Coast Australian run of November 2023.

For the unitiated, Pat Todd fronted the undisputed roots-punk kings of LA, The Lazy Cowgirls after blowing in from Midwest outpost Vincennes, Indiana in the early 1980s.

The Cowgirls' live album “Radio Cowgirl” was the first release on scene prime mover Sympathy For The Record Industry and ultimately inspired a resurgence of classic 1976 Ramones/Saints/ Heartbreakers-style punk that stretched across the US into Europe, Japan and elsewhere, inspiring bands like The Muffs, New Bomb Turks, Oblivions, Teengenerate, Onyas and others.

“Punk Grandma” is a bubblegum-flavoured piece of punk fun from Brisbane icon Mick Medew (Screaming Tribesmen) and his musical and life partner Ursula (nee Collie, ex-Ironing Music). and it's out on all digital platforms including Bandcamp today.

The first single from “In The Zone”, the forthcoming album by Mick Medew and Ursula, due on 1 November on I-94 Bar Records, is an anthem for anyone who believes in growing old disgracefully.

Sung by Ursula, its pop-punk levity is laced with some stinging guitar from Mick Medew, backed by bassist Lois Andrews and drummer Stu Maclaughlin, who make up the live band, The Mick Medew and Ursula 4.

Says Ursula: “’Punk Grandma’ was written while I was in the house with the grandkids and Mick was on the deck working on the melody on his guitar. I ran out singing the chorus: ‘I feel young, I have fun. I’m not done!’”

The Mick Medew and Ursula 4 will launch “Punk Grandma” with special guests The Glycereens and Gen Jones at PFR Lounge in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, on Saturday, October 19. Tickets via Humantix.