_{Glenn Morris of The On and Ons.}

The On and Ons
(aka Clyde Bramley's 70th Birthday Bash)
+ The Hovering Spooks
Marrickville Bowling Club, NSW
Sunday, September 15, 2024

Sunday afternoons at the Bowlo have become a Sydney institution for live music goers of a certain vintage. This one had the added attraction of being a celebration of On and Ons bassist and all-round nice guy Clyde Bramley’s 70th birthday, so there was ample reason for the big crowd in evidence.

First up, The Hovering Spooks and the bands that their members haven’t played in can be accommodated on the big end of a pin. These Spooks bill themselves as psych but that label’s about as imprecise as they come these days. How about pre-proto-punk dressed-down glam?

 _{I Dont Mind Birthday Cake. Ooops! Wrong band. In casse you're asking, Clyde blew them all out in one go.} 

The Spooks are Bruce “Cub” Callaway (Saints, Ed Kuepper, New Christs, Damien Lovelock’s Wig World) captains a ship crewed by ex-Sunnyboys/Shy Imposters/Weddings Parties Anything guitarist Richard Burgman, bassist Phil Hall (Dropbears, John Kennedy’s New Originals, Sardine v) and Paul Larsen (New Christs, Celibate Rifles, The Aints!) filling in for Peter Timmerman on drums. If that’s not enough underground star power for you, go form your own supergroup.

Their set’s eclectic as hell with a sprinkling of originals supplemented by covers that lean on the Velvet Underground. Callaway and Burgman handle guitars; Cub and Phil Hall share vocals. Both possess guitar player’s voices, but that’s certainly not a game-breaker. Anyway, you do know that Lou couldn’t sing for shit? 

_{Hovering around, the very Spooky Richard Burgman, Phil Hall and Bruce Callaway.}

Odds are that you can’t name any band that opens a set with successive covers of songs from “Transformer”. These are some of the ways preconceptions are confounded.

A couple of Rifles songs, “Ocean Shore” and “Pretty Pictures”, get an airing, along with a bent-out-of-shape Kinks cover in “Creeping Jean”. It’s the storming take on the Saints’ “Simple Love” (Callaway played on the original) that brings home the bacon. “Loaded” anthem “Rock and Roll,” is a fitting closer that takes things full circle, more or less.

Lou might have spent most of his days wallowing in misery but the Spooks are much more of a fun time, and there are recording plans afoot.

_{Rockin' with The On and Ons.} 

Anyone who’s missed The On and Ons live needs to open their crypt and get out more. The band’s limited its live appearances lately (not a bad thing) but never stands still as the incessant songwriting of guitarist-vocalist Glenn Morris adds new class material to their set list.

“Menacing Smile” kicks things off nicely and from there it’s a mix of well-worked classics like “Vanishing Act”, “To Die For” and “long Ride” and newer material from the latest album, “Let Your Hair Down”.

_{A hard afternoon's bass playuing deserrves a cold beer. Clyde's pro set-up.}

Recruiting John Hoey to the ranks on keys  has opened another dimension to the band’s sound. It’s not just the extra instrumentation but the fact that Glenn can focus less on filling things out and more on adding textures and guitar dynamics. And Hoey dances, he smiles. He is having a fine old time, no more so on the bubblegum pop of “Sugar Anne”. The whole band’s enjoyment of playing with each other is palpable.

It’s been said (here for one place) that The On and Ons’ vocal harmonies are an object lesson for those acts who do all they can to fit the slacker mold. One punter observes that the Hoodoo Gurus never sounded as good once Clyde left the ranks and it’s hard to argue as that bass tone washes over a room. 

Big news in The On and Ons camp is that the band has signed to New Jersey-based JEM Records to release a mix of old and new material. Another revelation is that a lady in the Bowlo crowd this afternoon made it all the way from San Francisco, just to see The On and Ons. That’s a cultural exchange that takes some beating.