Rock n Roll CPR v Nostalgia Neuralgia TheDean’s 2019 - 10 things you should know
1) D is for Dickhead Hey you! Yeah you sitting on your lounge watching TV. You sitting on your lounge, watching people sitting on their lounge, watching TV. If you’re a fan of that show no worries. I can live with that but if I have to listen to you talk to your mate Thommo about it the next day, way too loudly on the phone in a crowded carriage and your follow up sentence is “all music these days is shit” and that there hasn’t been a decent Aussie Rock Band since the Screaming Jets, you my friend; are a Dickhead.
2) A is for Australian Dirty, Fast & Built to last. The Australian Kingswood Factory album Bloodshot and Shakin’. Get on it. Buy Australian & buy it now! Cow Punk, Punk-a-billy, punk, punk rock, rock punk or just plain old dirty rock n roll? Not sure how to pigeon hole these guys but I do know they are pretty much everything I ever liked in a band back in the day. If you don’t check ‘em out next chance you get, that’s just plain Unaustralian.
"Pizza, Punks & Prophets" Barfly Top Ten 2020 Dean Darkloud of The Dark Clouds Wollongong, Australia (Anthony Mitchell photo)
“Rock n Roll ain’t dead. It just sounds a little different”
10. Wreckless Enterprise. Hats off to these two DIY Crazy Cats for doing what they do. With passion and intent, tirelessly flying the flag of creative support. 2020 saw them release, amongst other things the third instalment of their "Short Fuse" compilation series: 15 tracks, all under a minute jammed packed onto a 7” (or CD). It’s a punk rock smorgasbord.
Wreckless Enterprise: keeping the underground above ground. So, if it’s a home grown, all you can eat punk rock buffet that you are after; check out this blossoming grass roots label. "Short Fuse" we salute you!
9. Mike Foxall. The man behind the Art of Fox. You may know him as Inverted Crucifox, guitarist extraordinaire in Neptune Power Federation whom in my opinion are one of Australia's best modern live acts.
My top 10 albums for 2017 - and a cheeky top 5 EPs chucked in there, too.
Albums: Control Freaks - "Mindless Entertainment" Powerline Sneakers - "Disasterpiece" Hana & Jessie Lee’s Bad Habits - "Southlands" Meatbeaters - "Wrong Side Of Yesterday" Sheer Mag - "Need To Feel Your Love" Cyanide Pills - "Sliced & Diced" The Hormones - "Legendary Junk" Stiff Richards - "S/T" The Molting Vultures - "Crowd Surfing With The Molting Vultures" The Uglies - "Keeping Up With The Uglies"
EPs: Control Freaks - "Don’t Mess With Jessica" Les Lullies - "Don’t Look Twice" The Cavemen - "Dog On A Chain" Control Freaks - "No Action" The Fadeaways - "Kicks & Chicks"
1. Craig McRae I’ll get to music in a second, but I need to give kudos to the Human Fly, Craig McRae, for his amazing job as first year coach of Collingwood. From second last to one point off a grand final appearance. I don’t want to overhype him and I’m aware he’s only just started the role, but I think it’s safe to say McRae is on track to be Munster’s person of the decade.
2. TISM- The Croxton and Prince of Wales Bandroom After nearly two decades of nothing, it was wonderful to see the return of the band that put Melbourne’s South East on the map. Two brilliant warm up shows (missed the third), I was amazed that after all these years, the band, now approaching retirement age, put on a no holds barred show that included crowd surfing and the full contact dancing that you only see at a TISMshow. The crowd was mixed of people that came back to relive the glory days, and plenty of young people seeing TISM for the first time. The songs are still brilliant, and hearing two new Ron Hitler Barassi diatribes proved that TISM are just as relevant now as they were in there 90s heyday. And these secret shows were a godsend, meaning I could keep well far from that odd festival they were on at.
Dave Saul photo. 
"Pizza, Punks & Prophets"
Top Ten, in alphabetical order:
Colin Blum photo