Original Alice Cooper group premieres "Black Mamba" from forthcoming album

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By The Barman

The Barman

24 April 2025

Hits: 43

_{Jenny Risher photo.}

Just in case the news has evaded you so far, the original Alice Cooper group is reuniting to release a new studio album, "The Revenge of Alice Cooper," on July 25 via earMUSIC, the same people who have delivered a slew of studio and live Blue Oyster Cult releases.

There have been part reformations (without the late guitarist Glen Buxton), most notably for a scorching 2018 live release “Live From The Astroturf”, but this is the group’s first full album in 50 years.  Buxton will be present, via a guitar part tracked from a demo,

The first single from the album, "Black Mamba," is out now and features Robby Krieger of The Doors.  Click MORE to see the video.

• bob ezrin
• alice cooper
• dennis dunaway
• neal smith
• michael bruce
• earMUSIC
• black mamba
• robby krieger

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Post-punk revelation: The Institutionalist is Real (Ernie) O Mind

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By The Barman

The Barman

23 April 2025

Hits: 292

Adjustment Disorder – The Institutionalist (self released)

The Institutionalist is a post-punk creation from the sonic laboratory of Ernie O, a gifted but unassuming producer, engineer and musician from the fringes of Melbourne.

 At this point we’ll declare that The O Man is the mastering wiz-of-choice for many discerning labels, I-94 Bar Records, among them. His  playing history includes Suburban Urchins, The Photon Belt, The Undecided By Default and Vocabularinist, none of which are household names. That’s what you get for misspending your youth in Tasmania. In a fair and just world, however, “Adjustment Disorder” would change that.

• post-punk
• slug
• dwarfthrower
• mick medew and ursula
• The Institutionalist
• adjustment disorder
• vicious circle
• no mans land

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A look back on the Wonderful Life of Damien Lovelock

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By Earl O'Neill

Earl O'Neill

22 April 2025

Hits: 744

_{Damien at one of the final Rifles gigs at Narrabeen RSL.}  

The loss of Damien Lovelock to cancer in 2019 left a yawning gap in more than just Australian rock and roll. The frontman for the cherished Celibate Rifles had by then become an cookbook author, a sporting commentator,  a father, a yoga teacher and a raconteur.

The records show that the Rifles formed in Sydney in 1979 and amassed nine studio and three live albums along the way, making inroads into Europe and the USA. The band did not achieve mainstream successs, but did forge a path for high-energy yet thoughtful rock and roll. They inspired countless others to follow and do things, as the Rifles had, on their own terms.

Damo’s dry wit, laconic vocal and powerful stage presence were uneniable. Away from the music, his ability to talk the (blind) ear off anyone who wanted to engage him in conversation made him similarly unforgettable.  

In October 2010, rusted-on Rifles fan Earl O’Neill sat down with Damien at a Narrabeen café. The interview that appears here was part of a planned book about the band (you can read a previous extract about the Rifles’ formative days here.) The book idea has long been shelved but the conversation stands up as a snapshot of the Rifles and the motivations of Damo himself. Peta Couvret transcribed the conversation.   

• kent steedman
• celibate rifles
• damien lovelock
• dave morris
• paul larsen
• jim leone
• mikey couvret
• earl o'neill

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Melbourne bill to say Happy Birthday to Link Wray

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By The Barman

The Barman

21 April 2025

Hits: 405

Missing Link, Australia’s only tribute to Link Wray, is back for its fifth year and will fall on what would have been the occasion of the guitar great’s 96^th birthday, May 3.  The venue is Shotkickers, in the hip Melbourne neighborhood of Thornbury, and it’s a high volume multi-band line-up.

Heading proceedings are The Bluebottles, laying claim to being Australia's #1 instrumental surf group. All female Link Wray devotees The Wraylettes are on the bill and will be launching a new seven-inch.

Honk are bringing the rhythm 'n' roots with a set blending country music with a side serve of Spaghetti Western drinking songs.  

Completing the bill is the country’s longest-running Link Wray combo, Sydney’s The Missing Link Band, headed by ex-Deadly Hume guitar high priest Stephen Bones Martin.

The evening starts at 8.15pm and it’s $20 at the door.

• the wraylettes
• shotkickers
• the bluebottles
• honk
• missing link

Killer collection does justice to the Motor City's heyday

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By The Barman

The Barman

21 April 2025

Hits: 453

Motor City Is Burning: A Michigan Anthology 1965-1975 – Various Artists (Grapefruit Records)

Proof positive, if it was actually needed, that a Golden Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll existed in one of the 50 states of the USA other than Califonria and that it encompassed much more than just the Stooges and the MC5.

In Australia, of course, we have a skewed view of the so-called “Detroit Scene” (a name that almost no Americans of my acquaintance use, by the way.) We learned from the teachings of Radio Birdman leader and expat Michiganite Deniz Tek who landed here to study medicine in 1974, spreading the word about those bands in evangelistic fashion.

Of course Birdman were always much more than those two trace elements - they were just the ones on the high-energy scale that caught the imagination of most. If you’ve ever engaged the Kona Coffee Farmer in conversation for more than five minutes you’ll know his passion for the Stones and his knowledge of local acts like the SRC and the first band he saw live, Ann Arbor heroes The Rationals.  

• stooges
• mc5
• mitch ryder
• alice cooper
• cherry red
• bob seger
• Motor City Is Burning: A Michigan Anthology 1965-1975
• grapefruit records
• frigid pink

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It will be post-election Mayhem at Marrickville

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By The Barman

The Barman

21 April 2025

Hits: 736

It’s a recipe for Mayhem in Marrickville in Sydney on May 3: The night of the Australian Federal Election. Four rocking bands. Cheap drinks. Cheaper entertainment. Playing order to be decided by a draw on the night. All in a politician-free zone. 

"Mayhem in May" is presented by The I-94 Bar and features (in alphabetical order) The Jane Does, Jupiter 5, Moot and The Strike-Outs. Early-bird tickets are selling here. So here’s the rundown:

The Jane Does are two girls, two guys and a whole bunch of fun. Equal parts melodic pop and garage rock, they’ve been building a big base of fans in and around Sydney for a couple of years now and are threatening to release their first recordings. Jane Doe is a generic term for anonymity but their music is not.

• marrickville bowling club
• jupiter 5
• moot
• the strike-outs
• mayhem in may

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Buckle up and enjoy the ride with Broham

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By The Barman

The Barman

20 April 2025

Hits: 690

Buckle Rash – Broham (Bad Apple/Dark Roasted)     

Country Music doesn’t rate much space around these parts but scratch the surface hard enough with a wooden nickel and you’ll find it, lurking like a grinning red-headed uncle in rock and roll’s family tree. The births of the modern versions of the blues and country appear on American timelines that run through the Appalachian backwoods and the mid-western dustbowls of the 1920s.

The Australian strain of Country Music, on the other hand, is much more bastardised. It rose to prominence in the post-World War II years. In the ‘70s, media maven John Laws hitched his wagon to it, telling a generation: “You’ve never been trucked like this before”.

• simon chainsaw
• broham
• vanilla chainsaws
• buckle rash
• krysler broham

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Best of the Streetwalkin' Cheetahs' cover version opus is headed to vinyl

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By The Barman

The Barman

20 April 2025

Hits: 680

In 2022, Los Angeles label Rum Bar Records released "All The Covers ( And More)", a sprawling, star-studded, two-CD compilation of every cover recorded by The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs over the course of their 25+ year career.

Three of Europe's best rock ‘n’ roll labels Heavy Medication, Ghost Highway and Take The City, are combining to give the collection the vinyl treatment.

This single disc, limited edition picks 17 tracks and packages them under the title "Best of All the Covers (and More)", featuring guest appearances by Sylvain Sylvain, Wayne Kramer, Cherie Currie, Jeff Dahl, Jimmy Zero, Bryan Small of The Hangmen, and others.  Starpower!

It also adds a previously unreleased cover of a GG Allin song, "Occupation", which was recorded after the original CD release.

Each label is offering a different color variant of outer sleeve artwork (pink, green or blue), with Heavy Med's edition a pink cover and pink vinyl. Street date is May 9. More info and a preview is here.

• wayne kramer
• cherie currie
• jeff dahl
• best of
• streetwalkin' cheetahs
• heavy medication records
• sylvain sylvain
• "All The Covers ( And More)"
• rum bar records

Sly Faulkner and Chinese Burns Unit put on a Brave Face for a scorching seven-inch

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By The Barman

The Barman

20 April 2025

Hits: 1089

Brave Face – Chinese Burns Unit with Sly Faulkner (Buttercup Records)

With a band history going back a decade-and-a-half, you’d assume Sydney punks Chinese Burns Unit have done it all. Nuh-huh. Not until they’d recorded with Sly Faulkner, ex of The Splatterheads, Red Planet Rockets and Powerline Sneakers. The idea dates back to pre-COVID so it’s taken a while to come to fruition. How goes the adage? Good things come to those who wait.

To the A side and “Brave Face” flows like fine goon wine. Engine room members Jay Whalley and John Irish lock in for the ride of their lives. Faulkner’s impassioned vocal and some melodic back-ups contrast with potent lyrics about betrayal. Duelling guitars from Glenno and Jenny T are the jam on top of the cream bun.

• buttercup records
• powerline sneakers
• sly faulkner
• splatterheads
• chinese burns unit
• brave face

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