Brando Rising – Brando Rising (self-released)

And, PLAY LOUD. What a fuckin' sound!

Ooooh, you're in for a stompin', whompin' treat. Only 100 copies, so get it while you can. Right, so, it's taking me a while to get my head round the enormity of this, okay? There's lots to pay attention to, which isn't at all possible, so endless re-listens are on the cards.

It's taken Brando Rising a little while to put this out, and from Kelly Hewson's muscular, sinewy opening bars to vocalist Ripley Hood's closing shouts, you're hooded, grabbed, stuffed unceremoniously into the boot and taken for a bumpy, gritty ride to into some sort of moral swamp. God knows what your babbling explanation for skimming the casino take will be, but you know you're in trouble ... and you'll have “Brando Rising” on repeat in no time flat.

Indie Sounds from Newy and The Hunter – Various Artists (Vi-Nil Records)

He’s never been seen in anything other than a T-shirt and one of his own label’s trucker caps, but it’s easy to picture Vi-Nil Records label boss Mark Fraser as the Pied Piper of the New South Wales Central Coast and Newcastle music scenes.

The analogy has to stick like baby shit to a blanket after the release of his second collection in the Indie Sounds series. Fraser is batting 2-0.

Picking a bunch of local bands and presenting two songs each on CD and vinyl is some brave/crazy idea in these days of diminishing economic returns.

Brut - Gentle Ben and his Shimmering Hands (Beast Records/Spooky Records)

You dug Six Foot Hick? Of course you did. Gentle Ben and his Sensitive Side? Sure. 

But it's 2024. And “Brut'” is here. 

The Shimmering Hands are Jhindu Pedro-Lawrie on drums, Dan Baebler on bass, and Tony Giacca on guitars. Ben Corbett handles the vocals... 

The Bandcamp blurb explains; “The themes of BRUT range from a fraught, taught exploration of the broken bodies, hearts and minds of our capitalist hellscape (‘Spices’) to wailing rock and roll eulogies (‘De Bliksem’, ‘No Encore’), a drifting death-country ode to colonialism (‘Five Stars’) to bloody kitchen sink drama (‘Tactical Empathy’).”

The Strike-Outs – The Strike-Outs (Evil Tone Records)

The debut LP by Sydney duo The Strike-Outs is the duck’s nuts, the bees’ knees and all the other animal physiology that lies between. Twelve songs in 24 minutes, so brevity is at its core. But so are dynamics. a feral energy and a musicality that divorces it from standard two-chord thrash punk.

The Strike-Outs-are brothers Simon Vines on guitar and vocals and Adam Vines on drums. They used to be Thee Evil Twin until they shed a bassist. No bottom end? No problem. Simon’s tone and a kick drum high in the mix compensate just fine.

The Beautiful Black – The Beautiful Black (self released) 

Before we start, perhaps I should explain. This article is not just a review, but a homage to Ross and Caz. As the Barman politely explains to me, “Uh, Robert. ...Who ...? Context?”

Right, then, context.

First, like so many other large Australian cities, Adelaide has had a strong and diverse music scene for decades. There was a distinct hand-over of the baton, too. You could see it in the composition of the audience which rolled out to see XTC on their first tour compared to their second the following year: the first tour, it was mostly older folks (I was 15, so everyone was older than me, but I'm talking 30+ here).

Happy Hours Air Travel Club – O.C. Rippers (Ruined Records)

From what can be worked out their online footprint, OC Rippers are your typical punk rock band circa the 2020s: Feet firmly planted in their home turf (New Jersey), they’re not out to win friends or influence people and aren’t embarking on any world tours any day soon.

They’re not fussed being pigeon-holed because their influences are as varied as the quality of cocktails in a beer barn. They’re also realistic about their chances of hitting the heights because they’re aged (at a guess) in their 40s and not named Taylor.