2021

Remember tours? Thee fuzz-toned and fabulous Cha Cha Chas have escaped the Victorian lock-down and are bringing their one-woman-one-man-band goodness to New South Wales this month.  

“The Day Is Done Tour” kicks off on June 4 at Link & Pin in Woy Woy with The Not Nots, The Mild Times, Space Boozzies and Imaginary Things, and spans the following two weekends with gigs in Newcastle and Sydney. The band escaped Victoria before the COVID-19 drawbridge went up late last week. 

Thee Cha Cha Chas, comprising Kylie and Lluis Fuzzhound. have been tearing up stages in hometown Melbourne for years with their gravel-rash-guitars-and-deadbeat-drums sound, and busted an EP, “It’s Coming After You”, out of the morass that was lockdown in early 2020.

The I-94 Bar has a hand in organising two free gigs at The Golden Barley Hotel in Enmore. Mark down Sunday, June 6 and a return bout on Sunday, June 13 for double doses of all the lo-fi rifferama your head can handle. June 6 finds them matching primal beats with the rough and raw Dunhill Blues as supports, while June 13 they’ll have the Sabbath-in-the-garage sounds of Jupiter 5 opening up. The tour is brought to you by Hog Wild Records and Outtaspace Presents.

The Cha Cha Chas
“Day Is Done” NSW Tour
JUNE
4 - Link & Pin, Woy Woy - June 4
+ The Not Nots + The Mild Times
+ Space Boozzies + Imaginary Things
5 - Mayfield Bowlo 
+ Dunhill Blues
6 - Golden Barley, Sydney
+ Dunhill Blues
10 - Frankies Pizza, Sydney 
+ Scatter Light + The Object Project
13 - Golden Barley, Sydney
+ Jupiter 5 

TOP 10 FROM OUTTASPACE!
By Adam Brzozowski and Milly Dalton, co-owners at Link and Pin cafe and live music venue, Woy Woy, NSW, and the Outtaspace record label.

The label went a bit quiet (because REASONS), but we’re ending 2021 with a BANG!

1. NOT THE JOHNNYS Link and Pin, New Year’s Day 2021
Hoody, Slim and special deputies Kane Dyson and Matt Brown had the audience fit to bust; it was our first proper rock’n’roll show in the beer garden after the Avalon COVID spike. There were a few tears between us when the fellas ripped into ‘Injun Joe’. You can see THE JOHNNYS live at Link and Pin on 9 January, 2022! Tickets here.

 TOP TEN CIRCLES OF HELL FOR 2021

1:The circle of passive rebellion where the damned must battle eternally painful loopholes.

Reserved for DICKNOSERS, CHINWAGGERS, NECKBREAKERS and EAR RINGERS. A mask is a simple thing.  You just embarrass yourself by failing to wear it correctly.  Special shout out to dickheads who punch a hole in their masks to smoke cigarettes.

2: The circle of deep regret where the damned spread disease to their loved ones before spending eternity intubated.

Reserved for Antivaxers. Vax up or shut up you medieval floor lickers.

This is not a real Top Ten list as such. Just a list of personal highlights that were beacons in what was another shit year for most of us.

The passing of Johnny Nolan (Bored!, Powder Monkeys, Powerline Sneakers) did not help. After his death, I read through al private messages we exchanged over the past decade. Johnny was a man of passion and so much love for music a genuine lovely bloke with his bands. R.I.P.

The Sonny Michaels Show
This shambolic pisstake on the bad ‘70s TV host has equal parts Norman Gunston and Don Lane. We get two hours per month. It is so funny.  Paula and Mike Brown are a talented duo and the Sonny Michaels character is world-class.  They also present at least 15 artist videos who would not normally get viewed outside their YouTube channels .Great work. 

Top Ten albums from Joey Bedlam, vocalist for Melbourne-based garage band DollSquad.

10. Shutdown 66 – ‘’Come on girl gimme half a chance’’

9. Le Beat Bespoke V9 (compilation by New Untouchables)

8. Rough n Tumble – ‘’Eyes on the Road’’

7. The Smoggers – ‘’Funeral’’

6. The Laissez Fairs – ‘’Curiosity Killed the Cat’’

5. The Seeds – ‘’Butterfly Child’’

4. Calidoscopio – “Get Ready’’

3. The Chevelles – ‘’Steve McQueen (I wish I was)”

2. Sonny Vincent – ‘’Snake Pit Therapy’’

1. Steve Lucas – ‘’Joshua Tree’’ (because it’s a great song about The Joshua Tree and because it’s a Christmas song!!!)

My name is Marcus Fraser and I'm the singer in Sydney band STARCRAZY.

In another rollercoaster thunderfuck of a year, these are the tunes that kept me grounded and positive. Some of these artists I'm proud to call my friends and I'm SO stoked on all the amazing music coming out of Australia, Oi Oi Oi!

In no particular order:

1. Molly & The Krells - Silver & Gold
2. Pond - America's Cup
3. Arianne Gozzing - The New Queen
4. Thunder Fox - Not For Sale 
5. Smoke Stack Rhino - Ultraviolet 
6. Alpha Goose - Why Not
7. Amyl and The Sniffers - Guided By Angels 
8. Geese - Low Era
9. Astrodeath - Invasion 
10. Lucid Hoops - Kinder Company 

Jade Felicia photo montage

MONSTER THUNDERCLAP’S TOP TEN

1. EAST COAST LOW – “SEAS ON FIRE”
Cause I f&*king like it!

2. LUCIFER STAR MACHINE – “THE DEVILS BREATH”
Cause I F#&king like it!

3. GRINDHOUSE – “SEX PUNK POWER”
Cause it’s SEXY!!

4. SHOWS 2021
Cheers to all the awesome bands we shared a stage with, and a huge shout out to all the venues…. CAUSE I SAID SO!!!  

5. LEADFINGER AND SWEDISH MAGAZINES AT MARRICKVILLE BOWLO, NSW
No explanation needed!!

6. TUMBLEWEED 30^TH ANNIVERSARY SHOWS AT LA LA LA’S, WOLLONGONG, NSW.
Brilliant!

7. SPIDERS – “SHAKE ELECTRIC”
Cause it’s Killer!

8. MONSTER MAGNET – “A BETTER DYSTOPIA”
Cause it’s a mind-blowing album of covers!

9. MARVEL – “LIZARD LOUNGE”
Cause they do it for me!

10. AUSSIE BANDS
All the great Aussie bands putting out inspirational music (WE SALUTE YOU!) F@$k all the lazy MOFO’s, that say there isn’t any good music anymore.

Monster Thuinderclap plays guitar for Wollongong's The Dark Clouds. 

 
2021 Top Ten

But I am choosing to not count very well as I wanted to share a lot of stuff. I was at home for most of the time – of course. An amazing time to live through. Knowing most of the entire world was going through the same thing, figuring out the same problems, trying to work out what was real and what wasn’t in the daily news. Incredible.

And it levelled the music scene. I loved that! All the competitive shit between players just stopping for a while. I also kept doing a  weekly show on RRR in Melbourne - doing it remotely like most of the volunteers on air – and all I wanted to play was music made in this time. And there was a lot of music coming out.

MY YEAR'S END TOP TEN or maybe more, I never said I was any good at math. -JD Stayfree

1.) Dan Denton is published byPunk Hostage Press. 

 _{Booges filling in on drums for Brisbane band HITS on a string of Radio Birdman supports.}  

After a weird couple of years and having to shelve my label for family reasons and a pandemic, you could say I’ve dropped out of music to a certain degree. Anyways I do have a Top Ten.Some are releases, some arte new bands and some are life choices. Onward, upward and ideas flowing for the label and a possible live venue. In no particular order:

Belle Phoenix - “The Glorious Dead”
One release that got affected by my situation. Thankfully Beast and Spooky released this absolute gem. Belle was living in Brisbane a few years ago when my friend Mary Mihelakos contacted me, saying I should talk to Belle. I did, we met up, listened to the recordings she did a few years ago and put my head down to help her as much as I could behind the scenes. I was planning on releasing the album but family issues and then COVID put my label at a standstill. I’ve been listening to it for a few years now and haven’t stop listening to it.

_{T Bones at Danny Hamburgers in 1990:  Charlie Wilde, Helen Cattanach, Andrew Pupillo and Rob Lastdrager.}

Bring on 2022 after a surreal 262 days in lockdown here in Melbourne. We all did a lot of daydreaming and walking the hood waiting for cocktail hour. Here are a few highlights that got me through in no particular order.

1. T Bones Greatest Hits 1991
Our 30^th Year anniversary. Recorded at Sing Sing in Melbourne by Mark Smith in a couple of days. I was worried at the time after having four wisdom teeth removed days before the recording, I needn’t have been. Still has great R&R energy. Would’ve been cool to do a 30^th reunion show in 2021. C’est la vie.

X singer-guitarist and solo artist in his own right, Steve Lucas, has selected 10 X songs that fit with a COVID-19 theme.

1. Where Did I Go Wrong?
2. The Feel.
3. At Home With You
4. Waiting
5. Suck Suck
6. Home Is Where The Floor Is
7. Revolution
8. Police
9. I Don't Wanna Go Out
10. Hate City.

Steve: "Titles and lyrics cover the whole pandemic, to my mind at least. Merry Xmas!"

Greetings Rockers and Goomers! It’s the end of another weird year. How many is that now?

Here are my Top Ten releases - mostly Australian artists - and venues, in no particular order of preference. Not all were released in 2021 - but close enough. These releases and venues kept me sane in 2021.Merry Xmas and a free and Happy New Year!

 A 2021 Top Ten of albums and documerntaries from Sim Li, Sydney singer, songwriter and member of Lethal Mercenaries and Phringe Dwellers. 

Lipstick Killers - "Strange Flash" (compilation album)

Sherry Rich - The Divine Crimson V (album)

"Big Name No Blanket" - Documentary, screened on NITV

"Chuck Berry" - Documentary, screened on NITV

"The Go Go's" - Documentary, screened on ABC TV

Steve Earle - "J.T." (album)

Son Volt - "Electro Melodier" (album)

WWE Legends - Bret "The Hitman" Hart, screened on SBS TV

WWE Legends - Mick Foley, screened on SBS TV

Dark Side of the Ring - Jake "The Snake" Roberts, screened on SBS TV

RIP: Nanci Griffith, Tom T. Hall, Dusty Hill, Hans-Erik Dyvik Husby (aka) Hank Von Helvete, Charlie Watts

If like me, it was hard for you to get out of the house this year and experience live music, I found myself sitting on the couch watching too much TV… It wasn’t until I put together this list I realised I watch w-a-a-a-a-y too much TV…

Anyway, here’s a list of some of the music and music related documentaries I managed to consume in my COVID-19 lockdown. Let’s hope we can get some more gigs in next year.

To give you all a break I excluded every politics documentary I consumed, and didn’t include any of the hundreds, and possibly thousands, of music technology-related YouTube channels I’ve been glued to. I hope you can find something on this list you haven’t seen before...