Swimming with the SharkArms

_{SharkArm. Rachel Cullen photo}

Sydney skuzz rockeers t SharkArm have been gigging for years with an album and two singles to their credit. The big news for locals is that they're bringing Queenslanders Gravel Samwidge, and Sotu Australians Molly Fet Circuit for gigs at MoshPit (August 15 from 2.30pm) and The Link and Pin in Woy Woy (August16.)

SharkArm haven’t fronted the Bar for an interview so this seemed like a good reason for Robert Brokenmouth (who plays in Molly Fet Circuit) to ask a bunch of questions. SharkArm are Damian Iowa (drums), Nathan Iowa (guitar and vocals) and Josh Shipton (bass.)

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• shark arm
• molly fet circuit
• sharkarm
• josh shipton
• nathan iowa
• damian iowa

Vale Jeff "Mono Man" Connolly of DMZ and Lyres

They never rose to household name status but Jeff “Mono Man” Conolly’s bands DMZ and Lyres left an indelible mark on (to use the term he hated) “garage rock”. Conolly died at his Massachusetts home last Friday after a struggle with bladder cancer, aged 69

Raised in Connecticut, Conolly moved to Boston in the mid 1970s and fronted DMZ from 1976, mixing British Invasion melody and punk rock’s urgency with obscure ‘60s garage music.

DMZ attracted the attention of Seymour Stein's legendary Sire Records, joining a roster that included the Ramones, Talking Heads and the Flamin' Groovies before releasing their sole album in 1978 and then breaking up.

With Lyres, the band he formed in 1979, Connolly built that obsession into a distinctive sound driven by Vox Continental organ, reverb-soaked guitars, pounding rhythms and impassioned vocals.

Despite being active for decades, Lyres released only four studio albums. Their reputation rests more on their electrifying live performances, influential singles and EPs, and the enduring impact of their classic debut “On Fyre”. They are all required listening, as is the box set seven-inch compilation on Munster Records, "Lucky 7", from where the obituary photo comes. 

• lyres
• dmz
• jeff connolly
• obituary
• mono-men

Live music? Lachlan's loving it. Make mine a MacGuffin

_{The MacGuffins. Alison Breen photo.}

Lachlan Colquhoun is a writer, editor, publisher, bass player and anarchistic ne'er-do-well. Adelaide expat cum Sydney-ite, currently with Sydney outfits The Flippin' Kick Outs and The MacGuffins.

You might not have heard of Lachlan Colquhoun. On the other hand, if you're an old fart sitting at home with the bowl of corn chips barely balanced on your belly while you suck a stubby through a straw, you might remember him from tumultuous, inebriated nights in the 1980s and ‘90s when Sydney was crowded with bands, possibility and sub-tropical steam, even more crowded with thirsty punters. 

If you know the music world, essentially everyone in this country is a minor player. Why? Because it's Australia, and while we may think we're something special, overseas, no other bastard does. So, like Iva Davies or Daniel Johns or even that bloke from Men at Work, while between jobs which pay a fuck of a lot better than being a musician.

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• lachlan colquhoun
• macguffins

Crocodile gets a Sydney launch

Crocodile – Looch Lewis and The Press Gangsters (Stanley Records)

Looch Lewis is one of the underrated talents on the Sydney scene and this song this is a stand-out in his band’s current set. Lilting along on an acoustic bed, Looch’s swelling vocal and Drizabone D’s mandolin are the features as The Press Gangsters take a step back from the rock approach of the previous single, “Jessie”, in a stark, apologetic lament.

The title’s a reference to a long-held Lewis fascination with the reptile in question and an indication that emotions can sometimes leave you open-jawed. (Drummers can connect things like that sometimes.) It’s a digital single, of course, but the limited run CD version features “Crocodile:” in its raw demo form.  

It’s being launched tonight at Sydney’s Golden Barley Hotel in Enmore and it’s free admission.

2/3

Listen

• stanley records
• looch lewis and the press gangsters
• crocodile

Breaking bread with Gravel Samwidge's Mark Spinks

 _{Samwidge is served: Declan Bradbury Mark Spinks and Alex "Sleepy" Morrison.  Photo by Calan Stanley}

Rejoice, Sydneyites, because Gravel Samwidge are extracting themselves from their Brisbane base and heading down your way for some sonic shenanigans.

For those unfamiliar with Gravel Samwidge, here's the basics: They are Declan Bradbury on bass, James Cassidy on guitar, Alex “Sleepy” Morrison on drums; and band leader Mark Spinks on guitar and vocals.

But before any more, a little heresy. When I was a young lad I absolutely loved The Scientists (first and second versions). It's forgotten now, but the second mark were often scorned and verbally abused outright. They simply didn't fit: noisy, fuzzy, feedback-y. And, especially, all that horrible long hair which, for rock 'n' rollers, had gone the way of the dodo during the late 1970s. 

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• brisbane
• stu spasm
• gravel samwidge
• mark spinks
• mark's paranormal disneyland

A show for Sydney's legendary Hoey is sure to summon ghosts

You’ve seen the “Spirits of the Hoey” book, the tribute to Sydney’s iconic Hopetoun Hotel by academics Liz Guiffre and Gregory Ferris, with the photographs of Bryan “Cookie” Cook. Now you can experience the live gig when Petersham Bowling Club hosts “Spirits of The Hoey – A Live Love Letter To The Hopetoun Hotel” on Saturday October 31.

Tickets are expected to sell out long before the event and are on sale here. 

Heading the bill is a reformation of Vrag, the band that would morph into Machine Gun Fellatio, with very special guest Christa Hughes on vocals.

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• ian rilen
• cathy green
• laughing clowns
• vanilla chainsaws
• waxworks
• spirits of the hoey
• hopetoun hotel
• vrag
• lo carmen
• box the jesuit

Legendary Sydney venue MoshPit calls Last Drinks

_{Venue supplied image.}

Sydney’s live music scene has suffered another body blow with the news that small bar MoshPit will close its doors in November. In its ninth year and at the end of its lease, the venue’s majority owner Pat Jones delivered the sad news via social media late yesterday,

A nursery for up-and-coming bands and a home to veteran acts alike, the room has hosted thousands of musicians down the years, weathering Covid, a sagging economy, red tape and ever-shifting demographics.

The venue took on lockdowns head-on, staging limited capacity streamed events including Monday Evening Gunk, a tonight show-style venture with The I-94 Bar that spanned two seasons.  Co-founder Jill Dures was a driving force in that and MoshPit’s early years.

An institution on King Street in the inner-western suburb of St Peters, tThe ongoing gentrification of the area has forced the owners' hands.  

Despite an awkward lay-out that sometimes tested capacity and patron comfort, MoshPit was the CBGB of Sydney where untested acts could have a go. MoshPit’s closure will leave a yawning gap at the small end of the live music market that Sydney will struggle to fill.

• sydney
• moshpit bar
• closure
• live music

This Lipstick Killers rock opera is one Strange Flash

The Lipstick Killers Present The Shining Stone: A Rock Opera By Mark Taylor and Peter Tillman – Mark Taylor and Peter Tillman (Appointment/Pink Flamingo)

The label on the packet does not lie. It says “Rock Opera” - so you can’t say you haven’t been warned.

If you have to ask who Mark Taylor and Peter Tillman are, you’re in the wrong place. Their old band, the Lipstick Killers, was a force of nature in a febrile Sydney underground music scene at the turn of the ‘70s. Arising from the ashes of Filth (Tillman) and Psychosurgeons (Taylor), they wedded sharp humour to high energy music, running aground amid an ill-fated re-location to Los Angeles.  

All-too-brief returns down the years did not nothing to erode their reputation as torchbearers for glam punk rock folded back into its ‘60s roots and sprinkled with bathos, pathos and a little glitter. The principal members’ materialisation in Sydney with Dr Stone in the early ‘90s just put a psychedelic acid punk cherry on top.

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• psychosurgeons
• filth
• lipstick killers
• mark taylor
• peter tillman
• the shining star

They Will Persaude You: Huxton Creepers are back for more than 12 Days this time

 _{Huxton Creepers back in the day.  Artist supplied.}

Legendary Melbourne  band Huxton Creepers are back in the swing of things. No longer just the odd show here and there, the Creepers are playing more regularly, including an Australian East Coast  tour, and are issuing their first new music in 36 years and a vinyl re-issue of their “12 Days to Paris” album.

Bass player Matthew Eddy spoke to the I-94 Bar on the eve of their album’s 40th anniversary shows.

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• cheersquad records
• huxton creepers
• 12 days to paris
• matthew eddy
• opposites attract